Mailbag
No Thanks, Rob; We'll Pass
I just read your piece of shit revue for the KFMA day (Live, May 13). Whoever this whore of a writer Jon Hobson is, you would be better served by someone who didn't even attend the event. As a matter of fact, I don't think he did atend (sic) the event, because his revue (sic) was so innacurate (sic). I think that the fuck passed out after having one drink. I don't think he even saw the show. He is such a lame-ass punk. I was their (sic) and EVERYONE was having a great time during the ENTIRE event. There was no lack of energy during the entire day. Next time maybe you should have a better person who can write a revue (sic). Not a piece of shit like Hobson. As a matter of fact, I am available for next year.Rob Streyar
Thanks for the Spielberg Info
In your summer movie preview, you mention Steven Spielberg's The War of the Worlds is coming next year. The film is currently slated for 2006, as Spielberg is going to be shooting a currently untitled film on the Mossad in August and may shoot another film, The Rivals, before he starts on War of the Worlds.
Steven Awalt
Editor, spielbergfilms.com, a Steven Spielberg fansite
Response From a KXCI Listener
I have been following the current dialogue in the Weekly related to the so-called Democracy Initiative with keen interest. As a listener from day one, and as an enthusiastic member, I am concerned with what I have been observing.KXCI has emerged as an established organization with incredible programming, dedicated volunteers, relatively stable funding, professional staff and an ever-growing membership base. As far as I am concerned, these are all positive signs of a healthy nonprofit community radio station.
In the interest of attempting to learn more about the situation, I chose to attend a recent board meeting. What I observed was a group of volunteer board members dealing with the issues in a sensitive, intelligent and thoughtful manner. It is quite obvious to me that they have taken the issues raised by the Democracy Initiative seriously. It is also clear they take their fiduciary responsibility seriously and uphold the station's best interests in their decision-making. I believe their recent proposed changes to the bylaws, and new policies and procedures they have implemented provide an excellent compromise with what is being asked by the Democracy Initiative. A nonprofit organization deserves as much stability as can be afforded. A fully "democratic" process as proposed by the Democracy Initiative would be anything but that. Most nonprofit boards are elected exclusively by the board, in part, to provide that stability.
At this same meeting, there was a call to the audience. Scott Egan, representing the Democracy Initiative, addressed the board. He began by thanking the board for the changes the board was discussing that very evening. The changes he cited were material--important changes, and clearly meaningful to the group. The next edition of the Weekly contained a letter from the Democracy Initiative with a completely different tone and content than what I observed at the meeting. Further, the letter stated, "The board won't even allow 'a call to the audience' at their meetings." This is clearly not the truth.
Even more disappointing to me is the Weekly's coverage of this issue. I have respect for Weekly's approach as an alternative news source that does not always value "objectivity" per se. But what is being reported is highly biased in favor of the Democracy Initiative, and the Weekly has clearly taken on their cause. What gives?
James E. Cook
The Skinny's Coverage of KXCI is 'Propaganda'
Once again, The Skinny pursues its role as the PR representative for the Democracy Initiative rather than reporting the facts from the May 18 KXCI board meeting ("Unreal Radio," May 27). When the unanimous agreement of the board to pass a volunteer grievance procedure is described as being "sledge-hammered" by me with the "thinnest of quorums," it's clear that KXCI faces another trip "through the looking glass" of The Skinny. When a shouting match by initiative supporters is described as "politely" pointing out a lack of a quorum, The Skinny follows the same unfortunate theme, "all initiative supporters, good; all board members, bad."The Skinny accuses the board of personal animosity and then proceeds to personally disparage board members. This has been an emotional controversy on both sides, but the board is not the archetypal villain in a soap opera. There has been personal animosity from members of the initiative directed toward board and staff members which The Skinny, as always, selectively fails to report.
Ending this hostility was the goal when I offered the initiative mediation with a conflict resolution specialist. That offer remains on the table, despite continuing rejections by the initiative. The board offered to mediate and resolve every issue raised by this group. Why is the initiative unwilling to sit down at the table? Perhaps the "narrow, winner-take-all-attitude" portrayed in The Skinny would be a better description of some members of the initiative.
Despite the accusations of The Skinny, I was not recruited as a "hired gun" to shoot down the Democracy Initiative. No one from the board has ever asked me to do so. The board has directed me to resolve this matter following the KXCI bylaws and the laws of the state of Arizona governing nonprofit organizations. That is what I have done and will continue to do.
The Skinny's comparison of the KXCI signature certification process to state elections is unfair and misleading. State petition signatures must be presented with a notarized affidavit affirming that every signer's ID was checked. A percentage of state election petitions are verified by the Registrar of Voters by comparing signatures to voter registration records. KXCI doesn't have any such records to use in confirming whether a petition signature is valid.
The initiative's claim, "we have enough signatures," is totally unsupported. The board would have failed in its duty to the members by calling an election without any evidence that there were enough signatures to meet the bylaws requirement, other than a list of names. After three months of refusals by the initiative to agree to any signature verification process by an independent third party, the board retained an independent firm to call petitioners to confirm that they actually signed the petitions. Despite the accusations in The Skinny, members were not asked to remove their names; they were asked if they read, signed and supported the petition. Why wouldn't the initiative want to have those signatures confirmed? For a group devoted to the bylaws of KXCI, they seem very anxious to skip the signature verification process.
Everyone involved with the station--the board, staff, members and listeners--wants this issue resolved. It would be helpful if The Skinny would assist in that process rather than continuing to engage in more one-sided propaganda.
Larry Bruce
General manager, KXCI Community Radio
Clarification
In "Unreal Radio" (The Skinny, May 27), the reporter, Chris Limberis, did not disclose the fact that he was one of the people at the KXCI board meeting who pointed out that the board lost quorum and was threatened with subsequent removal from the meeting. While it's appropriate for a reporter to point out such a thing, that should have been disclosed in the story. We apologize for the lack of disclosure.
Correction
A Skinny item ("Department of Corrections and Revisions," June 3) incorrectly stated that Charles Flanagan, warden at the state prison in Tucson, had been given a suspension over a resume discrepancy. Flanagan, who has earned high marks for his prison administration in Tucson and Douglas, "has not ever been suspended," said Cam Hunter, a state Department of Corrections spokeswoman. Chris Limberis, the reporter responsible for the item, and the Weekly regret the error.
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