WLRN: all is not well ... by gimleteye

Dan Ricker, publisher and all-around gadfly of The Watchdog Report, lifts the cover from the private and secretive relationship between local PBS affiliate, WLRN, and the Miami-Dade School Board. WLRN has been a mystery for a long time. Back in the day (circa 1989), I helped secure -- after years of indifference and empty response-- the expansion of WLRN coverage into the Florida Keys. My meetings with WLRN management gave me a sense of an institution that kept its arms open for donors and corporate doors closed. After moving to Miami, I spent nearly a year producing a WLRN TV program on the environment and South Florida called "Fragile Earth". Later, I made a brief, frustrating attempt to widen the local radio programming fare; something like dropping a stone into a bottomless well. Throughout, how WLRN operated and the relation of Friends of WLRN to the School Board was a mystery.

Ricker illuminates an acrimonious relationship, without reaching relevant facts. (He is a frequent guest on the local show, Topical Currents.) Ricker does deliver a hard fact for WLRN radio listeners numbed by fundraising appeals crying poor: the foundation managed by Friends of WLRN has $6 million in the bank. Dang! That's almost as much as the secretive Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, whose board is also insulated by its own circle of friends.

For a city as diverse as Miami and with as many controversies, one would think that the station would spring to allow listeners and viewers something on the order of fresher views, newer voices, and altogether reach out in ways that the mainstream press in Miami fails to do. Without any basis to know, I'd guess that ties to a conservative School Board limit the amount of air entering the facilities. On the other hand, it is also possible that the Friends of WLRN use the School Board proximity to insulate itself from local politics. Whatever the whatever, there is no excuse for Friends of WLRN or the station management to operate in secrecy and regularly deliver mediocre local products.

There is an frisson to the fact that the School Superintendent is not allowed to view Friends of WLRN books, except in a locked and shaded room. The names of mid six-figure salaries at WLRN are not disclosed. Inquiring minds want to know. Do tell, how so little is so well rewarded. (Click read more, for a reprint of The Ricker Report or click the link, above)

>>> Battle between Friends and WLRN reaching a climax, after negotiations “back to square one,” philanthropy arm refers to school board as “pimps”

When it comes to Friends of WLRN, the philanthropy arm of the television and radio station WLRN whose FEC license is owned by the school board coming under the control more of the school district, recent progress over more than a year in getting an operating agreement between the two organizations has bore little fruit in reality and we are “back to square one, said Frederick Thornburg Tuesday at the school board audit committee. The district’s administration since then, under audit committee oversight and direction has tried to hammer out an agreement with Friends, but that ongoing discussion is reaching a boiling point between the two organizations and has the not for profit organization charged with raising money for the station calling “if the information is true in a confidential memo” the school board and WLRN as “pimps,” said audit chair Thornburg in a discussion of the history of the situation with new audit members, including new school board member Raquel Regalado. The chair also noted that Friends and WLRN representatives over this time had only “met on two occasions” and Friends is looking at setting up an endowment, which is fine, but depending on how it is written it “could keep money from WLRN,” he thought in the future.

School Board vice Chair Lawrence Feldman said these discussions started well over a year ago and he finds it “unacceptable” that the foundation has about $6 million [said WLRN staff to the Watchdog Report at the meeting] in “money parked,” in investments. He said the “money is available” and should be released and the district should “bring legal action” if “all our demands are not meet,” he said. Board Chair Perla Tabares Hantman echoed Feldman’s comments and she noted the organization’s board has had a “total lack of respect of the school board for years” and said they did not have to be “cautious” since they “totally disregard the school board,” and “we cannot keep on talking about it,” she thought. Friends board leadership could not attend the audit committee since they were out of town but one member of the board believed these issues could be resolved, but was not in the position to speak for the board overall.

Further, Friends meeting minutes of two meetings in September and November show that the bylaw changes, first modified cutting out the district superintendent in 1995, and being demanded changed back were not even discussed, said Feldman. Also when it came to a breakdown of people’s salaries and other expenses that were requested that information is still being asked for said the former principle before being elected to the school board in 2008. Alberto Carvalho, the public schools district superintendent also chimed in when it came to fundraising for the station. His people though paid much lower than Friends fundraising staff, they “brought in a greater return on investment,” he told the audit committee.

>>>PAST WDR: JAN. 2010: Friends of WLRN in the spotlight, must have an operating agreement with District in 60-days

Alberto Carvalho, the district’s superintendent in a terse tone said when it came to seeing the financial records of Friends of WLRN. He was told it could only be done off site, he could not remove them or copy the documents while under the watchful eye of the not-for-profit’s attorneys and the documents did not fall under the state’s Sunshine Law. Carvalho said “these conditions were unacceptable” and he made these statements at the Audit Committee meeting on Tuesday and it stunned the committee members including school board vice chair Perla Tabares Hantman, the board’s voting member.

The superintendent said he has been reviewing all contracts and operating agreements and a memo from board attorney James Walter Harvey details the organizations institutional timeline, noting Friends is charged with nothing but raising money for WLRN’s radio and television stations. The representatives of Friends said they were not trying to stonewall the inquiry noting over the decades since 1974 the organization has worked well with WLRN and the school district. The station now has significantly more media outlets and the not-for-profit has been instrumental in helping fund that expansion. However, the issue of some employees salaries came-up as well as administrative costs that come in at about 40 percent and that is normal said the Friends representatives. Jose F. Montes de Oca, the district’s chief auditor asked about some of salaries that had people making over the years $269,000; $247,000 and $315,000 but Friends said that is based on money they raise and the commission is 10 percent. They also pointed out these employees are paid a small salary, brought in $3 million in underwriting and they do not get the commission “until the money is in hand.”

Further, Friends bylaws once had the superintendent signing off on any by law changes, and who ran Friends. But that changed, but went unnoticed in 1998 and board Attorney James Walter Harvey in a Jan. 26 memo writes that “these significant, sea change amendments” were never approved by the superintendent and the school district administrative head was not “involved in the appointment process of Rick Lewis,” the current Friends president and CEO. Further, the attorney noted that the bylaws “have since been amended several times without superintendent approval.” Carvalho was instructed to create an operating agreement with Friends that would be due in 60-days and Friends representatives said they could comply with that time constraint and it will include inserting back that the superintendent will have to sign off on any bylaw changes in the future.

>>> PAST WDR: MAY 2010: Friends of WLRN board chair Altman fires back at last week’s story, in her own words

After last week’s Watchdog Report on what happened at the school board Audit Committee recently regarding Friends of WLRN, Janet K. Altman, the chair of the not-for-profit responded back giving the organization’s side of the story. I am running the complete response from Altman. >>> “You wrote in July 2008, “A strong, vibrant and responsible press is the glue that keeps public institutions and elected leaders restrained.” I see in this morning’s Watchdog Report that Miami-Dade County Public Schools’ Superintendent’s office provided you with a statement about negotiations between WLRN and Friends of WLRN. I’d like to provide some additional information which the public needs to know.

Recently there has been significant tension between WLRN, the School Superintendent, and Friends of WLRN. Friends of WLRN is an independent, private non-profit organization dedicated to the support of WLRN Radio and Television. Friends doesn’t own WLRN -- but neither does the School Board own Friends. Miami-Dade County Public Schools is the licensee for the Stations. Friends has supported the station, raising funds through membership, underwriting, special events and grants, for more than three decades. When listeners and viewers give to support public broadcasting, Friends of WLRN receives the gift, manages the funds, and pays bills for WLRN, including the bills to content providers like National Public Radio. WLRN’s General Manager drives the Friends’ budgeting process, identifying upcoming funding needs. Friends has never, to my knowledge, refused a funding request from WLRN.

Our budget for the coming year, which is scheduled for approval at our May Board meeting, forecasts $4.2 million in contributions to WLRN. The Superintendent of Schools appears to desire to end a 35-year relationship with our group -- an independent organization that is dedicated to supporting the valuable assets of the School Board. He is insisting that we revert to 15-year old by-laws, which give his office control of our leadership and governance. That’s just not good for WLRN. Rather, we believe it’s critically important that WLRN and Friends have an operating arrangement which provides for independence, transparency, cooperation, and informed consultation between the organizations. Friends has done all we can to communicate constructively with Superintendent [Alberto] Carvalho. Since the January Audit Committee meeting where we were tasked with negotiating an operating agreement, we have made every effort to resolve the issue. We provided our draft of the agreement, which we called Principles of Cooperation, on February 11. But WLRN refused to review that draft, and participants from WLRN were unavailable to meet to negotiate their version of the agreement until late March.

Why have a separate organization to raise money?

Friends is uniquely suited to raise money for WLRN. We can do many things the School Board cannot. The Miami-Dade County Public Schools must operate under the Florida Sunshine Act. If they were to absorb the fundraising role, all membership data (including donors’ contact information and giving history) would be available to anyone who requests it. As an independent group, we are able to attract members and underwriters who would not be comfortable contributing directly to an organization with taxing authority. We can raise money from members outside of Miami-Dade County. Incidentally, that now represents nearly half of the funds we raise. Importantly, the relationships our volunteer Board members have in the community give us access to potential major donations. We’re able to move quickly and effectively, as we did when we helped preserve the WLRN-Miami Herald News.

What are the issues?

The Superintendent is concerned about the cost of fundraising – and so are we. We recently undertook to benchmark our results against other public radio stations, and we discovered that our cost-per-dollar raised is lower than many of our sister stations, including the #1 station in the country, WNYC. The Superintendent is concerned about transparency – and so are we. John LaBonia, General Manager of WLRN and an employee of the School Board, is on Friends’ Board. The General Manager’s position on our Board is secured in the bylaws. The General Manager is also on the Executive Committee and the Finance Committee. This ensures total transparency, through the General Manager, with the Stations and the School Board. The Superintendent is concerned about fiscal responsibility – and so are we. Fiscal responsibility is key to our ability to raise these funds from the public. We are audited by one of the top accounting firms in the country, Marcum Rachlin. In the past two years, we have stepped up our vigilance in many ways, including hiring a CFO with CPA firm experience, creating a financial procedures manual, introducing a conflict of interest policy for the Board and most recently establishing an audit committee.

The Superintendent is concerned that we don’t respect the School Board. We regret any communication that caused offense. At the most recent Audit Committee meeting, as part of the argument that Friends should be controlled by the School Board, the Superintendent read a five-year old memo which expressed some strong opinions. According to its author, “This five-year old memo, which was written at a time of high emotion and considerable frustration, does not represent the opinions of either the staff or the Board of Friends of WLRN. In fact, more recent documents and actions clearly repudiate the ideas suggested in the memo. I apologize to any it may have offended." Friends of WLRN and the School Board share a common interest – the support of WLRN-FM and WLRN-TV. With cooperation from WLRN and the Superintendent, I am confident we can conclude an agreement that continues our independent service to the South Florida community,” wrote the Friends of WLRN board’s chair on May 17.