LAKEPORT – The Board of Supervisors has postponed until next month a decision on whether or not to grant a request from Lake County Community Radio for a grant to match federal funds the group received last year.
The group's station, KPFZ, is in transition from a low power to a high power station.
Part of that process includes lining up the necessary funding to launch the effort.
Andy Weiss, KPFZ's volunteer station manager, said they need $160,000 to get the station on the air; so far they've raised $120,000.
“What we're asking the county to do is match our federal grant,” said Weiss.
He explained that they need $30,000 to match a $90,000 federal grant they received last year.
Weiss said KPFZ has a business plan and that the station will be independent and self-sufficient once it's up and going.
That's because they plan to support their activities through paid memberships, events, underwriting, donations, more grant funding and on-air fundraisers.
The all-volunteer station will run on about $25,000 annually, said Weiss.
They're currently looking for larger studio space, although they have a fully functioning studio now for the programming that takes place between 5 and 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday, said Weiss.
The station also is contending with the issue of access to a broadcast tower on Mt. Konocti in land owned by the Fowler family.
Numerous KPFZ radio hosts and supporters spoke in favor of the station, including Lake County Poet Laureate Sandra Wade, whose radio show “Accent on Words” covers both local and international writers.
Wade said KPFZ has presented live broadcasts of news and cultural events, along with a wide variety of music, 12 step recovery programming and much more.
James BlueWolf said KPFZ is a media outlet “unconstrained by the bottom line and free from economic pressures.”
It offers an opportunity to gather ideas from all parts of the community, he said. “Community radio realizes the democratic ideal.”
Herb Gura said at full power KPFZ would serve not just Lake County, but parts of Mendocino, Napa and Sonoma counties as well.
Steve Elias, who with his wife, Catherine Elias-Jermany, has hosted a news magazine on KPFZ, said they're eager to get on the air at high power.
“There's nothing like live programming,” he said. “There's nothing else like it.”
Taira St. John, another KPFZ show host, said the station helps cover the lake's various communities, and that the 80 hours of weekly programming has been undertaken by volunteers, which has helped them stay out of debt.
“From a business point of view we're very proud of of that,” she said.
The board's members voiced support for the station, but were uniform in their desire to see a business plan and have an assurance that the request for “seed money” was going to be a one-time request that would bear fruit.
Supervisor Ed Robey, sitting in as chair for Jeff Smith (gone on vacation this week), said timing is an issue in this request.
“This isn't in our budget,” he said.
Weiss said that the federal government wants an assurance by March 31 that the station has a commitment for the necessary match, but that the cash doesn't need to be in hand by that point.
Supervisor Denise Rushing asked if the grant could have “strings attached” -- including the board receiving copies of the station's business plan and it being contingent on the tower use agreement.
Chief Administrative Officer Kelly Cox said the board can make such contingencies.
Weiss said they have until April 2008 to get their station online or they lose their license.
Supervisor Rob Brown said he was concerned about the request's timing.
“This is a mid-year request and it's a little difficult to honor a request like this without having gone through the budget process,” he said.
Brown also pointed to other areas of the county that needed attention, including roads, and said funding is tight.
He said the county isn't in a position to provide entertainment.
“I am not able to support the request at this time,” he said.
Rushing responded, “I'd like to respectully disagree that this is just entertainment."
She discussed the need for media reform, and said local media is the point of citizen access, which is so necessary for democracy.
Rushing said she wanted to see the station's business plan and make a decision based on that.
The board eventually decided to hold the topic over for further consideration on Feb. 13.
Weiss said afterward, “The Board of Supervisors was very open to our presentation this morning, understood the impact and importance of community radio, and we are pleased that they are considering our request seriously."
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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