WAMC Now Seeking $1 million Every Fund Drive

Local blogger, Dan Valenti, who punches out broadsides almost daily on his Planet Valenti Web site, opened up the other day with this:

“While the Boring Broadsheet (Valenti's pet name for The Berkshire Eagle) was telling you about such vital page 1 news as Alan Chartock’s grimy grab at a million bucks for WAMC in the latest stickup by Northeast Public Radio, The Planet was dishing news and views, news that matters and views that exercise your gray matter.”

What Mr. Valenti calls a 'grimy grab' may in fact be grimier than what at first it appears.
WAMC Northeast Public Radio, Inc.'s board of trustees could save $500,000 annually right now if it just engaged in a little belt-tightening by drastically cutting the top salaries.
Why does WAMC need a $200,000 CEO?
Is there no one around who could (and would) do the same job for, say, $75,000?
One of the main problems with the way WAMC is run is the station’s total lack of fiscal transparency.
If the extra $200,000 per fund drive is so very necessary, why doesn’t WAMC open its books to public inspection to prove it?
Further, WAMC's publicly expressed rationale for the 25% increase is, according to Alan S. Chartock, WAMC's CEO and president, "the expected effort by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives to reduce or eliminate funding for public broadcasting."
Mr. Chartock, as usual, plays fast and loose with the truth.
Fact is, no cut-off has yet occurred.
Further, Barack Obama has not signed-off on any such cut-off, and WAMC is still getting as much from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and from federal and state government grants as before.
It is far more likely that additional revenues raised from now on during WAMC beg-a-thons will be used to give salary increases to a favored few in WAMC's bloated bureaucracy, but primarily to Mr. Chartock.
(One might recall the $52,000 raise — a salary hike of 45% — that WAMC’s ever-compliant board of trustees granted to Mr. Chartock back in Fiscal 2005.)
In addition, the added revenue will likely be used to reinforce WAMC’s present (and substantial) pension obligations (again with Mr. Chartock and a very few others in the organization set to receive the lion's share in retirement).
Anyone wanna make book on whether the WAMC board ups Mr. Chartock’s salary in his final years at the public broadcaster specifically in order to maximize his pension payout?
Where is that money to come from if not from WAMC’s generous (and seemingly gullible) listeners?
Here is just a partial list of WAMC’s bloated bureaucracy:

Abel, Stefanie
Sales, Marketing and PR Coordinator

Ambuhl, Victoria
Marketing Coordinator for National Productions

Aronson, Abbe
Regional Account Executive, Hudson Valley Region

Augar, Shawn
Facilities Engineer

Barnett, Susan
Producer/Host of 51%

Barr, Nick
Bluegrass Music Host

Barrett, Bob
Producer/ Host of The Health Show

Bohen, Michael
Control Room Operator

Boivin, Christine
Sales Support and Special Projects Coordinator

Brady, Nell
Project Manager and Grants Assistant

Bradley, Pat
North Country Bureau Chief

Britton, Katie
News/Program Director

Busby, Glenn
Manager of National Productions/
Producer/Host of The Best of Our Knowledge

Chartock, Alan
President & CEO

Clairmont, Adam
Live Events Engineer

Coakley, Tim
Jazz Music Host

Cooney, Pat
VP of Operations

Deitz, Charles
Berkshire County Bureau Chief

Dewitt, Karen
NYS Capitol Correspondent

Donahue, Joe
Associate News Director/Co-Host of The RoundTable

Elisha, Paul
Host of The Poetry Forum/ Commentator

Federico, Dona
Director of Sales, Marketing & PR,
Managing Director, The Linda

Felano, Steve
Assistant News Director

Fischer, Wanda
Folk Music Host

Fry, Greg
Hudson Valley Bureau Chief

Gilbert, Kristin
Traffic Manager

Glassman, Howard
General Manager, The Linda

Golding, Mary
Regional Account Executive

Graf, Ray
Director of New Media/News Anchor

Guistina, David
Director of Special Projects/News Anchor/
Internship Coordinator

Gross, Hank
Hudson Valley Correspondent

Hopper, David
Control Room Operator

Horn, Katie
Fund Drive Coordinator

Job, Thomas
New Media/Marketing Assistant

Kaplan, Selma
VP for Administration and Development/Director
for The Linda

Laduke, Sarah
Producer, The Roundtable

Lescak, Sharon
Membership Director

Livingston, Kara
Membership Assistant

Lucas, Dave
Capital District Bureau Chief

Lynch, Jessica
Control Room Operator

Malloy, Zachary
Control Room Operator

Martin, Mick
Video Producer

McKenna, Graeme
Associate General Manager, The Linda

Migliorisi, Matthew
Control Room Operator

Morse, John
Regional Account Executive

Norman, Brian
Regional Account Executive

Perry, Stacey
Chief Master Control Operator

Piccolo, Anne
Regional Account Executive,
Saratoga County North Country
Hudson Valley/areas south

Pickus, Ian
Producer/Assistant to the President

Rosen, Leah
Regional Account Executive

Saglimbeni, Debera
Senior National and Regional Account Executive,
Capital District

Sax, Dr. Nina
Co-Host of The Health Show

Schaeffer, Paul
Underwriting Office Manager (Accounts Receivable)

Shaw, Heather
Control Room Operator

Shields, Brian
Senior Correspondent/News Anchor/Midday Magazine

Slavinski, Josie
Senior National and Regional Account Executive,
The Berkshires/Pioneer Valley

Straight, Darryl
Business Manager

Tuthill, Paul
Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief

Wilson, Jennifer
Fund Drive Coordinator

Wise, Marian
Grants Director

Zubroff, Betsy
Regional Account Executive

And this is an incomplete list.

So what happens if (and when) WAMC has all these hardworking souls expecting to get pensions upon retirement, but the station is unable to raise enough funding from the public to keep that pension plan solvent, in addition to paying the station’s actual operating expenses?
This is the problem with these bloated bureaucracies with bloated budgets being financed and subsidized with public monies.
Eventually that money runs out.

Alan S. Chartock, 1993 Recipient of the Toastmasters Communication and Leadership Award

Alan S. Chartock, President & CEO,

WAMC Northeast Public Radio, Inc.

Consider hiring Alan Chartock as toastmaster for your next family function.