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Public Testimony on 2006 January 24

NEED FOR OVERSIGHT AND REFORM:

Zane Blaney is recklessly running Access SF in a tyrannical manner. He does not tolerate dissenting opinions, even when his authority to make decisions is not questioned. There is a documented history of Zane forcing the termination of San Francisco Community Television Corporation (SFCTC) employees, and even members of the SFCTC Board of Directors, for no other reason than stating a difference of opinion.

In most corporations, the management is subservient to the Board of Directors, and the board exercises their oversight responsibility. This current SFCTC board will not involve themselves in unresolved grievances, even when the request is made in writing as per their corporate bylaws, and shows a clear case list of alleged violations in labor and human rights laws. The SFCTC Board of Directors, including the so-called "producer representative", is hand-picked by Zane. Any board member that expresses a disagreement with Zane is removed from the board.

The SFCTC Grant Agreement with the City and Country of San Francisco makes the Department of Telecommunications and Information Services, Telecommunications Commission responsible for oversight of the SFCTC grant. I see no evidence that any oversight is being exercised, or that this commission is still active. The SFCTC grant expired last summer, and there's a list of alleged violations, including a DTIS manager under contract to the SFCTC.

Correction:

This moring, January 31, 2006, I had a phone conversation with the DTIS manager, who called me to correct the record. When he first contracted with SFCTC, he was not a manager, and the relationship was disclosed to his manager at DTIS. He is no longer under contract with SFCTC, but is offering his services as a volunteer.

I still have a list of over 20 suspected violations to the SFCTC Grant Agreement with the City and Country of San Francisco.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors has the right to exercise oversight on SFCTC's management of Access SF, and they have the authority to investigate and reform SFCTC's operations and management of Access SF, the public access television station owned by and operated for the residents of San Francisco.

BACKGROUND:

After a couple years volunteering on producer and staff projects at Access SF, Zane Blaney offered me the job of Operations Manager. I asked to be first hired as a Production Facilitator so I could learn the other aspects of the station's operations. Almost immediately I was subjected to discrimination and violation of numerous labor laws. I reported these to Zane Blaney, and he neglected to correct the problems. In fact, Zane Blaney threatened me with termination due to insubordination if I did not follow his directives and enforce his written and verbal rules, policies, procedures, and edicts. I began to see a pattern where people would complain about my enforcement, whiles other staff, including Zane Blaney would ignore the rules or grant waivers, all while I was obligated to enforce these to the letter of the rules, or face termination. Zane Blaney would discipline me because people were getting mad at me, for nothing other than enforcing the rules. Rules that Zane Blaney forced me to enforce or be subject to termination. Throughout my employment, I followed the rules and obeyed Zane Blaney's directives. My concerns were expressed privately in face-to-face meetings and in writing to Zane Blaney, or when solicited in staff meetings. I finally appealed to the San Francisco Community Television Corporation (SFCTC) Board of Directors to help resolve these grievances. Zane Blaney immediately terminated me for appealing to the SFCTC Board of Directors for help. There was no notice, conditions, or severance agreement associated with my termination. I am now free to attempt to clear my name, and to be a whistle-blower to expose Zane Blaney's miss-management of Access SF.

Using publicly available information, I built a mail list of Access SF producers and volunteers, SFCTC staff and Board of Directors, and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. In an attempt to clear my name of false allegations that Zane Blaney allowed to fester, I sent out en email describing events leading up to my termination. The response was overwhelming positive. I was deluged with email and phone calls asking for more information, sharing their personal grievances with Zane, and offering apologies for earlier misunderstandings based on their being unaware that I was following Zane's directives.

As I continued pulling together the facts surrounding problems I've seen at Access SF, I decided to make this documentation publicly available by posting it on a new web site "Reform Access SF" (http://www.TheLoneLiberal.info/ReformAccessSF/). My mission is to document my experiences at Access SF, and to bring to light abuses and miss-management at Access SF. I believe public access television in San Francisco is here for the benefit of the residents of San Francisco as well as to provide an opportunity for San Francisco residents to learn and a forum to express themselves through television media. I've been posting new articles and exposes on this web site every day since then.

I've reread the Access SF Policies and Procedures, the SFCTC Corporate Bylaws, and the SFCTC Grant Agreement with the City and Country of San Francisco. I've noted over 20 suspected violations, many of which I've been documenting on my Reform Access SF web site.

Then last week, in a feeble attempt to silence me, Zane Blaney banned me from the Access SF facilities as I arrived to volunteer on a producer's show. He falsely accuses me of "having violated various policies related to theft and/or misuse of confidential or otherwise internal information of the SFCTC" He has not specified what polices I am accused of violating. He has not specified what I am accused of stealing. He does not specify what confidential information I am accused of misusing. How low will this person go to stifle dissenting opinions?

MORE INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE:

More information is available on the "Reform Access SF" (http://www.TheLoneLiberal.info/ReformAccessSF/) web site.

Questions/Comments?