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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. Zane told me that his only hesitation was that I was friends with many Access SF producers. He said he needed all staff members to enforce the Access SF Policies and Procedures. He said that staff were known to show favoritism to their friends, and that he would nit tolerate that from me. I replied that I have no problem following the rules and enforcing the policies and procedures in a fair and equitable manner without showing favoritism to friends. I said that I drew the line if asked to do anything illegal. I told him how over the years, I had lost two jobs after refusing to do something illegal:
I explained my ethical standards to Zane, and told him that I needed to be able to discuss issues openly with him. I acknowledged that he was the decision maker, and that I would support any decision he made, even if I didn't agree, as long as it was legal.
I was hired as a part-time production facilitator for $15.00 per hour, effective November 01, 2004.
From time to time, Zane would call me into his office to have me defend postings that various producers made on the Internet. Zane told me how he subscribed to the SF Producers Email List under an alias so he could monitor what people were saying about him.
Zane would say "Your friends with ******, how can you justify what ***** wrote?". I told him on multiple occasions that I'm not responsible for what other may say about him, that I'm not in any position to defend someone elses statements, and that he should address his concerns with that person.
Zane would say, "You're friends with *****. What have you been telling them?". I assured him that I although I may have casual conversations about work, I have never (until after my termination) disclosed issues I was having at work. If anything, I repeatedly found myself in a position where I was explaining and justifying why some policy or procedure.
Zane would ask "How can you be friends with someone like that?". I told him that my friendships are not based on agreeing with someone elses positions. I appreciate people having other views and I relish discussions and intellectual arguments.
I told Zane that many things people are saying are based on facts, but people develop their own reality around the facts that have. I suggested the way to deal with that was to proactively present his initiatives and have open discussion with producers and volunteers. Not everything Zane does is evil, of course you can say that about most tyrants throughout history (not that Zane is in their league). Zane has some constructive initiatives, but he won't bother trying to present them to the Access SF producers. As I see it, this is because Zane views the producers and volunteers in destain, they give him nothing but grief, so he just won't bother with them unless he needs support for funding.
I suggested that Zane schedule a monthly "Director's Report" as a live call-in show, using Nicole Sawaya's highly successful monthly live "General Manager's Report" on KALW 91.7 FM. He could report on the status of the facility, initiatives being undertaken to benefit the producers and the station, and take questions from the audience. I suggested that even the nastiest questions can be spined with a response that is stated in a positive manner. I also suggested we have prepared roll-ins that can be used as needed, that shows what goes on at Access SF. Zane said he didn't want to talk with producers, so I suggested having a board member host the show as a surrogate. This type of show would be very beneficial to show our goodwill with the communities we serve. It would show our efforts to make public access television more accessible.
Zane insists that he has no need to communicate with producers. He would start bad-mouthing producers who had bothered him in the past and how he took control of the situation. HE would talk about how he banned ***** from the station because she was disruptive by bad-mouthing Zane on the station premises. He would talk about how he wanted to get ***** because he's trying to take over the station and destroy public access. Zane would repeat this tale about how he had a member of the SFCTC Board of Directors remove from the board because he disagreed with Zane. That ex-board member as authorized me to link to his site Skatin' Place - The (SFCTC) Board Has Gone Mad to hear his side of that story. I personally witnessed a board meeting last year, where a board member complained that Zane wasn't notifying her of meetings. The was removed from the board by the next meeting.
So Zane seems to retain his authority by:
One day Zane called me into his office because he heard that I had been seen at a social event with a producer. He told me that I should have no social contact with producers, volunteers, or guests as I can be accused of sexual harassment. I had a difficult time taking that seriously, since other staff members are free to post scantily clothed photos on their desks and one even brought her dildo into the station and swung it around in checkout. Even though, I was distressed that Zane felt free to tell me who I can socialize with.
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