The LuLac Edition #2448, June 17th, 2013

WVIA TV/FM’S Bill Kelly. (Photo: Northcentralpa.com) 

BILL’S BUCKS

Many of you who have read LuLac know that I have major problems with inflated salaries for officials who don’t show results. Both public and private sector. If this was a fair world, I would demand refunds back from the officials who served at the Wilkes Barre Chamber of Commerce from 1995 until now. Pulling down a huge salary for big salaries for a select business few that couldn’t make it on their own in the private sector? That’s a joke! I have railed about Wall Street people who put us on the brink of financial collapse and still walked away with millions. That stated, you won’t hear a negative word from me about the salary Bill Kelly is making as Head of the Endowment Department at WVIA TV and FM. Let me give you a little history. Bill Kelly came to WVIA TV in 1974 when then GM George Strimel recognized that he had to have a more aggressive fundraising department, The station at the time had as its main revenue stream, the TV 44 Auction. (In a previous LuLac edition, we referenced the death of longtime Auction volunteer Jeff Rubel.) 
Kelly came from WARM, the Mighty 590. When he arrived, there was both surprise and snickers. What was a top forty guy going to tell us about Public Broadcasting? A woman I worked with (who shall remain nameless due to the fact that I cherish her memory) once sniffed to me, “Has he ever heard of the Philharmonic?” What WVIA learned from the top 40 jock (drive time 3pm to 7PM) was plenty. 
Kelly totally revised the look of the fundraisers. He brought in energetic young people to become “Funding personalities”. He squeezed every ounce of talent out of directors like Peter Brewer, Ed Finn and the late Allen Murphy. The sleepy department got a kick in the ass. 
After two years of growth for TV,  he took his skills to radio. The first thing he did was take us on a road trip to WSKG in Binghamton, New York to see how their operation ran. We sat with the classical music radio hosts. We were told to take notes. We then reviewed those notes when we returned. 
Kelly believed in having us see the big picture of Public Broadcasting. I went on a trip to Chicago with him in 1977 which was exclusively for radio. Again, notes. The plane ride back was reviewing not only what I learned but how I was going to put it in action. 
Through the years, WVIA TV and FM has grown. And through the years Bill Kelly has made enemies. I liken Kelly to a baseball manager. At any given time, he fielded the strongest players on the field. Once you got complacent or your batting average dipped, you were gone. Many a person who thought they had a home there for a while had a rude awakening. It wasn’t about them, it was about the station. And for those people he let go, if you look at a large percentage of them, they all went on to better and in some cases bigger things. If you were wise enough to take away what Bill Kelly taught you (and once when I told him this he got very embarrassed) you had a skill set that would serve you well in any position. 
Now about the amount. Again, you have to look at the job. Public Broadcasting is under attack by right wing conservatives who think funding should be cut. If you look at the State Legislators who cut Public Broadcasting, can you honestly say they are worth what they get? Fundraising is a tough job. You are first off selling the entity but selling yourself. Kelly says he can make the station millions and I believe him. I know how he’s going to do it too. But unlike some of the dullards calling in to talk radio and posting comments on websites, screaming about this, I’ve been following Bill Kelly. He will make more than anticipated. Kelly has historically over delivered in every capacity. 
Look at some of the salaries CEO’s around here pull down. When I worked at Blue Cross, Denise Cesare back in 2009 was at around $750,000. The head of the Geisinger Health System, Dr. Glenn Steele was up there too. College Presidents have healthy salaries. Profit making companies CEO’s pull down millions. For those salaries, their boards and higher ups confirm what they should make. But the product comes to them. While they work hard at their jobs, I can’t believe that any of them toil as hard for their money as Bill Kelly has through the years. Responsible people will always buy health care, colleges will always have students and never bat an eye lash about raising tuition. For the aforementioned CEOs, the money comes to them. People need to realize that with this job, Kelly will hustle like he always did. Personally, I think it never was about the money for Kelly, it was about the challenge. 
Last night, my wife had on “Inspector Lewis” on Masterpiece Mystery on TV 44. Throughout the show, there were three pre recorded breaks with the same two people giving the same spiel. Mrs. LuLac said that in her mind that funding model might be going the way of the Beta recorder. The endowment fund is at $700,000 or thereabouts. The old ways don’t seem to be working as well as they used to and because of its attack by the know nothings in Washington, it is at peril. Plus the public perception that “you can get what they have on Cable) is shuddering. I wonder how many of those people criticizing the station have even turned it on in the last ten years! 
If Public Broadcasting is to survive, (especially here in Northeastern Pennsylvania where our local news outlets are consistently challenged by quality issues,) we need a street fighter who will make it his personal mission to build that endowment fund. 
Salary be damned, bet on Bill Kelly. Unlike CEO’s making bigger salaries, he’ll go after what the station needs to not only survive and thrive, but he’ll get results.

The late John (Chickey) Watson. (John Watson Facebook page, Pamela Rivers photo ) 

JOHN WATSON 

I began working at the Sunday Dispatch when I was 14. The late William Watson Sr., the founder of the paper gave me an opportunity to write a rock and roll column. Whenever I’d stop in, I’d see this young man there who was always unfailingly polite and friendly. A few years later, I found out that his grandfather gave me my start and that his father, “Pidge” always mentored me when it came to knowing the inside outs of how a local newspaper was produced. At no time did John “Chickey” Watson ever tell me “Who he was!”. No chest thumping for that guy. 
He had a wry sense of humor, if I had his looks I’d never make it to my 40th birthday, and I never saw him raise his voice. His writing was even and measured and had a liberal bent He was not afraid to take on the powers that be, sometimes he was right, sometimes he was wrong, but he was always interesting. 
You never stopped reading a John Watson column in midstream. You finished it, read it twice and then passed it on to your wife or friends. 
For the past year, John and I communicated on the Facebook machine. A few weeks ago, he sent out a request to his friends from the Greater Pittston Area to write him a recommendation letter so he could find a better job in Seattle, his home since 1999. Here’s what I wrote: 
June 3rd, 2013 
To Whom It May Concern: 
Please accept this letter as an endorsement of Mr. John Watson for employment with your company. In this competitive job market, I feel compelled to tell you about Mr. Watson. I have known John for forty years. I was associated at a young age with his family business in the East, the Pittston Pennsylvania Sunday Dispatch. During my time there, John was an earnest worker, a talented editor and had great management and analytical skills that span every vocation. I believe John will be a great asset to your organization. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at ***-***-****. .
Sincerely, David S. Yonki ,  Wilkes Barre, Pa. 
John passed away last Thursday at an age that was way too young for his talents to leave this earth. If he got around to using my letter, the people who are now trying to contact him will realize they missed out on knowing and working with a great, smart, kind and fun human being. He will be missed.