In the midst of CapRadio’s financial troubles, the station’s Board of Directors and Sacramento State are now butting heads over how to move forward.The board wants to hire a new general manager, but the university said they cannot afford it.While the board of directors has not made a public statement, Sacramento State said the board voted Tuesday in a closed meeting to hire a new general manager despite opposition from the university.”We know that this is a community gem, and we want to make sure we see it through,” said Lanaya Lewis, a public information officer for Sacramento State.Lewis said the university is committed to saving CapRadio after an audit found the public radio station could be out of money to pay its debts by January. CapRadio is a nonprofit auxiliary of Sacramento State, which means it cannot file for bankruptcy, and any debt would ultimately be the university’s responsibility.”We’re assessing to see where improvements can be. We understand there has been some lack of oversight,” Lewis said.Sacramento State has since appointed Chief Financial Officer Jonathan Bownan as a CapRadio administrator to provide operational and financial oversight, but the organization’s board of directors still has hiring power, and it is trying to exercise that power.”Sacramento State was informed that the board decided to move forward with hiring a general manager,” Lewis said.She said the board moved to approve the new hire with a salary of more than $300,000 plus benefits, which Sac State said it would first have to pay before counting on CapRadio to pay it back. It is a cost Sac State said that the radio station cannot afford at this time. As a result, the university is refusing to fund the new hire. It is a decision Nataly Andrade-Dominguez agrees with. She is Sacramento State’s Associated Students Inc. President and a student representative on CapRadio’s Board of Directors.”I voted no. I also agree with Sac State’s statement that this is not the responsible thing to do,” Andrade-Dominguez said.She actually called on officers on the board to resign. Instead, a majority of board members voted on the new hire in a closed meeting on Tuesday.”This is not the right way to go about it,” Andrade-Dominguez said. “How can you be a campus auxiliary intended to serve the Sac State community and its students and not be transparent to them?”She believes the board broke public meeting rules.”They have to put out a 72-hour notice to the public, which includes an agenda,” she explained. “The meeting cannot start off in closed session. It has to open up as a public meeting and then state in the agenda when you’re going to a closed session. That did not happen.”In the face of criticism over a lack of transparency and accountability, officers on the board have stayed silent.KCRA 3 News tried to reach out to those officers via email on Tuesday and again on Wednesday. No one has responded.Following the closed meeting on Tuesday dealing with a personnel matter, the public has not been notified about who the board voted to hire if that person has already received an offer letter or which board members voted for and against the hire.In the meantime, the university said an interim general manager has been overseeing CapRadio’s news and music programming.
In the midst of CapRadio’s financial troubles, the station’s Board of Directors and Sacramento State are now butting heads over how to move forward.
The board wants to hire a new general manager, but the university said they cannot afford it.
While the board of directors has not made a public statement, Sacramento State said the board voted Tuesday in a closed meeting to hire a new general manager despite opposition from the university.
“We know that this is a community gem, and we want to make sure we see it through,” said Lanaya Lewis, a public information officer for Sacramento State.
Lewis said the university is committed to saving CapRadio after an audit found the public radio station could be out of money to pay its debts by January. CapRadio is a nonprofit auxiliary of Sacramento State, which means it cannot file for bankruptcy, and any debt would ultimately be the university’s responsibility.
“We’re assessing to see where improvements can be. We understand there has been some lack of oversight,” Lewis said.
Sacramento State has since appointed Chief Financial Officer Jonathan Bownan as a CapRadio administrator to provide operational and financial oversight, but the organization’s board of directors still has hiring power, and it is trying to exercise that power.
“Sacramento State was informed that the board decided to move forward with hiring a general manager,” Lewis said.
She said the board moved to approve the new hire with a salary of more than $300,000 plus benefits, which Sac State said it would first have to pay before counting on CapRadio to pay it back. It is a cost Sac State said that the radio station cannot afford at this time.
As a result, the university is refusing to fund the new hire. It is a decision Nataly Andrade-Dominguez agrees with. She is Sacramento State’s Associated Students Inc. President and a student representative on CapRadio’s Board of Directors.
“I voted no. I also agree with Sac State’s statement that this is not the responsible thing to do,” Andrade-Dominguez said.
She actually called on officers on the board to resign. Instead, a majority of board members voted on the new hire in a closed meeting on Tuesday.
“This is not the right way to go about it,” Andrade-Dominguez said. “How can you be a campus auxiliary intended to serve the Sac State community and its students and not be transparent to them?”
She believes the board broke public meeting rules.
“They have to put out a 72-hour notice to the public, which includes an agenda,” she explained. “The meeting cannot start off in closed session. It has to open up as a public meeting and then state in the agenda when you’re going to a closed session. That did not happen.”
In the face of criticism over a lack of transparency and accountability, officers on the board have stayed silent.
KCRA 3 News tried to reach out to those officers via email on Tuesday and again on Wednesday. No one has responded.
Following the closed meeting on Tuesday dealing with a personnel matter, the public has not been notified about who the board voted to hire if that person has already received an offer letter or which board members voted for and against the hire.
In the meantime, the university said an interim general manager has been overseeing CapRadio’s news and music programming.
