Sacramento State student president calls for resignations at Capital Public Radio

Days after Sacramento State officials announced that Capital Public Radio may be insolvent by January, the student member of CapRadio’s board of directors is asking for resignations of board officers and finance committee members.

In a letter to The State Hornet, the campus newspaper, Associated Students, Inc. President Nataly Andrade-Dominguez cited CapRadio’s financial difficulties and its lack of opportunities for students at the operation.

“I’m writing to you to publicly announce that I am requesting that the officers of the Capital Public Radio Board of Directors and the members of the Finance Committee resign,” she wrote to The Hornet. “I am asking for their resignations as a CapRadio Board member myself, and as ASI President, who serves as the sole representative for the entire student body at Sacramento State.

“I don’t want this to negatively impact our students, which is why I believe that these Board members should resign. As a recent audit shows, under their oversight, CapRadio has suffered financial instability, lack of accountability, lack of connections with Sac State students, and lack of willingness to work with University officials.

“I also point to poor board management and internal handling of this issue. I believe these resignations will serve the best interests of the Sac State community and especially of its students. It is clear the Board needs restructure and accountability in order for us to move forward.”

Andrea Clark, CapRadio’s board chair, issued a statement declining to comment directly on the move.

“While the board values the role of our Sacramento State student representative to CapRadio’s board of directors, we will not comment on one member’s statement to the media,” Clark said in a statement. “Any board member, including our six University appointees, is welcome to raise concerns with the board or with board members directly.

The call for the board’s resignation follows a tumultuous week in which an audit released by the California State University chancellor’s office found widespread financial mismanagement inside the operation.

The audit from the Chancellor’s Office of the 23-campus CSU system found widespread financial problems and lapses, including lax controls on employee credit card usage, a lack of documentation for some expenses and a failure to provide internships and training for university students.

The audit also found CapRadio had failed to tag all equipment valued at $500 or more, as required, with auditors discovering that five laptops or computers could not be found, and that in one group that was supposed to include 20 laptops valued at $757 each, only three could be found.

“We also found that a physical inventory had not been performed during our audit scope period, and CPR management could not recall the last time the inventory was performed,” auditors wrote. “CPR management stated that this was due to staff turnover and because much of the new equipment and furniture purchased for the downtown locations were not ready for use, as the locations were still being renovated.”

Auditors also found that outdated equipment was not removed from CapRadio ledgers and was instead being stored in the CapRadio building.

“During our walk through performed onsite, we noted that disposals consisting of old studio equipment, wires, cables, printers, chairs, computers, telephones, and more were stored in two rooms at the CPR building,” the audit said. “Proper administration of property and equipment decreases the risk that assets may be lost, stolen, or misrepresented in financial statements.”

The audit prompted university President Luke Wood to announce Sacramento State was taking over most of CapRadio’s operations other than journalistic and programming functions.

The university also said over the weekend that CapRadio’s finances are so dire that it may be insolvent by January.

Weeks before the release of the audit, the operation laid off 12% of its staff and cut programming.

Sacramento State holds the license for CapRadio, a National Public Radio member that operates KXJZ-FM (90.9) and KXPR-FM (88.9) and a network of repeater stations, including KUOP-FM (91.3). CapRadio also manages North State Public Radio, which has two stations owned by Chico State.