Skip to Main Content

University Communications California State University, Sacramento

Support Page Content

Capital Public Radio

Updates and information regarding Sacramento State's response to the CSU audit of Capital Public Radio.

Media contacts:

More resignations leave 7 on CapRadio Board of Directors

Oct. 11, 2023 - Sacramento State announced today that four more members of the Capital Public Radio Board of Directors have resigned, bringing to 19* the number of directors who have resigned since an audit of the broadcasting outlet showed widespread financial and operational problems.

The latest resignations leave six* directors on the board, including Nataly Andrade-Dominguez, president of Associated Students Inc. and the only remaining voting director who represents Sacramento State. Andrade-Dominguez joined the board during the summer of 2023. Interim General Manager Tom Karlo serves as an ex officio member.

Sac State does not anticipate other resignations from the current board.

Following publication of the audit done by California State University, Sac State announced that it had assumed operational control of CapRadio while ensuring that the outlet’s news and programming remained independent. More changes are anticipated as Sac State and CapRadio respond to recommendations in the CSU audit, and while they await results of a forensic examination commissioned by Sac State to determine underlying causes of CapRadio’s problems.

CapRadio operates using Sac State’s broadcasting license and is an official University auxiliary.

* The number of resignations increased to 19 and the number of board members remaining decreased to six based on the previously uncounted resignation of Cal Poly Humboldt's Frank Whitlatch. He resigned in August, but his resignation was not counted pending the naming of his replacement. It was later determined that the resignation should be included in the overall reporting.

President Wood responds to CapRadio board after resignations

Oct. 4, 2023 – President Luke Wood sent the following response to resigning members of the CapRadio Board of Directors:

"Thank you for your service and dedication to public broadcasting. These resignations are accepted. The University looks forward to working to ensure a stable future for Capital Public Radio."

Sacramento State opposes CapRadio Board’s vote to hire GM

Oct. 3, 2023 – The University has been notified of Capital Public Radio’s vote this evening to move forward in hiring a new general manager at the cost of nearly half a million dollars a year.

With the serious issues of accountability, financial processes and controls, and fiscal instability highlighted in the CSU audit, the board still decided to move forward with the hiring, despite the University’s request not to do so.

The student board representative, who is also the student body president, asked officers and members of the finance committee to resign, but no resignations have been confirmed.

As a public institution, we believe in transparency and accountability. We also believe in saving CapRadio.

The board has the right to hire a general manager, notwithstanding, the University, as CapRadio’s fiduciary in light of their ill financial health, does not support this decision and will not fund this hire.

President Wood appoints CFO as administrator in charge to CapRadio

Sept. 30, 2023 – Sacramento State President Luke Wood on Saturday appointed Jonathan Bowman, the University’s vice president for Administration and Business Affairs and Chief Financial Officer, to be administrator in charge to CapRadio.

The appointment follows an internal analysis of CapRadio’s finances that projects the University auxiliary will have no financial resources remaining in January 2024.

This finding follows a CSU system audit that revealed significant problems with CapRadio’s financial health, governance, and operations. As a nonprofit auxiliary, CapRadio cannot file for bankruptcy, and any debt accumulated is the ultimate responsibility of Sacramento State, its fiduciary.

Bowman is credited with identifying in 2021 the inconsistencies in CapRadio’s finances that led to the University requesting the CSU audit. He was appointed to the CapRadio board by then-President Robert Nelsen in early 2023. Bowman’s finance and accounting team assumed day-to-day CapRadio financial operations in August.

“I am a believer in public broadcasting and am committed to public media and to seeing CapRadio through this difficult time,” Bowman said. “I look forward to collaborating with interim General Manager Tom Karlo and CapRadio to address the issues identified in the audit, restore public trust in the station, create sound financial practices, and develop a new operating agreement with the University."

“I also believe strongly in preserving CapRadio’s journalistic and programming independence, which has made it a leading source of news in Northern California,” Bowman said.

In a video message on Friday, Wood assured the Sacramento State community that the University’s support of CapRadio “will not undermine our educational mission, our commitment to high-quality instruction, or diminish our capacity to serve our students, faculty, and staff.”

Wood also said he is grateful for the ongoing support of CapRadio donors and community members during this necessary transition.

“This course of action is designed to address and resolve areas of significant mismanagement and lax accountability within the auxiliary that are highlighted in the audit,” Wood said. “We are fighting to save CapRadio, and we must see this through.”

Help for CapRadio won’t hurt service to students, faculty, and staff

Sept. 29, 2023 – In light of the recent CSU audit, Sacramento State President Luke Wood reassures the campus community that the University’s significant – and necessary – financial and organizational assistance for Capital Public Radio will not diminish Sac State’s capacity to serve students, faculty and staff.

CSU audit of CapRadio

Sept. 27, 2023 – Sacramento State is instituting changes in financial oversight and management for University auxiliary Capital Public Radio (CapRadio) in response to findings from an organizational audit released today by the California State University (CSU) Office of Audit and Advisory Services. The CSU audit reveals substantial problems within the auxiliary, which operates as a popular public broadcasting outlet. Given these findings, operational management of CapRadio will be placed directly under University supervision, while the news and entertainment programming of the National Public Radio affiliate will remain independent.

This course of action is designed to address and resolve areas of significant mismanagement and lax accountability within the auxiliary that are highlighted in the CSU audit.

The findings detail long-standing issues, including a lack of financial and governance processes and protocols, lines of credit and loans secured without campus approval or CapRadio Board of Directors awareness, submission of inaccurate or incomplete financial information to the board, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, external auditors, and the University, and much more. Sacramento State’s financial team recognized discrepancies in financial statements and then-President Robert S. Nelsen subsequently requested the CSU organizational audit.

“I want to thank President Nelsen for requesting the audit last year, adding Sac State’s chief financial officer to the CapRadio board, and for committing the resources necessary to stabilize the station’s operations,” said President Luke Wood, who began his leadership of Sacramento State in July 2023. Nelsen requested this audit in 2022.

“One thing is abundantly clear: We have real and immediate work to do to ensure CapRadio’s financial controls and operational processes are disciplined, sound, and transparent going forward. The financial implications of CapRadio’s mismanagement have significant consequences for Sacramento State, but we will make it through,” Wood said.

“Now is the time for the community to continue its support for CapRadio. Given the changes the University and CapRadio board are putting into place, donors should feel confident moving forward that their generous contributions will be well stewarded.”

Although Sac State holds CapRadio’s broadcast license, what began as newsroom independence has evolved over the years into an organizational divide that must be remedied, Wood said. The University and CapRadio Board will work collaboratively to address the issues raised in the audit.

In August, at Wood’s urging, the board appointed Tom Karlo to serve as interim general manager of CapRadio. Karlo has 47 years of experience working in public media and expertise in addressing financial challenges. In addition, the president and his leadership team have developed and will work with CapRadio to implement a five-point plan to stabilize the station’s management, finances, and operations:

  1. Sacramento State will move the operational management of CapRadio under University supervision, including a forthcoming permanent general manager and several upper-management positions. A new chief content officer, who will oversee station programming, will remain an auxiliary employee, ensuring CapRadio’s journalistic independence.
  2. Sacramento State will oversee and manage CapRadio’s accounting department, endowment, and finances to ensure the auxiliary remains in compliance with CSU financial policies, procedures, and state law.
  3. Sacramento State will require CapRadio to rotate auditing firms on a biennial basis to ensure the auditing process remains unbiased.
  4. Sacramento State has commissioned a forensic examination to determine the origins and causes of CapRadio’s operational and financial problems.
  5. Sacramento State will require CapRadio to adhere to the auxiliary license and operating agreement, which requires the station to uphold its educational mission to benefit Sac State students.

President Wood acknowledged this is a difficult time for the organization’s staff and members.

“We are fighting to save our auxiliary,” Wood said. “CapRadio has been part of the fabric of Sacramento and northern California for decades. It is important to us to maintain the health and integrity of such a valuable and beloved media institution.”

The audit report can be found on the CSU website.