51黑料

ST. LOUIS 鈥� Two months after embattled community radio station KDHX agreed to add two new members to its Board of Directors, it has unseated them.

At the pair鈥檚 first board meeting on Oct. 28, they were told they were suspended from the board and were escorted from the building.

One of the suspended directors, Kip Loui, said, 鈥淭he reasons for our suspension were unspecified, other than the notion that we had opened the station up to liability.鈥�

He added that he had sent an email to the other board members asking for financial statements, and that he had received no response.

Loui, resigned his position two days after he was suspended. The other suspended director, Courtney Dowdall, is still listed on station documents as a member of the board. She has agreed to a mediated meeting with the station, Loui said.

The story was first reported by 51黑料 Magazine.

Asked about the suspensions, the station鈥檚 executive director, Kelly Wells, said in a statement, 鈥淥ur commitment to bringing the power of music and education to listeners in 51黑料 and around the world has never been stronger.

鈥淲hile we continue to face financial challenges, our fall campaign engaged hundreds of first-time donors in new ways. We are asking people to stand with KDHX and champion independent, authentic programming in 51黑料.鈥�

The two-month fall campaign raised $62,000. Last year, the station had more than $1.2 million in expenses, according to its filings with the IRS.

The station has been in roiling water since last fall, when it fired 10 of its 80 volunteer disc jockeys in one day. At least 14 other on-air volunteers left in sympathy, along with others who worked behind the scenes.

A few days after the mass firings, the station鈥檚 association of volunteers, the Associate Members of KDHX, held a meeting and voted to replace the three members of the board that it gets to select with another group of three, including Loui and Dowdall.

Gary Pierson, the president of the board, briefly attended that meeting to announce that it was invalid because it had not been approved by the board. The Associate Members sued to get their representatives seated on the board.

This August, one day before the suit was set to go to trial, the sides came to a settlement. The board agreed to seat Loui and Dowdall, but not the third person who had been elected by the Associate Members group, Darian Wigfall.

The board鈥檚 first meeting after the settlement was Oct. 28. In the public portion of the meeting, the board warmly welcomed its new members, including Loui and Dowdall as well as station disc jockeys Ron 鈥淕. Wiz鈥� Butts and Tamika 鈥淟ady Jock鈥� Harvey.

Forty-five minutes later, Loui and Dowdall were suspended.