Volunteer and Donor Relations Director Andrea Dunn Departs KDHX
An open letter from The League Of Volunteer Enthusiasts (LOVE OF KDHX)
For immediate release.
OCTOBER 14, 2024 ST LOUIS, MO. KDHX Volunteer Director and longtime DJ Andrea Dunn announced her departure from the station on October 10th via Volunteer Connections, the internal KDHX newsletter. Along with her 23-year tenure as the on-air producer and host of Radio Rio, Dunn was employed in multiple management positions under besieged Executive Director Kelly Wells, including coordinating the station’s fundraising efforts, donor relations, and most recently volunteer connections, serving as Wells’ de facto lieutenant. No immediate replacement has been announced.
Dunn’s stated intention to find a better perch from which to serve the St. Louis community comes as much of the community that long supported KDHX remains up in arms over the station’s rejection of founding governance principles and the abandonment of many core members of its listener and volunteer bases. Dunn ascended as “Director of Volunteer Connection” as the station entered an unprecedented period of volunteer expulsion and exodus – with a corresponding plunge in operational transparency. Her period of donor relations saw the station decline from one of its healthiest financial states during the COVID crisis to the current disaster of persistent drop-off in listener, underwriting and grant support that now threatens the station’s continued existence. The only-recently posted 2023 Independent Financial Audit indicates that KDHX may be on its last legs.
Unfortunately, the climate of jargon and secrecy surrounding KDHX operations does not help us fairly evaluate Dunn’s responsibility in this state of affairs. The lion’s share of fault sits with Wells and officers of the Board of Directors, who refuse to hold her accountable. Not everyone involved with KDHX will view Dunn’s staff work there with the same rosy and positive thinking she provided in her letter of resignation, although she has been a personable and at least consistent staff presence. Within the current environment of KDHX, she will surely be missed. In a note to volunteers alongside Dunn’s message, Wells and fellow staffer Ronnie Wisdom heartily cited Dunn for “building a volunteer connections department that fosters true belonging.” Exiled and repeatedly maligned longtime volunteers and listeners cite her active collaboration in mutating KDHX operations to eliminate transparency, democracy, and accountability.
This key staff exit leads to a deeper question: how much more can KDHX endure under the current management?
It’s been over a year since Wells and Board President Gary Pierson dismissed ten volunteer DJs and Associate Members for criticizing their effectiveness in managing the station in concert with announcing a new strategic direction in KDHX programming, developed without the input of the Associate Members. Since that time, confidence from the community continues to drop as the station has faced a series of setbacks. On this day, October 14, in 1987 KDHX went on the air. Today would normally be a great celebration causing a surge in commitment and enthusiasm, but Dunn’s departure on the eve of KDHX’s 37th birthday, could be a tipping point. In light of cascading revelations about the station’s current status, our group of former programming volunteers and governance associates continues to demand a change in the station’s management. No organization can endure continual fiscal losses. Can real change occur before the KDHX our greater community knows and loves goes dark?
Local media reports have covered maintenance shortfalls to KDHX’s building and equipment, fines from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and missed staff paychecks. Sources suggest that the actual situation is much more dire. While Wells and company continue to trumpet the success in KDHX’s new service direction, no clear operational metric supports that assessment. Listenership ratings were crashing before Wells canceled the station’s Nielsen system subscription. Financials, publicly posted long past federally required timing, document that Wells has exhausted station cash reserves and is using credit cards to meet obligations.
The St. Louis local business and music communities have repeatedly challenged the accuracy of Wells’ claims to success in this “new strategic direction.” Could management truly capable of change have recruited, trained and welcomed today’s wave of new DJs without the derogatory exile of over a third of the station’s committed on-air volunteers? New talent could have been integrated – and even more diverse programming offered – without scrapping the listener and donor loyalty cultivated through literally hundreds of years of service from those who left because of the decisions of Wells and her deferential Board. Audience support, as measured in real dollar donations, does not support success claims. Wells’ self-styled racial equity embrace likewise rings false in light of pre-pandemic staff and volunteer discrimination and harassment complaints.
Fiscal and reputational harm to KDHX is grave under this Board’s watch. The Board of Directors expresses no concern, let alone criticism, at meetings that remain strictly virtual, with no opportunity for public comment. Minutes show patterns of regular absence for some members. Current President Gary Pierson refused to call, then denied validity of a key meeting of concerned Associate Members; during his tenure, KDHX Bylaws have been revised to disenfranchise Associates. Board members have no term limits; current Vice President Paul Dever has been on this Board for over 20 years. In this Board’s most recent election, Executive Director Kelly Wells participated in vetting candidates put forth for a vote by Associate Members.
Fortunately, KDHX added four new Directors to its governing Board, two forced upon it through legal action: Kip Loui and Courtney Dowdall representing the Associate Membership. Ray Finney and Franc Flotron are still listed as Directors despite being removed from the Board by the same legal action. In a reversal of policy designed to keep volunteers from having a voice on the board, DJs Tamika “Lady Jock” Harvey and Ronald “G. Wiz” Butts were appointed, although no meeting minutes confirm this action was done properly. The next KDHX Board of Directors meeting is scheduled for October 28 after withdrawal from public view since May.
Will they and Directors Joan Bray, Caryn Haddix and Jeffrey Fernhoff fulfill their fiduciary responsibility and vote to sustain KDHX into the future or continue to align with Wells, Pierson and Dever? Can an expanded KDHX Board restore responsible oversight of finances and operations? Will Andrea Dunn’s departure make space for transparency to return to KDHX? Will Kelly Wells be held accountable for documented failures? Stay tuned.
For more information, contact loveofkdhx@gmail.com.
The League Of Volunteer Enthusiasts of KDHX (LOVE Of KDHX), a non-profit organization, was formed at the end of September 2023 to help the station improve its ability to work with volunteers and to increase its connections to the community it serves. The League is committed to the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and believes KDHX can do a great deal beyond mere talking points to improve in all these areas.