Tom Karlo has resigned his position as CapRadio’s interim president and general manager, but will remain on as a “special consultant,” the station’s board of directors announced following an emergency closed session meeting Thursday night.
The former top executive at KPBS in San Diego has been with the Sacramento NPR member station since August and has overseen layoffs and navigated the release of a devastating audit detailing years of financial mismanagement by previous leadership.
The station says it has seen ratings and revenue growth in recent months, but is “still in a precarious financial position” because of ongoing debt obligations and costly downtown building projects for a new headquarters and performance space.
“This moment is bittersweet for me,” Karlo said in a press release. “CapRadio is in a much better place than it was six months ago, but there is still a long road ahead for the organization.”
Karlo’s last day at CapRadio will be Feb. 29. He will be replaced as interim president and general manager by Frank Maranzino, the station’s director of technology, who the board delegated authority to work with them to “reorganize the upper management of the organization as necessary.”
Karlo’s announcement and the board’s appointment of Maranzino came in an “Emergency Closed Session” meeting Thursday evening, and was announced following the closed session.
In a statement, Sacramento State President Luke Wood thanked Karlo, saying he built “a much stronger foundation” for the station. Sac State holds the FCC license for CapRadio, which is an auxiliary of the university.
“Tom worked tirelessly to stabilize operations and rally community support during a difficult time,” Wood said. “Ten years from now, when we look back and CapRadio is still going strong, it will be because of Tom Karlo’s time as GM at CapRadio.”
Karlo’s departure is the latest in a series of leadership changes over the past few years for CapRadio, which has been without a permanent general manager for nearly nine months as it navigated increasing financial challenges and an audit which has threatened community trust in the public radio station.
Rick Eytcheson retired as general manager in 2020 after serving in that role since 2006. He was replaced by Jun Reina, a longtime CapRadio employee who had been the station’s chief operating officer and chief financial officer. Eytcheson stayed on at the station as president emeritus until June 30, 2023.
In March 2023, the CapRadio board announced that it would begin a search for a new general manager, with Reina staying on until the new leader was in place. Reina left CapRadio in June 2023.
Karlo joined CapRadio as interim-GM in August 2023 after serving as general manager of San Diego’s NPR and PBS station KPBS from 2009 through 2020, when he retired following a 47-year career in public media.
At the end of August, the station announced it would lay off 12% of its staff — including at North State Public Radio in Chico, which CapRadio also operates — and cancel four music programs.
Then in September, the California State University Chancellor’s office released an audit detailing years of financial mismanagement at the station and called into question its ability to pay for the planned downtown expansion.
CapRadio's planned office space at 730 I Street is pictured on Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023.Claire Morgan/CapRadio
Following the audit, Sac State officials announced the university would oversee CapRadio finances. In October, the university announced it would not support hiring a new general manager or fund the position after the station’s board of directors voted to continue with the hiring process.
A position profile for the president and general manager position listed the salary range as “$250,000 to $325,000, commensurate with experience, plus a full benefits package.” Reina reported $280,112 in salary and other compensation in the station’s 2021 fiscal year filing.
More than a dozen board members resigned soon after the university’s announcement, citing "a failure of Sac State to inform and engage with the board in a good faith effort to resolve CapRadio's financial issues."
CapRadio and Sac State have yet to replace the departed members, though an agenda for a board meeting scheduled for Feb. 21 lists “Voting in of new board members” as an item. Mark Wheeler, chief of staff for Sac State President Luke Wood, said at the board meeting Thursday that a list of potential board members would be released publicly “very soon.”
Last month staff in Sacramento and at NSPR in Chico announced plans to unionize under the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians–Communications Workers of America Local 51.
Speaking on CapRadio’s Insight in December, Karlo said he expected to stay with the station through May, which was also how long he estimated the station’s reserves would last at the time.
“It'll be up to President Wood, and hopefully a new reconstituted board, to make a decision on moving forward,” Karlo said.
Sac State has also hired a third-party firm to conduct a forensic examination of CapRadio. In an emailed statement the station said there is not an update when that will be completed.
“When the examination is complete, Sacramento State will share as much as possible by law,” the statement reads.
Disclosure: This story was reported and written by News Editor Chris Hagan and edited by Digital Editor Claire Morgan. Following NPR’s protocol for reporting on itself, no CapRadio corporate official or news executive reviewed this story before it was posted publicly.
Clarification: A previous version of this story included information from a December interview with Tom Karlo where he incorrectly described a future examination of CapRadio. The report will be a “forensic examination.” We have replaced it with a new statement provided by CapRadio.
Editor’s note: CapRadio is licensed to Sacramento State, which is also an underwriter.
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