Local radio station KDHX and a group of station volunteers reached a settlement Friday ahead of a court hearing scheduled for Tuesday in St. Louis Circuit Court, according to a statement from the station’s public relations firm attributed to both sides.
Critics have been trying to appoint three volunteers to KDHX’s board since September. Station management has now agreed to appoint two of them to the board: Kip Loui and Courtney Dowdall. Darian Wigfall will not be appointed to the board at this time.
Volunteers at the station and Double Helix Corp., KDHX’s governing body, announced the settlement in a joint statement and said they would have no further comment.
Gary Pierson, the station’s board chairman, had previously argued that the volunteer-led meeting, in which attendees elected three new board members, had no legal basis. Pierson briefly attended but was interrupted by the chair of the meeting, who said the meeting was improper because it had not been properly called and he was not chairing it.
Friday’s agreement is unlikely to end a year-long conflict between some of the station’s supporters and KDHX’s leadership. has removed more than 20 DJs from the program in September 2023 after firing four long-time DJs earlier this year.
Pierson said at the time that most of the layoffs were necessary because the station’s continued involvement with DJs was incompatible with a renewed focus on diversity, equality and inclusion.
“We have pushed our organization in a broader and more inclusive direction. It is clear that some of our community do not agree with that,” Pierson said in September.
The broadcaster faced allegations of racism and sexual harassment in 2019, including allegations against CEO Kelly Wells, who still holds the position.
Many KDHX veterans would like to have more say in how the station is run and complain that the station has a smaller presence in the local music scene. Volunteers at the station say the problems are partly due to the top-down management style practiced by Wells and that station management has little interest in dissenting opinions and feedback. There has been no opportunity for public comment at recent board meetings.
Statements from KDHX executives touted the increasing diversity among DJs, which were replenished after a period when the weekly show schedule was full of vacancies.
The nonprofit broadcaster gained 31 new radio programs, 50 new volunteers and 400 new donors last year, the statement said Friday.
