Sacramento’s public media organizations have received payments outlined in a settlement agreement that put an end to a nearly two-year fight over the ownership of an Elverta broadcasting tower.
The agreement was announced earlier this year between CapRadio, PBS affiliate KVIE and the Capital Public Radio Endowment, a separate nonprofit incorporated in 1986 to support the public radio station. The settlement included monetary payments and property exchanges between the parties.
CapRadio’s Chief Marketing and Revenue Officer Chris Bruno confirmed the radio station received $1.1 million in settlement funds from the endowment, which he characterized as “now-dissolved.”
Bruno also said CapRadio received and recorded the formal deed of ownership for the Elverta property, which houses CapRadio’s primary news broadcasting tower, on June 16.
CapRadio General Manager Frank Maranzino said in a statement the public radio station will direct its share of the settlement funds, “into reserves to bolster our long-term operations and sustainability.”
According to documents obtained by CapRadio reporters through a public records act request, KVIE President and General Manager David Lowe executed a deed on May 13 releasing title and interest in the Elverta property to CapRadio. A check for $1.1 million from the endowment was also cashed by CapRadio that same month.
In an email, Lowe told CapRadio his station “fulfilled its settlement obligations and received the Endowment’s donation.” The agreement allocated $900,000 in endowment funds for the PBS station.
“Consistent with the Endowment’s donor intent, KVIE will use the donation in support of KVIE’s mission to serve the Sacramento region through public media, including KVIE’s Abridged reporting,” Lowe wrote.
Officials from CapRadio, KVIE and the endowment previously declined to provide additional comment about the settlement, citing terms of the agreement.
A years-long feud
The dispute between CapRadio, KVIE and the Capital Public Radio Endowment stretched back to the beginning of the radio station’s financial crisis in 2023, following the release of a damning audit by the California State University’s Chancellor’s Office.
The audit flagged the relationship between the endowment and CapRadio, labeling the former organization “unauthorized,” and recommended integrating the endowment with a Sac State auxiliary meant for investing and distributing funds.
CSU auditors had previously raised concerns about the “interrelationship” between CapRadio, the Capital Public Radio Endowment and another nonprofit as far back as 2011. In 2013, the endowment also changed its bylaws to no longer solely provide funding to CapRadio, but to also support similar entities.
CapRadio's broadcasting tower in Elverta.David Born/CapRadio
The endowment’s board released a public letter on March 19, 2024 addressed to Sac State President Luke Wood and senior advisor Mark Wheeler calling for a merger between CapRadio and KVIE. The organization also said it discovered “significant deferred maintenance” at the CapRadio broadcasting tower in Elverta. Sac State and CapRadio ultimately refused to budge.
Just over a week later the endowment donated the tower and land to KVIE. CapRadio had maintained its ownership of the tower and land, pointing to a 1990 lease agreement.
Station officials said days later the endowment had “overstepped in concerning ways” in an attempt to “publicly force an ill-planned merger.”
The dispute reached the court system later that year after KVIE filed a civil lawsuit on Oct. 21, 2024, in Sacramento County Superior Court. CapRadio countersued shortly afterward.
The settlement
The “comprehensive settlement agreement” between CapRadio, KVIE and the Capital Public Radio Endowment was announced in a joint statement on March 16, following a period of mediation.
Details around its terms were not disclosed. CapRadio reporters received the full agreement following a public records act request.
The settlement identified the monetary allocations made to CapRadio and KVIE, but did not specify why those specific amounts were to be paid. KVIE would also transfer the Elverta property and tower to the public radio station, with the settlement stating the PBS affiliate has the “power and authority” to do so.
The Capital Public Radio Endowment’s board would also vote to voluntarily dissolve the organization and transfer its assets. The agreement established an approximately $300,000 cash reserve for the Capital Public Radio Endowment to wind down operations and dissolve itself. Any funds remaining after the winding down would then go to CapRadio.
The California Office of the Attorney General’s Registry of Charities and Fundraisers notes that a dissolution waiver has been issued for the Capital Public Radio Endowment. The nonprofit’s status was previously listed as “delinquent” for not submitting annual reports and/or renewal fees.
The AG’s website notes a letter filed by an attorney for the endowment on April 29 requesting the waiver.
The filing also includes a consent document signed by five endowment board members — President Dan Brunner, Richard Osen, Brian Witt, Greg Sazima and Linda Brandenburger — on March 27 agreeing to dissolve the nonprofit “and take all necessary and appropriate actions to dissolve and wind up.”
The Capital Public Radio Endowment listed its cash assets at $2,777,798.75 as of March 31.
The endowment board also voted to abandon the nonprofit’s interest in a timeshare property located in Olympic Valley after determining it has “no realizable net value” and would impose additional financial burdens. Documents filed with the AG’s office state the endowment received the property as a charitable donation in 2016.
CapRadio reached out to Brunner and former board member Buzz Wiesenfeld for comment regarding the organization’s dissolution and the funding set aside for winding down operations, but did not receive a response by time of publication.
CapRadio officials said the station has not yet received any additional money related to the dissolution.
This story was reported and written by Senior Producer Sarit Laschinsky. It was edited by Editor Sally Longenecker.
Following NPR’s protocol for reporting on itself, no CapRadio corporate official or news executive reviewed this story before it was posted or broadcast.
You can read our independent ongoing coverage of financial issues at Capital Public Radio here.
Editor’s note: CapRadio is licensed to Sacramento State, which is also an underwriter.
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