Kansas City Public Television this week trimmed seven people (one of them a part-timer) from its staff of 75. Contributions are down, and any surplus that former CEO Victor Hogstrom may have left in KCPT's coffers is long gone.
The casualties are "Ruckus" producer Eric Mater, production manager Larry Magariel, pledge producer Diana Hughes, volunteer coordinator Rhonda Johnston, preschool education director Dee Rusconi, Gina Gilbert in the finance department and viewer services coordinator Van Tran.
"Impacted employees have been offered job resource counseling and a severance package in accordance with organizational policy," read a statement passed along to me by KCPT's Kevin Worley. The statement also blamed "current economic conditions" for a drop in giving to Kansas City's only locally owned-and-operated TV station.
Obviously, the economy sucks. Non-profits across the city and nation are suffering a downturn in donations. But you have to wonder what role the factors that were in KCPT's control played in its current troubles. First, it abruptly lost its CEO. Did that impact local underwriting? Then interim CEO Susan Stanton killed off auction. Did that affect giving? And then the annual fundraiser under the stars was rained out. Would it have been worth coming up with a Plan B to avoid cancelling the event?
Lastly, here we are six months later, and still no permanent CEO.
But at least the search is moving along. The applications deadline was Dec. 5, and Worley said "we have many qualified candidates -- more than 60 resumes were submitted." Livingston Associates of Baltimore is coordinating the search along with a local committee. They hope to have an announcement in February and a new CEO in March.
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