On the air, WDVX is one of the best radio stations in town. But behind the scenes, staff turmoil threatens its future.
by John Sewell
Since the fall of 1997, there has been a different and truly alternative sound on local airwaves. Springing forth from a tiny camper located near Norris, Tenn., WDVX 89.9 FM has done much to remind locals of their rich musical heritage as well as keep the sound of new, real country music alive and well. Since its inception, the publicly supported station has played a key role in the resurgence of a strong scene focused on Americana music and all its variants. WDVX has done a lot to bring new life into the area radio atmosphere, providing the impetus for an indigenous cultural renaissance of sorts.
The sound of bluegrass music can sometimes be deceptive, however. Sure, there are plenty of happy bluegrass songs praising the simple, idyllic pleasures of love and country life. But oftentimes, the sprightly tempos and sunny harmonies belie fearsome and downright brutal lyrics of love gone bad, deception, and betrayal. This dichotomy is an apt metaphor for the internal struggles that have rocked the WDVX camper as of late.
First, as with any group project staffed mostly by volunteers, members have come and gone through the years, some leaving bitterly because of perceived unfairness, misunderstandings about station policy, and disputes over business affairs. In the last year, however, the turnover among volunteers has escalated, with many key players leaving in frustration because they felt their concerns were not being dealt with by the station's reigning force, the board of directors.
But the most recent dispute at WDVX is also the most alarming: One of the board members, Joe Chasteen, has submitted station records to the Tennessee Secretary of State, which has an office that monitors publicly supported organizations—though he won't say what, exactly, these documents contain. This move was soon followed by station manager and board president Tony Lawson announcing that Chasteen had been voted off the board—a move which Chasteen denies has even occurred. And if you ask the other three board members what's going on at the station, they won't tell you—because they either don't know or claim to be conducting their own "investigations."
Why is there is so much internal strife at such a small radio station—and can WDVX overcome these disputes to truly fulfill its potential as an important cultural force in the community?
The exodus of volunteers began en masse last year when longtime station enthusiasts Howell and Holly Doka severed ties with the organization, alerting local media to allegations of improper business practices and misuse of supporter donations. The Dokas claimed that station manager Lawson (one of the few people who receives a salary from the station) had traded on-air announcements for goods and services that benefited him personally. They also alleged that donated premiums (meant to be prizes for donors) had been given away to Lawson's friends, thus taking potential donations away from the station, among other charges.
A couple of weeks later, Benny Smith and his partner Shane Tymon, hosts of the popular Soppin' The Gravy bluegrass program, left WDVX. Smith had been involved with the station since its conceptual stages, promoting fund-raising concerts, aiding in the choice of format for the station and, most notably, bringing his radio show to the station from WQLA, Lafollette, which quickly became one of the most popular programs on the schedule.
Smith, a concert promoter, claims that he had heard rumors of problems from day one of his affiliation with Lawson.
"People on the original board kept dropping out and resigning and I wondered why," says Smith. "For five years [Lawson] had this song and dance saying people were out to get him. I've since found out that those people had caught him with hard proof that he had taken money...When we set up the station, Tony promised Shane and I that he would have no involvement in the money management of the station, yet he's ended up handling a lot of that and that's where the worst problems are."
After Smith started taking note of mismanagement similar to the charges made by the Dokas, he wrote to the board of directors pointing out the problems; he also suggested to the board that a business manager be hired to help things run more smoothly. According to Smith, the board agreed that this would be a good idea. Months later, when problems persisted and no business manager had been hired, Smith (with Tymon in tow) left the station.
According to Smith, the board of directors is essentially a cover for Lawson's total control of every facet of station activities (the board currently consists of Lawson, chief legal counsel John Bunnell, Marie Cirillo, treasurer Don Burggraff...and possibly Chasteen).
"It seems to me that the board was put together by Tony as a rubber stamp for him to get whatever he wants," says Smith. "We thought we were doing things with proper protocol, but that never really happened at WDVX. Tony never had board approval for hirings and firings, so I was wondering why there was even a board?"
Soon after Smith and Tymon left, board member Jack O'Hanlon ended his involvement in the station. O'Hanlon did not respond to requests for comment on his reasons for resigning.
The next piece to fall from the WDVX puzzle was Kim Hudson, a long-standing DJ on the station who hosted a popular lunchtime program. She is among the former members of WDVX's inner circle that claims Lawson used money earmarked for the benefit of the station for himself. "Tony has a hard time telling the truth and I can't work for someone who won't do that," she says. "I didn't want to leave the station. I loved my job and I'd love to get it back, but Tony Lawson was just a snake in the grass. I wouldn't go back as long as Tony Lawson is involved."
The man behind all this turmoil is a longtime local radio figure who has spent the last five years struggling to make WDVX a reality. Life as a professional DJ is, at best, an unpredictable proposition, and Lawson served at several nearby stations (WIMZ and U-102 among others) in different markets and formats. Lawson first met Benny Smith in 1993 at WQLA, and the two shared a love for bluegrass. They soon joined forces in selling ads for the Soppin' The Gravy program (Smith's show)—but, Smith says, WQLA disputed Lawson's ad revenue percentages due to the station; Smith and Lawson eventually left to form their dream station, WDVX.
Now station manager and sole guiding force, Lawson maintains that all of the allegations made by former volunteers are mere sour grapes by people who wanted to use the station as a vehicle for their own purposes. Lawson describes the recent departure of several volunteers as typical for an organization that relies on so much unpaid work.
"Well, I think so many people who have their own agendas have left recently—people who don't share the 'we' part of the radio station," says Lawson. "We have a very good team here right now. The things that I do here are in the best interests of the radio station and that's the most important thing. It's not the individuals, it's the radio station that is important. What we need is good teamwork, and that is something that we have at the present time. I think if you talk to any person that's on the air right now, you'll find that. We probably have some disgruntled people out there because they didn't get what they wanted out of the radio station, but that's them. That's not me, that's not us: that's them."
Lawson goes on to say his primary focus is not keeping all the volunteers happy. "What is my business is the things in the best interest of the radio station and to handle things in the most upright way as we possibly can. There's no way we're going to make everybody happy, and I would like to see any radio station, TV station or newspaper that could do that."
One board member (or former member) who claims he has an agenda for the truth is Joe Chasteen. After O'Hanlon resigned from the board of directors, Chasteen found documents he claims demonstrate that unscrupulous business practices have indeed been carried out by the station, particularly involving Lawson. Chasteen says he had heard rumors for years, but was not moved to act until he had hard proof of shady dealings. Chasteen turned the mysterious documents over to the Division of Charitable Solicitations, a wing of the office of the Secretary of State. The agency has since asked for additional materials from WDVX to review before deciding whether to launch a full-scale investigation.
"I think a lot of people are very unhappy with that situation [with Lawson] and I don't see anything changing," he says. "We had a board meeting a while back and I practically had to jump on the table to get anybody's attention. My posture is that after Jack O'Hanlon resigned, I became privy to some information that I couldn't swallow."
Chasteen wouldn't divulge the exact nature of the documents, saying that he would allow the state to go through them and take action if necessary.
"Basically I've brought this to the state's attention to clear my name and to do what I think is ethical," says Chasteen. "Anything I've done was based on hard-core evidence, not on anything I don't actually have in my hands. I have original documents."
Asked about Chasteen's submission of station records for review by the Division of Charitable Solicitations, Lawson replied that Chasteen has actually been removed from the board as of two weeks ago.
"Joe Chasteen was voted off the board and Joe refused to accept his resignation, and that's the last of any activity dealing with Joe Chasteen that I'd know of," says Lawson.
"Joe was removed because he was doing some things that misrepresented the board. We felt as a board that he was completely out of line with the bylaws of the corporation. For example, at the NAB [a radio organization] convention in Las Vegas he has represented himself as the executive director of the corporation, and we don't even have a position as an executive director."
As to the allegations of his using station funds for his own purposes, Lawson says that these are manufactured to discredit him and have no base in reality. "I'm completely aware of where you're getting this information from, and that's completely false," says Lawson. "I think you'd have to talk to our treasurer about that. He's the one that writes the checks."
Twenty different attempts over the past week to contact treasurer Don Burggraff by phone failed.
"I will talk with anybody who wants to speak with me about anything here at the radio station," says Lawson. "If they want to look at our public file, it's available during office hours anytime at the Clinton Public library. We have an audit that was just done on the organization, and that's our current audit through the last fiscal year, and it's there. We're open to whoever wants to talk to us."
Such audits, however, do not contain information about "barter" items such as donated premiums, which Lawson has been accused of using for his own benefit. Board member Marie Cirillo says she personally doesn't know of any instances where Lawson did this, but that it is conceivable since such donations are not recorded.
"Well you see, in our area of the woods where we don't have much money, we call that barter," Cirillo says. "And if any accountant can show and demonstrate how bartering can be recorded...that's a tricky one. I can imagine that he (Lawson) might have done that. But no auditor has figured out how to put those kinds of things on a financial sheet."
Meanwhile, Chasteen adamantly denies that he has been voted off the board of directors. "I am still a member of the board," insists Chasteen. "That's a rumor that Tony's been spreading. I have not left or been removed from the board, I have no intention of leaving, and that's all I have to say about it."
Cirillo was reticent to speak about the supposed removal of Joe Chasteen, and says she was also unaware of Chasteen's turning over station records for review by the state.
"I know there have been some problems, but there have been some good things as well," says Cirillo. "I think Tony, like everybody else, has problems. I don't think he's been dishonest. I knew him when he started the program, and for years he worked with nothing. And so I've admired his vision and his persistence. I also know he is the greatest strength of the station and that we need to find the right kind of team to make it all work right. I have a sense that there are more people pleased than not pleased. Now, if there is a serious problem with the solicitation, I will check that right away with Tony. Because the board should know and we should take action."
Cirillo does admit that the structure of the station has some intrinsic flaws that have contributed to the present problems facing WDVX.
"Sometimes I don't even know what's going on at a board meeting and that is part of the problem," says Cirillo. "The secretary is supposed to get out minutes and agendas, and I would say, as a board, that we may have made a mistake by having Tony both the manager and the chair of the board. But they [the board] voted it in, they could have voted it out. They have the power, as did I. All that I'm saying is that there have been some unpleasant things, but I think that it can't all be finger-pointed at Tony.
"When I hear about [Lawson's] control, what I think about is what is his vision, and how is he trying to keep that on target so this station will be what is has to be to be different and credible. Tony worked that thing like a dog for two or three years without getting a cent."
WDVX board member and chief legal counsel John Bunnell says he prefers not to comment on the problems facing the station, including whether or not Joe Chasteen had been removed from the board.
"I am conducting my own investigation on these issues," says Bunnell. "From what I understand, Mr. Lawson contends that he (Joe Chasteen) is not on the board. I will have to consult the minutes to see if that situation has been handled correctly, and that is why I am not talking to the media."
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