On October 16, 2007, Rice County District Court Judge Gerald Wolf issued two Orders. The first Order and Memorandum [PDF, 12 pages] indicates that the Judge is holding a decision on the St. Olaf Amended Petition pending the result of a full investigation by a special master appointed by the second Order Appointing a Special Master [PDF, 3 pages].
The appointment of a special master and a full investigation is exactly one of the remedies SaveWCAL attorney Michael McNabb had requested of the court – first in his February 27, 2007, Letter Brief [PDF, 5 pages] and later during the hearing itself. Here are some highlights from the Order:
- It appoints retired Washington County District Court Judge Gary Meyer (now an associate of retired Minnesota State Supreme Court Justice James Gilbert at the Gilbert Mediation Center) as the special master.
- The special master shall investigate and determine the amount of assets and donations that are attributable to WCAL, including those outlined in the Amended Petition.
- The special master shall determine how the donations attributable to WCAL have been held, how they should have been held and whether or not the donations were used for their intended purpose.
- St. Olaf College shall cooperate fully with requests of the special master, including, but not limited to, opening all records regarding donations given to the WCAL charitable trust.
- The Attorney General, St. Olaf College, and SaveWCAL attorney Michael McNabb shall participate in and cooperate with the investigation.
- St. Olaf College shall be solely and fully responsible for all costs incurred in the investigation, including full compensation of the special master.
The Order is already being reported in the press:
- Judge orders investigation of assets in WCAL case (City Pages)
SaveWCAL reminds readers that the current Rice County District Court Petition regarding WCAL charitable trust assets was initiated and filed by St. Olaf College, not SaveWCAL. On March 8, 2007, SaveWCAL attorney Michael McNabb received the permission of the court to participate in the hearing. The Rice County District Court Order of October 16, 2007 confirmed the standing of SaveWCAL as a representative of the WCAL donors.
{ 31 comments… read them below or add one }
GOOD WORK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The court's lack of a clear decision against St. Olaf means that the issue will be mediated. The lack of a clear decision against them is a huge win for St. Olaf.
I am stunned, gratified, and proud!
These orders are far more inclusive than I thought possible or practicable. My pragmatic approach to the WCAL controversy and possible outcomes did not foresee Judge Wolf coming to these orders. McNabb's trained and scrupulous stewardship of the charitable statutes and obligations of a trustee have brought this outcome. Thank you very much for your unceasing devotion to duty!
Of SaveWCAL, likewise I am so very thrilled that this organization and its leadership have brought principles and unabashed affection to bear on the trust and responsibility for WCAL that was sorely neglected by St. Olaf College.
This is a public relations disaster for the college. The court is calling for a full investigation of St. Olaf's actions and opens some doors that the College didn't want opened. What a shame for St. Olaf as it all could have been avoided with different decisions all along the way.
Get all the facts before you make a decision.
How can this be a win if the firm who will be doing the mediation is run by an Ole who was publicly for the sale? According to the ruling, St. Olaf is paying all costs of this investigation, who do you think the mediator is going to rule in favor of? Think about it people- this is a huge win for the College.
What a Victory! Your efforts were not in vain.
I totally disagree with a previous poster who said this is not a clear decision. It seems very clear to me what the judge is saying is that he believes St. Olaf College was wrong in handling these charitable trusts and now he wants this special "Master" to go in and open the books and figure out the dollar amount. Keep in mind the court is ordering St. Olaf to pay for all these expenses.
This is a devastating blow to St. Olaf College and a total public embarrasement to the institution since they are the ones who initiated these court proceedings. Just wait until this hits the fan in the Twin Cities papers and in the ELCA news wires. I know earlier this summer on some national ELCA blogs there were some who were calling for censure of the St. Olaf Board of Regents.
I greatly admire SaveWCAL's guts and determination. Keep your great witness of endurance of the kind of Hebrews 12:1-13.
I would think the era of Board of Regents and administrative smugness about the sale is now over. Clearly, these things don't occur when everything smells like roses.
Are you raising questions about the integrity and impartiality of the special master who has been appointed by the court? Are you saying that the the head of the mediation firm, even if faced with clear evidence to the contrary, will require an employee to write a false report that benefits St. Olaf? Are you saying that the special master and the firm he works for can be "bought" by St. Olaf? If so, those are very serious charges indeed. Or are you just cynical about the justice system?
Does any of this mean we will get WCAL back? Isn't the current MPR station an irrevocable fait accompli? Yes, I resent the loss of the moneys I contributed to WCAL and resent the loss of that programming, but can that which was lost ever be restored to us? It would be nice should the knuckleheads who got us into this fine mess be held accountable, but is this all to be derived from this exercise?
Actually I said none of those things at all. Look at the order- it is putting the decision into the hands of the Special Master. It is not a clear cut win.
For the sake of argument, let's say for a minute that it is a clear cut win. Does this mean that now, finally, SaveWCAL can get to determining how it wants to encourage the formation of a new station? This constant browbeating of the St. Olaf administration, while fun for many of you I'm sure, isn't getting a new station on the air.
I'm willing to suspend my cyncism of this process completely and refocus my energy towaards that goal. Anyone else here feel the same?
Thank you to SaveWCAL and particularly to Michael McNabb for the tenacity that led to what seems clearly to be good news for us.
Thank you so much, Mr. McNabb! Time for St. Olaf's books to see the light of day. That's so satisfying!
JB in OH
I have to disagree that this order is a "Huge Win", for that would have been an order which granted everything St. Olaf asked for in its petition by repudiating the arguments of the Attorney General and SaveWCAL's attorney Michael McNabb.
I recommend you review SaveWCAL's submissions to the court which alternatively ASKED the court to appoint a special master to do what the court has now ordered to be done. So it is fair to see this as a "win" for the SaveWCAL advocates.
But in a more magnanimous sense, it can also be a win and an opportunity for St. Olaf. That is, it allows St. Olaf to proceed cooperatively with the review by the special master. We do not know what the outcome will be, but eventually St. Olaf and SaveWCAL might both say that this is where following the law brought us, and we accept it.
I am confident in the process of mediation, the clarity of the law regarding charitable trusts, the intentions of the WCAL donors, and the awesome responsibility of St. Olaf as a trustee. So I do not believe that when this is finished St. Olaf will have achieved all that its leaders hoped for when they sold WCAL. I do believe that the mission and purposes of WCAL through the years will be continued well into the future.
Successful organizations these days often have servant leaders. Even though we may share some reservations about Wikopedia, their definition of servant-leadership will suffice here. According to this source, servant-leadership emphasizes the leader's role as steward of the resources (human, financial and otherwise) provided by the organization. It encourages leaders to serve others while staying focused on achieving results in line with the organization's values and integrity.
As a business professor I have observed that contrasting organizations operate arrogantly in a mindset that to them seems to value blind loyalty and subservience. Stewardship is a foreign concept here. Leaders are more likely to value usership. The organization's assets are theirs to use in the manner "they" prefer. Lead, follow, or get out of the way is the prevailing culture.
One is inclusive, the other exclusive. With respect to this "case study," readers know most of the facts, and can come to their own conclusions with regard to St. Olaf's past and present administration. We also await the weigh-in of the special master.
A current smell test would be the following: If St. Olaf looked you in the eye and assured you that your forthcoming contribution would be earmarked in the future for the interest you intended, would you place your trust in their ability to exercise prudent fudiciary responsibility?
Congratulations to SaveWCAL, and especially high praise for Michael McNabb for an act of astounding legal alchemy. This is also good for the College as well in so far as they will be held accountable for their actions.
SaveWCAL was the only party in the case to request that a special master be appointed and that a full investigation take place. St. Olaf has no desire for a full investigation, so the court Order is definitely not a "win" for them by any stretch of the imagination. The AG might not be thrilled either, as an investigation might reveal some things they won't be happy about.
You are, as they say, "late to the party" – but glad to hear that you finally want to join those who have already been focused and steadfastly working towards the goal of saving WCAL since August 2004. Now hang up your coat and get to work! :-)
GOOD WORK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm in. As for being late to the party, I was a supporter and a student employee of WCAL in the 1980s so I know it and these issues as well as anyone else here.
Someone please tell me SaveWCAL's plan for starting another station and I will work on that plan.
> A current smell test would be the following: If
> St. Olaf looked you in the eye and assured you
> that your forthcoming contribution would be
> earmarked in the future for the interest you
> intended, would you place your trust in their
> ability to exercise prudent fudiciary
> responsibility?
In a word: NO
I am completely in awe of what you all have done and are doing. Oles and Others. Even now, there is not a day that I don't lament the loss of WCAL. Occasionally, I tune in to That Other Station — usually when Steve Staruch or Melissa Ousley are announcing. Overall, it's WCAL Lite. But then you
already know that, don't you?! Thanks for your amazing work.
Order and Memorandum: PDF pages 12.
You state that St. Olaf is registered with the Attorney General as a charitable trust. Okay, how did they sell the station WITHOUT prior consent of the Attorney General's office then?
The sale is VOID…without this.
Special Master..the document frequently references "WCAL charitable trust funds." Judge Wolf, did you in fact rule that WCAL is a charitable trust? If so, see part one of the discussion.
To discuss the assets from this, in my opinion is nonsense. The law is very clear on the role of the Attorney General's Office here…why waste time with asset distribution…….when step one of the process for a charitable trust was violated.
What documents besides the Oct. 16 Court Order will the Special Master use in his investigation? Records of the 3 Hearings, including questions and answers from the various witnesses? Documents submitted for the Hearings? Comments/objections of attorneys to various lines of questioning? Will he call any in-person witnesses to get more in depth information than what paperwork can give him?
Can we get it back? Yes, the possibility is even more possible now! I hope SaveWCAL posts some of the possible outcomes soon. In the Old Testament, Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers — but he rose to even greater prominence and was benevolent to those responsibile for his misfortune. Wouldn't it be great if WCAL (and SaveWCAL) could effect the same kind of wonderful ending to this story?!
I don't think there should be pats on the back yet. The Special Master's investigation could turn up no wrongdoing at all, in which case the judge can rule summarily that no trust laws were violated. This is far from over.
Just read pages 10-12 of Judge Wolf's order and memorandum… From those pages it is clear how the court and MN attorney general's office are leaning. From these pages it seems clear that precedent argues that St. Olaf will never ever see this money. They'll either have to find a way to return it to the original donors, where possible; or, more likely, they'll have to put it toward the use for which its donors intended: running a radio station or at least producing radio content.
I'd go so far as to say that the memo leaves open the possibility of future court action to address whether the law was broken when, for example, assets like the radio tower–built with donor funds–was sold to MPR.
Folks,
While the Tower is a unique & tangible property, is there a receipt, a deed – some legal documentation that WCAL built it with donor funds? If so, isn't selling it like selling a campus building . . . .
SaveWCAL responds:
http://savewcal.net/2000/04/30/ground-breaking-for-rosemount-tower/
It was built through donations to WCAL from donors and foundations in 1991; it was not built by the college. This is well-documented in the public record. By the way, the tower and the frequency was what MPR was really after for years.
That reminds me, does anyone remember the promos they did when they built the tower? They were really cool, they even had like a mini-series with some guy who was obsessed with building it.