Judge: Station KBBF violated bylaws

A Sonoma County judge has ruled that the former board of directors of Santa Rosa's bilingual radio station, KBBF, violated the station's bylaws in June when directors placed non-members on the board without a proper election.

The decision was hailed as a victory by a group of station members who sued the station's leadership in August in an effort to force changes within the Bilingual Broadcasting Foundation Inc., the nonprofit group that operates KBBF.

"The decision is the right one, because these people were seated as board members illegally," said Jesus Lozano, vice president of the newly elected board.

Lozano, a former station volunteer who owns an auto services business in Petaluma, is one of the key players behind the lawsuit, which was brought by a group calling itself Concerned Friends of KBBF.

KBBF, said to be the first bilingual station in the country, has been on the air since 1973. With a signal that reaches as far northeast as Yuba City and south to Santa Clara County, the station has served as a training ground for many of the area's Spanish-language radio professionals.

The court ruling, finalized Tuesday by Superior Court Judge Knoel Owen, could make former board directors financially responsible for legal costs incurred during the suit, said Gregory Wonderwheel, the attorney hired by Concerned Friends of KBBF.

Attorneys for the defendents declined comment after the hearing. Plaintiffs named in the suit include Maria Lemus, past president of the Sonoma County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; Jaime Pe?herrera, owner of the Santa Rosa hand-crafts import store Mi Arte Es Su Arte; and Felipe Ramirez, the station's general manager.

For the past five years, KBBF directors have failed to hold annual June elections open to members of the station as required by its bylaws. Instead, KBBF critics said that new board members often were chosen by existing board members. Tuesday's decision invalidated the last such election, held June 30.

When the dissident members threatened legal action, the station leadership agreed to hold open elections. That contest, held Sept. 4, led to the defeat of every previous board member, including Lemus, the board's interim president.

Lemus could not be reached for comment after the hearing Tuesday.