Arlington Independent Media has paid a visit to the county’s radio room, but the organization’s FM station isn’t back on the air just yet.
The county allowed the struggling nonprofit to access its transmission room — with supervision — today (Thursday), county spokesperson David Barrera told ARLnow this afternoon.
AIM President Amanda MacKaye confirmed to ARLnow that the group’s technical director “met with county staff today, but they were very limited regarding what he was permitted to do.”
This followed the public release of an audit of AIM’s finances last week, which revealed substantial gaps and errors in how the organization handled roughly $2 million in public funds.
The investigation suggested that AIM — under the leadership of former CEO Whytni Kernodle — failed to provide adequate documentation for over $1 million in expenditures, including payments to dozens of third-party contractors.
Barrera clarified that the apparent financial mismanagement won’t be leading to any criminal charges.
“At the referral of the County Board, AIM’s actions were investigated by law enforcement and reviewed by a special prosecutor appointed by the Commonwealth Attorney,” he said. “The special prosecutor, external to Arlington County, determined no criminal charges were to be filed.”
Despite the public scrutiny, AIM’s current leadership has continued its fight to regain access to the radio room in the Bozman Government Center. The nonprofit risks losing its license for WERA 96.7 if it can’t resume broadcasting by March 21.
“AIM technical personnel must immediately be permitted access to the room as we have had for ten years,” AIM Vice President Jennifer Hiemstra wrote in a Feb. 7 email to County Board Chair Takis Karantonis. “Arlington citizens deserve an end to the County’s delays and stalling which threaten this valuable community asset.”
Barrera, however, said that complying with the group’s requests “has not been as simple as holding the door open.”
He said that AIM “physically removed transmitting equipment from the County’s radio room” when it laid off its entire staff last year. He added that AIM has failed to renew its commercial general liability insurance, which is particularly important because the county’s emergency communications equipment is also located in the radio room.
Moreover, Barrera noted that while the county controls the radio room, JBG Smith controls access to the antenna on the government center’s roof. AIM used to have a lease agreement with the property owner but it has lapsed.
The County Board has had a somewhat touch-and-go relationship with AIM since it froze funding for the organization last year.
County leaders set aside $260,000 in “one-time funding to be matched by AIM’s fundraising efforts” in the Fiscal Year 2025 budget. But they raised questions about their future relationship with the nonprofit following the release of the audit report.
“The findings are alarming, and we are reevaluating our relationship with, and future financial support of, AIM,” Barrera said last week. “The Board takes very seriously our responsibility to be good stewards of County finances and taxpayer money.”
Historically, much of AIM’s funding came from Public, Education and Government (PEG) funds that the county receives through cable franchise agreements and thus, Arlington cable subscribers. In Fiscal Year 2023, $627,531 of AIM’s budget came from PEG funds, while $381,579 came from the county’s general fund.
The county is still considering what it would do with PEG funds if they don’t go to AIM, Barrera said. There are limits to how the county can use this funding, which has been shrinking in recent years as more residents have cut their cable subscriptions.
Other PEG funding recipients include Arlington Video Group — the county’s visual communications channel — and ConnectArlington, a fiber-optic network linking buildings owned by the county and Arlington Public Schools.
Faced with funding uncertainty, AIM has primarily focused recent messaging on WERA, rather than its original purpose: a public access TV channel.
MacKaye was unable to provide more information on AIM’s plans before publication time. However, an email to AIM members last week underscored the nonprofit’s commitment to bringing back the radio station.
“We appreciate your attention to this issue and your support in ensuring the future of WERA,” the email said.
