SEQUIM — Former Police Chief Bob Spinks has landed a new job as boss of another kind of public operation.
As of Sunday, he is general manager of KSQM 91.5 FM, Sequim’s public radio station.
Salary: none.
“I’m thrilled to step into this,” Spinks said in a statement this week.
“Bob has a dynamic management background,” added Lynda Perry, president of KSQM’s board of directors.
Spinks headed Sequim’s police force for five years before City Manager Steve Burkett asked him to resign in early 2010.
Burkett said then Spinks was no longer a good match for the post. The Sequim City Council approved a severance package of some $31,000.
When Spinks left the Sequim Police Department in July, he held a farewell cookout — dubbed a “Bob-r-que” — at the nearby KSQM studios at 577 W. Washington St.
He also vowed not to be a “wallflower” in Sequim.
The loquacious law enforcer had already begun hosting “The Five-O Show,” a program of nostalgic music, on Thursdays and Fridays from 7 p.m. until 9 p.m. on KSQM. That was a volunteer gig, too.
The nonprofit station began broadcasting in December 2008 and has since brought onboard 18 volunteer announcers and hosted numerous fundraisers, from dances to on-air pledge drives.
Since Burkett told Spinks his days as Sequim police chief were numbered, he has sought work around the state and nation at police departments in Lebanon, Ore., West Richland, Pullman and most recently in Columbus, Miss.
Discussing opportunity
None of those panned out, so Spinks began discussing this new opportunity with Jeff Bankston, KSQM’s volunteer general manager since 2009.
Spinks was suffering from a sinus infection this week and was not available for further comment Thursday.
The station’s board — Bankston, Perry, Clallam County Sheriff Bill Benedict, attorney and developer Larry Freedman, semi-retired Realtor Paul McHugh — approved Spinks’ hiring.
As Spinks becomes station chief New Year’s Day, Bankston will move to a newly created job as volunteer director of development and underwriting.
Bankston said he’s able to continue unpaid since he lives on savings and investments.
At his new post, Bankston will seek grants, legacy gifts, event sponsors and program underwriters to keep KSQM afloat.
“Hopefully, if things go well, they will both be paid” at some future point, Perry said of Bankston and Spinks, adding that “they have both put in years” of volunteer service.
Fund drive
In 2012, the station’s management team will gear up for a major capital fund drive for a new tower and more broadcast power, Bankston added.
And though Spinks, 53, has made it known that he loves rock ‘n’ roll, there will be no changes in KSQM’s format.
The station will continue airing easy-listening music of the 1930s through the ’70s, Bankston said.
“Left to his own devices, Bob would play Led Zeppelin,” he added, “but we’re in it for the listeners,” who have expressed love for KSQM’s mellow sound.
The station’s broadcast signal covers much of the terrain between eastern Port Angeles and Diamond Point.
It’s available worldwide via the Internet at www.KSQMfm.com.
Music programming and community-event announcements air 24 hours a day.
Man to manage
Bankston hailed Spinks as the man with the skills to manage the station — with its 100 on-air and support volunteers — as well as the time to devote to it.
He and Spinks look forward to nearly quadrupling KSQM’s signal power, from 700 watts to 2,400, and replacing its Atterberry Road tower with a new one atop Blue Mountain by December 2013.
Spinks has the skills to “bring us to a bigger, better place,” Bankston believes.
“He’s just going to be a whiz-bang manager.”
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3550 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
