Jazz.FM’s board of directors got an earful from the station’s donors Friday, many calling for the board to “dissolve” and for ex-CEO Ross Porter’s Saturday radio program to be pulled from the air.

After the tumultuous, packed annual general meeting, interim CEO Charles Cutts told the Star that three large, for-profit corporations have recently approached and expressed an interest in some sort of business relationship with the station.

Talks with one of the corporations were general, Cutts said, while the other two corporations expressed interest in speaking further about some sort of business deal, he added.

“We have assets and maybe we can help each other,” Cutts said, declining to name the corporations the station has spoken to.

Any conversations must bear in mind the fact the station operates its radio licence as a not-for-profit, Cutts said.

But these discussions must take place because Jazz.FM, a small outfit with a $4.5-million annual budget and 143,000 daily listeners, needs to explore a more viable business model, Cutts said.

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The station expects to lose “several hundred thousand dollars” by the end of this year.

Jazz.FM has recently launched a strategic review of its operation, and part of that process is looking at “options in the marketplace,” board chair David McGown said in an interview. The review will report back to the board in the coming months with recommendations on moving toward “financial sustainability,” he said.

But Friday’s noisy AGM came as Jazz.FM faces controversy on several fronts. In the spring, a group of 13 former and current employees called “the Collective” wrote a letter to the board accusing Porter, who was CEO and president, of sexually inappropriate behaviour and bullying. The group blamed a senior manager and some members of the board for supporting Porter’s behaviour.

After the May completion of an independent review struck to look into the complaint, Porter resigned his management position.

And this week Garvia Bailey, a former Jazz.FM morning host, filed a $420,000 lawsuit against the station, claiming she was effectively terminated for being part of the group’s complaint against Porter.

Porter says the group’s allegations against him are fabricated or stem from incidents that have been taken out of context.

During Friday’s meeting, in the offices of the downtown law firm that Jazz.FM retains, several of the nearly 100 people who turned up, including 70 donor-listeners, called for all the station’s board of directors to step aside.

Part of the reason for the meeting was to vote on two names nominated to fill board vacancies, as well as vote on extending the terms of three other board members whose terms are expiring, including McGown, the chair.

The meeting came amid an effort over the past few weeks by a group of donors, led by major donor Marie Slaight — daughter of Canadian billionaire media baron Allan Slaight — to put forward a list of new names to replace the entire board. But the attempt to have Slaight and members of her group, or anyone else new, join the board was thwarted Friday, to howls of protest from several donors in the room.

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According to Jazz.FM’s bylaws, anyone interested in submitting their name to join the board had to do so 10 days before the meeting.

The board’s lawyer informed members that the board had the names of 460 people who had given proxies supporting the Jazz.FM nominees — so the vote for the nominees carried.

“There’s no transparency, no integrity from the board!” one donor shouted during the process.

“I want you all to tender your resignations!”

Earlier this week, Slaight returned to Australia, where she lives. She has indicated to Jazz.FM that she no longer wants to be on the board, and only wants what’s best for the station.

Several donors also complained at the meeting that they hadn’t received any prior notification of the AGM.

The station says it has a database containing details of donors’ preferred means of communication. Of the roughly 2,000 donors, 1,800 received notice Aug. 21 about the AGM and board nominees, and 200 members were notified by that date by regular mail.

Meanwhile, there were also calls from donors during Friday’s meeting for Porter’s relationship with the station to be terminated. After the scandal he was named president emeritus, and he continues to host a two-hour Saturday morning show for the station from his home.

“Why is Ross Porter still on the air, drawing a salary from my hard-earned money that I donate to the station?” said one woman, who later declined to give her name. “He should not be on the air.”

Others demanded to know Porter’s current pay.

McGown told the room Porter’s Saturday show continues to be popular with listeners. As for his pay, Cutts declined to discuss the matter at the meeting, citing confidentiality.

In a phone interview after the meeting, Porter said he continues to serve “at the pleasure of the board and the station’s senior management.

“I continue to play a significant role in making the station successful.” Porter added. “I am a resource they can use as they like. Ultimately I want the station to succeed and I want musicians to become stars.”