Very interesting dirty laundry now flaps in the wind.
Until about two years ago, the translator station-mongering Calvary Satellite Network (CSN) was apparently run by a two-person board of directors. Now, 
one director is suing the other, alleging all manner of fiscal and managerial impropriety, among other misdeeds.
The accused is one Jeff Smith – son of Chuck Smith, founder of the Calvary Chapel brand of megachurch and media empire.
The summons in a nutshell: CSN International has two headquarters. Its financial base is in California and is run by Jeff Smith; its programming uplink originates from Twin Falls, Idaho, where the plaintiff in this tussle, Michael Kestler, oversaw operations. CSN owns 40 full-power FM stations and 389 translators. It generates approximately $6 million per year in direct donations.
Kestler accuses Smith and “Does 1 through 10” of using the finances of CSN for uses unrelated to the network. Specifically, allegations are made that Jeff Smith took money for himself and also to help finance The Word For Today, his father’s syndicated bible-study program.
It is also claimed Smith utilized CSN’s reach to solicit funds for the Calvary Radio Network, an unaffiliated yet budding godcaster constructing a chain of stations throughout Illinois and Indiana (primarily around exurban Chicagoland). If this particular allegation is true that would constitute a violation of FCC regulations surrounding non-commercial broadcasting and might jeopardize CSN’s not-for-profit tax status.
Additionally, Smith is accused of attempting to hijack CSN programming by installing bypass facilities that switched control of CSN’s full-power stations (each which feed their own fleets of translators) from Idaho to California.
CSN’s books are apparently in such a state today that “certified financial statements cannot be obtained.”
These are just the most serious of the 16 slings in the suit. More sinful backstory can be found at Metafilter, of all places. Clark Parrish suddenly comes out smelling like a rose.
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