Longtime WWOZ general manager David Freedman is out of that position, the radio station's board of directors announced Wednesday (April 6). Instead, Freedman will stay on as chief strategic officer and report directly to that board.

In his new role, Freedman will focus on strategic planning and community engagement, the board announced. Freedman served as general manager since 1992.

Interim chief operating officer Arthur Cohen will stay on in that position and oversee the rest of the staff, the board announced. The position of general manager will remain vacant during the transition.

"David (Freedman) will still be reporting directly to the board but will not be in a management position at the station," said WWOZ board president C.J. Blache. "Management, employee matters, volunteer matters will come under (Cohen)."

Cohen's role will also give him "complete responsibility" for fundraising and the station's budget, according to a press release issued after the meeting.

The structural changes come just weeks after WWOZ volunteers, staff members and former staff members began voicing concerns about the future of the beloved local radio station. A division in the way some viewed the station's focus appeared as some hope to keep WWOZ hyper-local, whereas others, including Freedman, see a means to a more global audience.

Various stakeholders had been grumbling about differences in opinion for months, even prompting the production of a video that was presented to the WWOZ board of directors.

The catalyst to take it public, however, came when WWOZ program director Dwayne Breashears announced his resignation, which was to be effective April 1. He has since decided to delay his resignation through the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival at the end of April, said Cohen, who joined WWOZ in January.

About two dozen members of the public attended Wednesday's meeting, and those who chose to speak asked for transparency in the board's processes and a renewed focus on local New Orleans music and musicians. At least one recommended a revamp of the WWOZ board bylaws.

Lou Hill, a member of WWOZ's community advisory board said he knew some members of the executive board didn't even know the advisory board existed.

"I would like some of you on this board to come to our board," Hill said. "We represent each part of this community, and we were put on this board for that reason. We're purely advisory. We have no power other than advising. ... It's important you hear what we're hearing."

Chris Wells, a longtime volunteer, also voiced his concern for greater board oversight.

"(Former development director Crystal Gross) didn't quit. She quit with a gun to her head," he said. "My wife died three weeks ago, but the show's got to go on. That's the kind of volunteers you have. ... We're a team that could not be beat. You need to examine how to salvage some of this team. It's amazing this was allowed to have happened."

Cohen's final comments during meeting voiced his commitment to the station's future.

"I have a lot to learn, and I think I have the right background to try to take this forward and really in the same spirit most of you are speaking," he said. ... My commitment ... is to really make it transparent, straightforward, and really take in as much as possible. ... Media today is even more complicated, and we need to take this music and serve it in as many ways as we can and stay connected to our core mission, rekindling some of the stuff we've lost."