Gamrat, Courser might both host radio shows
While defrocked state Rep. Todd Courser prepares for his first radio show on WFDF-AM (910), the station will be interviewing another prospective host Friday:
Cindy Gamrat.
Courser resigned from the Legislature in September and former Rep. Gamrat was expelled after they used taxpayer resources in an unsuccessful attempt to cover up their extramarital affair.
Both are facing felony charges of official misconduct. Meanwhile, Courser will begin a weekly one-hour show at 4 p.m. Saturday and Gamrat could be slotted from noon-2 p.m. on Thursdays.
“I talked to her a couple of times yesterday and once today,” station owner Kevin Adell said Thursday. “I told her, ‘It’s pretty simple. I can’t pay you. I can’t even pay for your mileage.’ ”
She’ll arrive Friday from Plainwell, 10 miles north of Kalamazoo, to appear on Bankole Thompson’s noontime program.
Afterward, she will discuss her possible place in a sometimes roguish gallery of hosts that includes Kwame Kilpatrick’s former mayoral chief of staff, Christine Beatty, who served time for felony obstruction of justice; former Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree, who was removed from the bench for misconduct; former Detroit police chief Ralph Godbee, who resigned after an affair with a subordinate; and state Sen. Bert Johnson, whose resume includes lawsuits, debt collection and an armed robbery conviction at age 19.
Like the rest of the station’s on-air talent, including media veterans Cliff Russell and Karen Dumas, she would be permitted to sell and keep the income from a limited number of ads each hour at the station’s prevailing rate — $75 for 60 seconds, or $45 for 30.
“Everyone works for themselves,” said Adell, who also owns WADL-TV (Channel 38) and the highly successful Word Network, which beams religious programming to some 200 countries. “We have 40 personalities for listeners to choose from. It’s like a smorgasbord.”
The newest host on what’s billed as 910AM Superstation, Courser, said WFDF pursued him as part of a campaign to find the most diverse possible viewpoints.
On a station that promotes itself as “Detroit’s largest force for African-Americans,” Courser said he’s been asked to devote some of his air time to the city and “the institutional barriers they face to moving forward.”
His principal focus, however, will “pulling back the curtain on government, without fear or favor” — though with certain guidance from his lawyers.
As a defendant in a criminal case and a lawsuit from former aides alleging unlawful termination, the tea party Republican from northern Lapeer County has been given a list of topics he can’t talk about.
Still, though he served only eight months and 10 days in the Legislature, “I’ve got enough material for lots of hours.”
As he spoke, Courser tried on a studio headset, acting natural for a series of promotional photos, and discovering that the elongated arm holding his microphone was adjustable.
He said he and his wife, Fon, have worked to strengthen their marriage, and that he’s unruffled by Gamrat’s possible position at the station. As mutual defendants, they’re in a certain amount of communication anyway.
A greater complication could be granting equal air time to his two opponents, now that he has filed to run in the Republican primary for Lapeer County prosecutor. But Adell said that shouldn’t be an issue.
“It’s not like city council, where there are 25 candidates,” he pointed out — and he’s used to making room for new voices.
nrubin@detroitnews.com
@nealrubin_dn