Brian Kelley

Brian C. Kelley, the chief technology officer of The Bay Citizen, was named interim chief executive officer of the two-year-old Bay Area nonprofit news organization Monday, replacing Lisa Frazier, who resigned.

Kelley took over the leadership of the 36-person organization after a search for a new CEO was not completed before Frazier’s departure. Frazier notified The Bay Citizen’s board of directors last October that she would step down in early 2012 for personal reasons.

“I'm honored to be able to help The Bay Citizen through this time of transition, and I'm committed to The Bay Citizen's mission of providing quality journalism to the Bay Area,” Kelley said.

Directors of The Bay Citizen met Monday to continue discussions about a new CEO and a possible merger that, if consummated, would put the organization under the control of the Berkeley-based Center for Investigative Reporting. A decision whether to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the board of CIR is expected by the end of this week.

Sources on both sides of the discussions said Monday that no agreements had been reached Monday, and cautioned that talks over the new leadership and possible merger could fall apart.

In introducing Kelley as the new CEO Monday afternoon, Christian Selchau-Hansen, the treasurer of The Bay Citizen’s board, expressed its “deep commitment to The Bay Citizen and to the journey and mission going forward. We know that times are uncertain, and we will get back to you with more clarity as soon as we can.”

Susan Hirsch, another director, declined to answer specific questions from the staff “at this time.”

“We’re working as hard as we can to continue the mission,” Hirsch said.

Kelley, 34, joined The Bay Citizen’s executive leadership team in March 2010 after serving as co-founder of ReputationDefender, an online reputation management and privacy company based in Redwood City. Kelley has led The Bay Citizen's online product development efforts. He lives in Palo Alto.

Phil Bronstein, the president of the Center for Investigative Reporting's board of directors and a former top editor at both the San Francisco Examiner and San Francisco Chronicle, is the leading candidate to be the new permanent CEO, according to people familiar with the negotiations.

Bronstein was the choice of Warren Hellman, The Bay Citizen’s founder and benefactor, to succeed Frazier as CEO, sources said. But Hellman’s unexpected death in December, at age 77 of complications from leukemia, threw the fledgling news organization into turmoil.

Rumors of a proposed merger began circulating soon after Hellman’s death.

The Bay Citizen’s mission is to enhance civic and community news coverage in the Bay Area, foster civic engagement and stimulate innovation in journalism. The Bay Citizen has a contract with The New York Times to provide weekly coverage of the region.

According to 2010 tax documents, The Bay Citizen had $11.4 million in revenue in 2010, primarily from private donations and foundation grants. The company reported $3.6 million in expenses in 2010, including $456,918 in salary, bonuses and other compensation for Frazier, and $261,330 in salary and other compensation for Jonathan Weber, the founding editor-in-chief of the news operation.

Weber resigned unexpectedly in September, and was replaced by Steve Fainaru, a Pulitzer prize-winning investigative reporter for The Washington Post who had been managing editor for news.

Fainaru announced earlier this month that he was resigning to pursue a book project. His last day is Thursday, and no replacement has been named.

CIR, founded in 1977, is the nation’s oldest nonprofit investigative news organization. It has 35 employees, 27 of whom are on the editorial team, including reporters and editors who work for California Watch, a reporting initiative created by CIR in 2009 to produce in-depth, multimedia journalism specific to California.

On financial statements, CIR lists as its mission “to reveal injustice and abuse of power through the tools of journalism, to provide the public with the information needed to participate in democracy and bring about needed reforms.”

According to tax documents, CIR in 2010 reported total revenue of $2.4 million, down from $4.2 million a year earlier, while total expenses rose to $4.6 million, compared to just under $2 million for 2009. Tax records indicate that CIR paid its executive director, Robert Rosenthal, $203,750 in 2010.