KFI Reneges on Oral Promise to Pay Bonus, Gates Claims : Radio: Former L.A. police chief plans to take his complaint to union arbitration.

Former Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl Gates, who left his last full-time job amid controversy and acrimony, now is angry at his latest former employer, radio station KFI-AM (640).

Gates, whose 15-month stint as a talk-show host ended on New Year’s Eve, says KFI has reneged on an oral promise by program director David Hall to pay him a bonus if he could improve the ratings in his 7-9 p.m. slot.

The Arbitron quarterly ratings survey released last week showed that Gates’ ratings did climb by more than one share point among the 35- to 54-year-old audience, which was the target group that the agreement focused on, Gates said. Gates attracted 5.3% of these listeners during the three months of fall, compared to 4.2% during the summer months.

According to the agreement between him and Hall, the bonus for such an increase would be “in the five figures,” Gates said. But he said that when he pressed Hall for the money last week, the program director claimed Gates had misunderstood and that there was no such contractual agreement. And when he took his case to General Manager Howard Neal, he said, the station came back with “a very modest offer, so modest that it was almost insulting.”

Hall and Neal declined to comment.

Gates said he has contacted his attorney and intends to take the matter to arbitration by the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, the union that represents talk-show hosts.

“Imagine me, contacting a union?” Gates said. “We had a warm, friendly relationship. I didn’t want to get lawyers involved, but there’s a principle here.”

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Gates said it was the promise of a bonus that convinced him to sign a new three-month contract with KFI last fall. “Quite frankly, I would have left in September if I had known there wasn’t going to be a bonus,” he said. “I don’t care that much about the money. But I do think people have to be held accountable for what they say and do. I have been over the years.”

The former police chief said he now believes that KFI’s decision not to renew his contract at the end of the year was financially motivated. “I think they said at that point, ‘Oh-oh. He’s going to cost us too much money,’ ” Gates said.

At the time they parted company, Hall had said that money was not a factor and that Gates was being released because his stay at KFI had always been intended as temporary. Gates did not fight to stay, explaining that he had other activities to pursue.