Televise meetings or fund new equipment for KCAT?
By Nathan R. Huff
The Los Gatos Town Council sat down with KCAT, the town's community-access TV station, on May 1, to discuss the best use for the $95,000 AT&T settlement funds--either televising local government proceedings or investing in new equipment.
While the majority of the council needs to be convinced that televising council meetings will have positive results, at least two of the camera-wary council members said the public's input in upcoming hearings on the use of the money will influence their final votes.
The local station received the money as part of a settlement between the town and corporate giant AT&T over bumping KCAT from Channel 6 to Channel 15. AT&T had changed the channel position of KCAT and Saratoga's KSAR against the stations' wishes, and both municipalities filed suits on the stations' behalf. The channel switch was upheld, but both stations were financially compensated. The settlement stipulates that the town use the money to improve local telecommunications services. Just how to do so, however, remains in question.
George Sampson, KCAT station manager, presented two options for the $95,000. Option one, which Sampson and two of the four voting board members support, is to install a town-council video-system for live or taped coverage. The system could also be used for Planning Commission meetings and emergency information.
The second option is to spend the money on new digital equipment to train the station's interns on the latest in broadcast technology. Both options include money for redesigning the station's logo, building a dubbing system and buying a "fly-pack," a mobile video package that allows in-the-field coverage.
"Either way, KCAT wins," Sampson said, adding that he was encouraged that council members who had previously been against televised meetings were considering the possibility. Sampson said that in his two years as station manager, he has been questioned numerous times about why meetings aren't broadcast in Los Gatos. Of the surrounding municipalities, only Monte Sereno and Los Altos Hills don't televise their city council meetings. San Jose began broadcasting its meetings last month.
Jan Hutchins, one of two council members on the KCAT board of directors, supported the second option. He said at the May 1 study session that not updating the equipment would be like "putting our heads in the sand."
"At least part of the mission of KCAT is to be an educator for kids in high school," Hutchins later said, adding that the station's current equipment was not up to industry standards.
Hutchins also is hesitant to support televised meetings. "The idea comes from a basic notion of distrust. Once you start televising the meetings, the whole tone changes," he said. Hutchins argued that meetings run longer when taped because people grandstand, pitch advertisements and make long speeches rather than debate the issues.
Linda Lubeck, councilwoman and KCAT board member, shared Hutchins' fears but said that, since she is on the council, she feels her views are somewhat skewed. "I'll probably vote to televise, but I have real fears of the length meetings are going to run," Lubeck said. "I don't know [if televising meetings] should be a priority, but I defer to the rest of the KCAT board who say it would be."
Sampson, who acts as the nonvoting fifth board member, said the board's other two members believe the community would be better served by televising the meetings. He agreed the station could use more equipment, but he said recent donations and purchases have lessened the need. "What we have now is a good training facility," Sampson said. "Could it be better? Sure, always."
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
