KMVT lays off top staff KMVT lays off top staff (February 11, 2005)

Cutback in city funds hits local station hard

By Jon Wiener

The public face of KMVT got a makeover last Friday, with a budget crunch driving the layoffs of two of the station's highest-ranking employees.

In a press release sent by development director Jeannie Conner, the community television station announced that its executive director of 13 years, Doug Broomfield, and award-winning public access director Wendy Fleet would be leaving the station.

"The writing is on the wall that we're not going to get the same funding we have in the past," said Conner in an interview, adding that employees had known about impending layoffs for weeks.

While Broomfield had planned to resign as early as last March, Fleet's dismissal -- and the elimination of her position -- came as a shock.

Public access "was the thing that was always going to be the reason that KMVT existed," said Fleet. "I'm in tears."

"The whole point of public-access stations was to give ordinary people a voice on television, so not only rich people would have free speech," she said. "I lost the fight for it, but I hope others will continue."

One former board member, harshly criticized the board for getting rid of the person he called "the heart of the agency." Kim Singh, who met Fleet when he started his own show at the station, said that if anybody should have been fired, it should have been Conner.

"You wonder, does the board even have a clue what they're losing by doing this," he said.

A self-described "daffy, chubby old lady," Fleet is known around the city for carrying her "Teach Peace" sign throughout downtown and public events. A free-speech activist, she ran workshops that teach people how to produce their own shows since coming on board nearly nine years ago.

But Conner said that the workshops were getting too costly for the station. Another of Fleet's efforts, the "Speak Out" segment that invited members of the public to talk about almost anything they wanted for three minutes or less, will continue to air live on Mondays.

Once fully funded by cable company franchise fees paid to the city of Mountain View and the other cities it serves, KMVT has seen its revenues fall since 2003, when the city took away $220,000 in annual revenues from those fees to boost its own struggling general fund. To make up for this, the city gave KMVT control of a $750,000 endowment that previously supported the station through interest.

The city also provides the station $125,000 each year in public access fees and pays $70,000 for coverage of local government meetings.

KMVT Board President Nancy Noe said that the station needed to reduce its costs by $50,000 to $100,000 before the end of this year's fiscal year in June in order to avoid using up its reserves.

Noe said she regretted the cuts to KMVT's public access features but that it was necessary to survive the financial woes.

"I would rather cut it back now and be able to keep the station whole and then rebuild it," said Noe.

To bolster its shrinking budget, the station will be expanding into new areas of business. While coverage of local government meetings will continue to be a staple, future plans include searching for sponsors to air high school sports events, video production for nonprofits and documenting private events.

For his part, Broomfield said he was in agreement with the new direction the station was taking. The Internet, he said, is changing the landscape of free speech and public access.

"In today's 'Wayne's World,' they wouldn't have a cable access show, they'd be bloggers," said Broomfield.

Conner, who is serving as interim executive director, said she will leave the station once a replacement is hired. The new executive director will take on her responsibilities.
E-mail Jon Wiener at jwiener@mv-voice.com

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