Changes are coming to PEGASYS, but only to ownership and leadership. The city of Enid passed a resolution Thursday night to defund PEGASYS and bring it under the temporary control of the city's communication department. All programming, including church broadcasts, will not immediately be affected and will remain the same.
The resolution to bring changes to the public-access television station passed by a 4-3 vote and becomes effective on February 1. The resolution was brought forth by Ward 6 Commissioner David Vanhooser but a change in operations had been on the minds of past and present commissioners for at least the last ten years. Commissioners Ben Ezzell and Ron Janzen along with Mayor Shewey voted against the resolution.
The city plans on making this a temporary move while the commission appoints an advisory panel to look into the viability of PEGASYS and what direction it should take moving forward. The advisory panel would be made up of current PEGASYS board members, communication and media professionals and Enid citizens. They will explore all options to help modernize the station and channels and will recommend improvements for PEGASYS. The city commission would like the findings before the July 1 budget cycle. They will then determine if PEGASYS will be a part of next years budget and at what amount.
Wendy Quarles, the current executive director, will receive a severance package if removed from her position, which looks likely. Steve Kime, public relations director for the city, will assume her role. Jobs will be offered to the two full-time PEGASYS employees currently on the payroll.
Several citizens, including a church pastor, spoke on behalf of PEGASYS and questioned how the changes would affect current broadcasts. At an earlier PEGASYS board meeting, Commissioner Vanhooser assured the board that the legality of moving church broadcasts under the umbrella of the city had been looked at and would be allowable.
While in their special board meeting, the PEGASYS Board of Directors asked to be allowed to conduct their own study and given 90 days before any decision was made. They also agreed not to spend the $240,000 available to them for their studio renovation at the Non-Profit Center. But in that same special meeting they voted not to go into executive session to determine the future of their own executive director who admittedley had wrongly sent a letter to local churches insinuating the city would not show religious programming on PEGASYS.
Other than the fact that the commissioners did not want PEGASYS to spend the $240,000 renovation fund at this time, they also cited years of non-action on the part of the executive director. Eric Benson voiced his frustration with PEGASYS and said he was done talking about it and arguing about it. Commissioner Vanhooser spent a considerable amount of time reading past commission meeting minutes in which PEGASYS was repeatedly asked about improvements and ways of becoming self funding.
Vanhooser cited that fact that PEGASYS failed to meet expectations which included not keeping up with current media trends and that there were no new outside funds raised to support the operation. Vanhooser has also pointed out that volunteers are at an all time low and only 11 new members joined PEGASYS in 2013.
Attorney and PEGASYS board member, Bill Maxwell, spoke on behalf of the PEGASYS board. They had voted earlier in the day to attend the city council meeting as a unified group but only wanted a single member to speak. Maxwell and Mayor Shewey both commented on the lack of communication between the city and PEGASYS. Knowing that several other cities in Oklahoma have discontinued their public access channels and moved the programming under city control, Mayor Shewey asked what the other cities knew that Enid didn't. He remarked that it wasn't his job to find out but that of someone at PEGASYS.
Since 1986, PEGASYS has been Enid's source for community access television, granting free access to cable television for individuals and organizations with a message for the community. Beginning with a small studio and one channel, PEGASYS has since grown to three channels. The PEGASYS staff and over 225 volunteers use the publicly-owned studios and field equipment to reach Enid's Suddenlink subscribers.
The stations original mission was to train members of the Greater Enid Community in the skills required for the production of television programming. This was accomplished by conducting monthly classes.
CHANNEL 11 (Suddenlink)
Community programming created by local (and sometimes national) producers. You'll also find regular programming, such as Community Talk and Senior Life Excercises. This is where you can see your message or outreach efforts broadcast to Suddenlink subscribers. The current monthly show schedule indicates the largest portion of publicly created programming to be church services and religious broadcasts.
CHANNEL 12 (Suddenlink)
Almost entirely pre-recorded animation, architectural art, ballet, chamber and choral music, dance, folk art, museum art, musical theater, opera, orchestral, recital, solo instrumental, solo vocal, and theatrical performances, as well as classic film and archival documentaries. Currently, you can also catch classic and independent films if you subscribe to Suddenlink.
CHANNEL 19 (Suddenlink)
Bulletin Board! PEGASYS Channel 19 is a non-interactive, scrolling source for local news and information-sharing, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for Suddenlink subscribers.
CITIZENS PUBLIC ACCESS TELEVISION ADVISORY BOARD
The City of Enid, Oklahoma is taking applications for vacancies on a CITIZENS PUBLIC ACCESS TELEVISION ADVISORY BOARD. Seven (7) appointments will be made, to be filled by citizens of Enid.
This Board will be responsible for:
• Keeping the Mayor and Board of Commissioners informed on all PEG related matters;
• Making recommendations to the Mayor and Board of Commissioners regarding relevant emerging technologies and other broadcast options;
• Promoting and developing optimal utilization of the PEG system;
• Promoting community outreach and providing a forum for citizen recommendations and concerns with regard to the use of facilities, programming and other related issues;
• Promoting collaboration and support for community television that will generate an on-going commitment to providing the resources necessary for quality community television.
Applications will be accepted until 5:00 P.M. local time on February 3, 2014. It is intended that these appointments will be made by the Mayor and Board of Commissioners at their meeting of February 4, 2014. The City Commission may, at its discretion, conduct interviews with applicants prior to such appointments.
Information and applications may be obtained in the office of the City Clerk, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Municipal Complex, 401 West Owen K. Garriott Road, Enid, Oklahoma, 73701 or by calling 580-616-7271. Application forms can also be downloaded from the City’s web-site, enid.org.
