GUEST COMMENTARY
Relationship wit� town has crippled CCTV
By Neville Webb
� �"T.1.- ::::ten ..
forum on Concord-Carlisle
TV Feb. 2, it became evident
that a number of concerned
citizens are wondering why
the CCTV board has not
been more proactive about
moving CCTV forward.
This is part of the general
scrutiny our board and organi-
zation faces, as the issue of the ,
town taking over CCTV comes
to the foreground and grows
more heated. ';Ne see this public
discourse as a healthy part of
the process of figuring out how
best to proceed in Concord with
PEG (public-, educational- and
government-access television).
Of course, improvements can
always be made, but we have
always had the best interests
of the organization in mind.
We see a need, at this point, to
clarify some misconceptions
and defend our organization.
Since signing the 2015 con­
act, our ability to advocate
: r CCTV - moving il forward
- .erms of public outreach,
ological innovations,
-- amming, etc. -- has been
_ eel by the distractions
and limitations of out rela-
tionship with the town.
We tried to install an updated
o er em· the':"own House
but this plan, that was years in
the making, was nixed three
weeks before implementa-
tion. Our budget is controlled
by the town, in an exceedingly
limiting way. The town is con-
stantly and inappropriately in
arrears with routine payments.
There has been a lack of
formal communication regard­
ing requests for coverage of
government meetings that
were not on our schedule, and
contrary to statements made
by town officials that a dis­
proportionate amount of pro­
gramming is being produced
for Carlisle, Concord program­
ming consistently represents
approximately 80 percent
of overall programming.
It has become impossible to
run this organization properly.
How can one plan for the future
when the organization is effec-
tively told it has none? This
situation has been our quan-
dary. With hindsight, it is clear
that the 2015 contract began a
strangulating process and effec­
tively killed our ability to oper­
ate with long-term objectives.
We hope the Select Board
will consider this situation,
as they evaluate whether the
town could do a better job run­
ning the station themselves or
would gain more by having a
separate organization run the
station with improved com­
munication and direction.
We did not formally protest
some of the interactions with
the town, to protect our staff
and ensure a good outcome
for them. We believe that with ,
full transparency and a broad
understanding of the issues,
we can all engineer a better
outcome for CCTV - whether
it be a town-run station that
has appropriate checks and
balances and a reasonable
arrangement for our staff, or a
continuing, nonprofit entity.
It is not our intention to make
this a confrontational process, •
but to make good decisions,
based on solid information that
serves the town and its PEG­
related goals. We look forward
to continued dialogue on this
matter, and we have shared this
letter with the Concord BOS.
Neville Webb is president of the
CCTV Board ofDirectors, and is.
writing on behalf of the board.