Amid arguments and considerable tension, URTV members voted 33-12 to dismiss outspoken board member Davyne Dial on April 29, according to figures from URTV staff. Dial and her supporters have taken issue with the process, however. An Asheville police officer was present during the proceedings.
Dial’s detractors asserted that the station is running well and that her behavior has brought the public-access channel negative publicity. “We’re moving forward; we’re trying to make this work,” said URTV member David Connor Jones. “But negative stuff—portraying URTV as a shambles and not working properly—how does that help the membership? She’s being removed from the board because a lot of people are dissatisfied.”
Dial and her supporters countered that she’s merely tried to call attention to important issues concerning station management and lack of transparency, saying she shouldn’t be penalized for, in the words of URTV member Sean McNeal, “exercising her First Amendment rights. She’s being censored.”
The member poll, which ran from 1 to 10 p.m. in URTV’s offices, was a last-minute change from the membership meeting originally scheduled for that night. Objecting to the change, Dial and others held a “nonmeeting” to discuss issues facing the station.
Board member Sandra Bradbury was there and said that although the notice announcing the change from a meeting to a poll had been signed “URTV Board of Directors,” she’d had no knowledge of it. “It seems like they’re going off on their own and having secret meetings,” she said.
Dial, meanwhile, confirmed that she’d hired an attorney, who called URTV and said that any votes counted before 7 p.m. were invalid. “I retained an attorney because this process is not legal,” Dial explained. “I did not threaten to sue. The attorney just said, ‘Hey, if you do this, it’s not legal.’”
But board Treasurer Joe Scotto maintained that the transparency concerns have been resolved and that URTV is complying with the state’s open-meetings law, as required by its contracts with Asheville and Buncombe County. Both local governments funnel a portion of cable-TV fees to the public channel.
“There’s no secret meetings,” said Scotto. “Our meetings are open; they’ve been filmed. We’ve addressed these concerns.”
After the vote, Dial sent out a list of criticisms of the process. Her supporters, she said, hadn’t been instructed to vote after 7 p.m., while her opponents had. In addition, said Dial, the requisite membership meeting was never called to order.
Joe Scotto says they aren’t holding secret meetings, yet Sandra Bradbury and two other Board members weren’t included in a meeting to issue a notice of the all day voting. Sounds like select board members held a secret meeting to cloud the scheduled 7:00 pm meeting to an all day affair to me. Several URTV members I spoke with assumed the 7:00 pm meeting was canceled, due to the last minute notice sent out signed by the Board of Directors. Can this place get any more screwed up? Joe Scotto blantantly dis-remembers the facts about complince to URTV bylaws concerning the strict rules about special meetings.
the nonmeeting was a lot of fun…i hope some one will post the video soon… so all can see how open everyone is to videoing…i thought it was ok to video in a public place…
There was a time when the membership could get together and discuss issues, we didn’t need the Asheville police on hand, but now they’ve been hired for the last two meetings.
At this membership meeting, we met (unofficially) in studio “A” as announced by the special meeting notice, no one in that room needed “policing”, though we discussed several controversial issues. Who is it that thinks the membership is so out of control they need “policing?” And who is paying for it?
attorneys ,and police
what was it all about ??? the purpose never was to have a fair vote.. the purpose was always for pat to get rid of davyne ,and she is not about to go back and change anything now. attorneys ,and police,pat is out to get rid of davyne if it hair lips the state of Texas.. she will change anything that she thinks will get rid of davyne, but absolutely nothing else… what a sham this thing has been…pat thinks she is the winner now,so she will be posting lots of stuff,(as some one else )to talk about her victory,and how great she is…
i think you should run for a board position.. in a short time i think you would understand what is going on.. try it…
It was never necessary prior to just recently to have Asheville police on the premises at URTV. We need to be way beyond this kind of primative behavior.
So the public can view the proceedings, here is a link to video of the kangaroo court to dismiss me from the Board of Directors. Notice how the individual who called for my dismissal refuses to stay in the room and discuss her reasons face to face. The meeting was never called to order, no minutes were made of the meeting….all in all it was an embarressing farce and another black eye on URTV…instigated by you know who.
http://exposureroom.com/members/dixiegirlz.aspx/assets/8d1db920dd7e4c6ca373d244a267d36e/
changing the status of the producer Board members to ex-Officio or non-voting members
Garlinghouse began dismantling URTV the minute she walked in the door. She has systematically undermined the essence of Public Access, in this revision to the bylaws. No one that isn’t in a delusional fog believes this was done by anyone but Garlinghouse and her lawyer to make URTV her little profit making play toy. I’ll give her this, she is a master at vague wording that could be construed to mean anything.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/15553923/May2009-URTV-Bylaws
If you read through these proposed bylaws the one person this benefits is her. Not the members (they’re no longer there) not the people of Buncombe, not free speech…and my guess is anyone wanting to do a show is gonna have to pay for putting it on…that little reality and and a commercial channel is the rumor floating.
I keep reading about “public access” being in the works for Wally Bowan and Main2….think they may be in cahoots and using their non-profit public service entities as bait to get a hold of big money from the “stimulous” plan, by using non profits like URTV & WPVM?
All you Pat Garlinghouse, supporters, you’ve been had. Soon, Glolady, Joyner and others are gonna have to pay to play.