URTV board meeting canceled due to locked building; will be rescheduled

No one could find the right keys or door code to get into the locked Buncombe County Television offices, so Thursday’s meeting of the URTV Board of Directors was postponed. Board President Jerry Young told gathered onlookers and board members that it will be rescheduled soon.

“I forgot those skills of picking locks a long time ago,” Young said with a laugh. “So we’re going to have to reschedule and we’ll just send an e-mail out when we can convene again. Unfortunately, we’re locked out. I know that’s disappointing to all of us. I was looking forward to this meeting tonight. It’s unfortunate, but we’ll reconvene.”

He told Xpress that he anticipated an announcement of the new meeting date “within the next couple of days.”

The meeting was to include a vote on sweeping changes to the public-access channel’s bylaws that would eliminate the current membership structure and put more power in the hands of the board.

—David Forbes, staff writer

SHARE

Thanks for reading through to the end…

We share your inclination to get the whole story. For the past 25 years, Xpress has been committed to in-depth, balanced reporting about the greater Asheville area. We want everyone to have access to our stories. That’s a big part of why we've never charged for the paper or put up a paywall.

We’re pretty sure that you know journalism faces big challenges these days. Advertising no longer pays the whole cost. Media outlets around the country are asking their readers to chip in. Xpress needs help, too. We hope you’ll consider signing up to be a member of Xpress. For as little as $5 a month — the cost of a craft beer or kombucha — you can help keep local journalism strong. It only takes a moment.

Before you comment

The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.

20 thoughts on “URTV board meeting canceled due to locked building; will be rescheduled

  1. Johnny_L_House_Jr

    Funny how for 12 to 18 months of meetings the ED knew the combination for the lock…yet tonight she couldn’t open the door. A little too convenient, dontcha think?

  2. why not have all the meetings in studio-a,and show live video?? it would be the best show on urtv rihgt now…we could do just like football,and have after game commentary… what a hoot..

  3. uh_oh!

    A message was sent out tonight that the website, webcasting and VOD are down indefinately. Yesterday the forum went down; today rumors are flying about a certain someone who ran this for URTV had resigned. If you go to who-is someone besides URTV, owns the name URTVWEB.org. So it looks like the owner of the URL has pulled the plug.

    What could have possibly happened? Could this be why the meeting didn’t happen last evening?

  4. I just went to the website, which is URTVweb.com, not dot org. I was working fine. The live streaming was working fine. The VOD was working fine. The forum was up. What message was sent out?

  5. Piffy!

    i take it you guys dont know about youtube.com?

    cuz people actually watch youtube.

    unlike urtv, you see.

  6. Johnny_L_House_Jr

    This just in from the uURTV staff person:

    Jonathon Czarny
    reply-to jonathon@urtv.org
    to
    date Fri, May 22, 2009 at 9:51 PM
    subject URTV Closed Saturday
    hide details May 22 (2 days ago)

    Reply

    Hey All,

    URTV will close tomorrow; Saturday May 23, 2009.
    We will be open for normal hours of operation Tuesday from 1pm – 10pm.
    Hope the weather is nice so everyone can enjoy Memorial Day.
    ……………………………………………………………….
    Also, I regret to inform everyone that the website, webcasting, VOD,
    and URTV Forums are down indefinitely.
    I will let everyone know what is up once I know.
    Jonathon Czarny
    Operations Manager, URTV
    31 College Place Suite 20-A
    Asheville, NC 28801
    _________________________________
    VOD is still up, but very jerkly and keeps reverting to the beginning. Also all Ralph Robert’s programming is missing.

  7. ok.. i will go back and try to get things back on the good foot…forget the slights of the past and move on..
    i agreed that this has all gotten out of hand and there needs to be a clean slate… let it start with me… i have re-upped my membership,and hope to start producing very soon..
    now, lets all get back on the good foot..
    if we will all work together ,i know we can do it… come on now,lets all give it a try.. good foot,good foot,get down,get back on the good foot..

  8. Matt Howard

    So, here we are talking about URTV, which despite a few bumps, is still doing exactly what it’s supposed to do. The website is back and URTV is on the air ( or wire as it were ) behind me as I type this.
    Has anyone else noticed that WPVM has locked out EVRYONE! It’s on automation, no volunteers are being let in to do their shows. My door code has stopped working too.
    Been going on for days people. Check it out.

  9. i know this is not about urtv,but that thing with wpvm,makes me very sad.. whats up with wpvm ??
    also,hay matt,i know you will be so glad to know that i am going back as a member of urtv..may be you will help me make a cool new show ?? i must have 100 hours of stuff in the can,and ready to go..
    lets all start over,(clean slate).. what do you think about that ,matt??

  10. I’m thinking about canceling my MAIN subscription because this business with MAIN & WPVM is totally non-transparent & really sticking it to the community that has worked so hard to build it up.

    At least URTV has the responsibility to be transparent, and thus the problems can be fixed.

    I was annoyed enough before when I donated money during the last on-air fundraiser, which (as WPVM volunteer’s have said) was used not for WPVM technical needs but rather applied to MAIN salaries. This consistent behavior from MAIN & WPVM is a travesty. This absurd passive-aggressive act taken against volunteers is just another example of incredibly poor management. You can’t treat people this way & then expect the community to turn around and support you through broadband subscriptions or non-profit donations.

  11. the Lark

    Here, Here ! Listen to WPVM now. It’s almost all computer generated music, no more live shows. 90% of the vols that were the life-blood have either quit in digust or have been let go by Wally Bowen. If you want to read about the entire scandalous situation that has killed Asheville’s alternative radio, go here : wpvm.blogspot.com

    Scott, ex-WPVM volunteer
    former host of ‘Tuesday Night w/ the Lark’

  12. URTV-isn't_4_U

    JBO…Ostensibly URTV is transparent. but in reality it is not. Requests for more financial specificity have gone unheeded since ’07. That was when P. Brezney began signaling redflags. Recent requests to view financial records that are required to be open resulted in the person asking for that information to be illegaly “suspended” by Board Chariman, Jerry Young. The ongoing isues that have been exposed in 25 or more articles here on MtnEx have shown blatant disregard for bylaws. One only need to read through these to get an understanding of very questionable behavior on the part of the Board , several officers of URTV’s Board, and the Executive Director. Why does URTV keep being smeared these public embaressments? Don’t these peopel care how this appear to the average person?

    The most recent embaressment being the disregard for strict rules for calling for and complying to “special meetings” requirements. See MtnExp ‘s news today for more info.

  13. WTF?

    What is Wally trying to pull on us? No local programing at WPVM?

    At least URTV will let anyone air any junk they want.

  14. some people have asked me to post all of the letter ,i got back from pat..

    Tues. June 9, 2009

    Dear Mr Blackwell,

    Please be advised that your recent request to be a participating member of URTV and use of the facility is denied due to: failure to accept responsibility for following the Rules and Procedures of URTV and repeated abuse of URTV equipment and staff. You may, if you choose, use your membership to submit DVDs made elsewhere. If you choose not to submit programming, we will gladly refund your membership fee.

    Please refer to the Rules and Operating Procedures document.

    III. Rules, Violations and Loss of Privileges
    A. Definitions and Limitations
    3. Any producer who engages in activities in the URTV facility that are harassing, threatening, purposefully detrimental or damaging to another producer, URTV staff member, or URTV resources will be asked to leave the building.

    C. Violations of the Rules and Procedures
    1. The following are considered major violations;
    a. Abuse, vandalism or failure to safeguard equipment and facilities, and, any, and all abusive treatment to URTV staff as stated in Section III.A.3. of URTV’s
    Rules and Operating Procedures document.

    Your commercial programming violation included words to the following: “we know that we shouldn’t say this but we will anyway.” You still do not accept your responsibility for the cancellation of your show and you have not made an appointment to speak with me.

    Please check the Rules and Procedures to avail yourself of the appeal and grievance procedure. See Section III.D.

    Very truly yours,

    Pat Garlinghouse
    Executive Director
    cc: URTV Operations Committee Chair

Leave a Reply

To leave a reply you may Login with your Mountain Xpress account, connect socially or enter your name and e-mail. Your e-mail address will not be published. All fields are required.