URTV members — what do you think of today’s vote on removing a board member?

Whether or not outspoken URTV board member Davyne Dial will be removed from the public-access channel’s board will be decided in a poll today from 1 to 10 p.m. at URTV’s offices. Xpress invites URTV members to weigh in with their opinions and their experiences — and how they plan to vote.

Dial, who was elected by URTV’s membership, has criticized the channel’s management as lacking transparency and failing to make needed steps to improve the station’s standing. However, some of URTV’s producers have defended management, saying that the running of the station has improved. At the board’s last meeting, producer Dale Joyner presented a petition calling for Dial’s removal, asserting that her actions have brought negative publicity to the station.

As for Dial, she’s called on URTV members to show up at the station’s offices at 7 p.m. tonight — the originally scheduled time of a membership meeting to decide her fate, before it was replaced by a “poll of the membership” — to cast their votes.

So, URTV members, Xpress wants to hear your opinion. What do you think about the vote on Dial’s dismissal? What do you think about her actions on the board? If you’ve already voted, how was the mood at the station? How did you vote?

Also, in other news about the URTV board, Asheville City Council last night appointed Matt Howard to fill a vacant position.

— David Forbes, staff writer

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42 thoughts on “URTV members — what do you think of today’s vote on removing a board member?

  1. URTV Member

    I went to the station to cast my ballot shortly after 1pm today. I have been told by a reliable source that Davyne has actually hired a lawyer to prevent any ballot cast before 7pm from being counted!!!!!
    Davyne, as the member representative, don’t you want every member’s voice to be heard? Some of us have to work at night.
    This is ridiculous!
    Shame on you Davyne!!!! A lawyer?
    Voter suppression?
    This is the exact reason you should no longer represent us.

  2. R.Bernier

    First & foremost this event has gave URTV a black eye, we will lose this great resource if we do not end this mess.

    Please call for an open forum with all parties allowed to speak & then put it to rest.

    I am very sadden of the manner in which this meeting was held. I call now to unite, work together & do what is right for URTV.

    Lets do what is right, do it now & move on with the results that we have learned the hard way.

    All sides need to unite, make an understanding & get URTV back on track with a solid foundation & I will be the first in making this attempt work for the good of URTV.
    R.Bernier

  3. elaneon

    URTV Member-

    When was there ever a vote at URTV that lasted all day? Never. Why shouldn’t this vote be exactly like every other?

    Fact is, the meeting was scheduled to be at 7pm. I requested today off nearly two weeks ago in order to be there at the appointed time.

    The voting was changed to all day at the very last minute. All day voting would have afforded Ms. Dial no chance at all to state her case before ballots were cast against her.

    The last minute change certainly didn’t benefit people like me, who do work nights, but had already made our plans far in advance according to the information mailed to us by URTV.

    I too think it’s a shame that Ms. Dial needs a lawyer. Without one she wouldn’t have gotten even the tiniest bit of consideration- like being able to present her defense to voters before the votes were cast, and to counter Ms. Joyner’s apparently baseless accusations against her character. I say baseless since I’ve seen no evidence of Ms. Dial’s wrongdoing. I hoped Ms. Joyner would have presented some at tonight’s ‘special meeting’ since her passionate petition was the reason for this vote.

    “A lawyer? Vote suppression? This is the exact reason you should no longer represent us.” No, shame on you, URTV member. You are what’s wrong with URTV right now- the absolute disregard for rules, the law, and anyone’s rights except for your own.

    Sorry that you were inconvenienced today. So was I and every other URTV member who made the trip. If you read the URTV bylaws you’ll notice that members can not vote to remove board members- only other board members can do that.

    Ms. Joyner-
    On the bright side, Ms. Dial had to pay for her lawyer. I guess that’s something.

  4. Fred Keister

    She is the typical Asheville leftwing gadfly. All protest bluster and no action, as far as helping to steer URTV to improve and run well. I’m voting for her to leave. And the comment by the above poster only strenthens my resolve.

  5. election_results

    I saw the results from last night’s vote on the URTV Forums:

    33-12 to remove Davyne … so all the ranting and raving she and Bernier and near fights last night did her no good. Her constituency, the member producers of URTV, rejected her.

    And with many good reasons.

  6. election_results

    The highlight of the evening was the shouting match and near-fight between Davyne and Dale … the police officer on duty broke up what could have turned into an epic slugfest. … Brother Chris and “Doctor” Blackwell got into it, too.

    It was all very loud all evening and kind of fun. But the producers have spoken and Davyne is gone.

  7. URTV Member

    “All ballots were counted:
    The members voted results:
    33 voted to remove Dayvine Dile from the URTV board as their member Representative
    12 voted to keep her on”

    Justice is served!!!

  8. Sundance

    URTV member…I can see your point but the vote was originally scheduled for 7pm and then it was changed from a vote to a poll. My question is with it being a poll open during regular business hours is who is supervising the voting to make sure there is no fraud on URTV’s part? After all, URTV has failed to be honest and compliant with their bylaws, charter and management agreements with the city and county. How do we know that Pat, Jerry and Ralph will actually conduct this poll honestly? Having the voting at the meeting in pubic actually reduces the chances of voter fraud.

    Rather then voter suppression perhaps you should look at it as voter fraud protection.

  9. [“Election results :The highlight of the evening was the shouting match and near-fight between Davyne and Dale … the police officer on duty broke up what could have turned into an epic slugfest. … Brother Chris and “Doctor” Blackwell got into it, too.

    It was all very loud all evening and kind of fun. But the producers have spoken and Davyne is gone.”]

    Actually Ms. Joyner took unbrage to being filmed and jabbed her finger into my $500.00 wideangle lens , and I insisted she not touch my camera. This resulted in her yelling that there was no right to film…but this was an open meeting and the people pay for the rent of that lobby and that lobby was open for filming by anyone who entered with a camera. There was no shouting match between myself and Ms. Joyner (My latin husband did get quite testy over this exchange, but it was between him and Joyner, not me)…and there was no “police intervention” So “election_results” you are lying. This is all on film and will be up for viewing by anyone who wishes to view the proceedings in just a few days…So stay tuned folks, the show will go on.

    I find it very sad that URTV has become so divided that they feel they need police protection for our meetings. This is the second time a police person was there. How has gotten the membership stirred up in such a frenzy that police are needed????

    The q&a;session last evening was a good way of clearing the air, and for those who came with an open mind I think it was informative…..I’m starting an online petition to have member meetings on a regular basis…where we can discuss latest issues, network and help each other with programming.

    Go here to sign…we need 26 signatures to make this a go.

    http://www.petitiononline.com/urtv2009/petition.html

  10. tatuaje

    First of all, this vote doesn’t appear to be in line with proper protocol, as set out by the Bylaws of URTV, for removing a member of the board.

    Second, as stated in the Bylaws,

    A written notice of every regular or special meeting of the
    members shall be mailed, or distributed via electronic means, at least ten (10) days
    before the meeting to each member at his or her address as it appears upon the
    records of the Corporation.

    This was done to inform the membership of a special meeting that was to have taken place at 7pm on the 29th. To change the time & location of the meeting, a second notice would, again, according to the Bylaws, have to be sent 10 days prior. An email the day before does not count.

    Also according to the URTV Bylaws….

    ARTICLE 3

    5. Quorum. At any annual or special meeting of the members, a quorum shall consist of
    ten percent of the voting members of the Corporation according to the membership
    roster as of 60 days prior to the meeting.

    45 people voted. What is the total membership at URTV? Does anyone know? If there are 451 members or more, a quorum was not achieved.

    There are heated emotions regarding this issue. I suggest everyone take a step back, consult the bylaws, and attempt a return to reason and logic.

    Regardless of your views regarding the performance of Mrs. Dial, there is a correct procedure set in place by the Bylaws to remove a Board Member. Those procedures have not been followed.

    Please, if you have not already done so, take a minute to read the Bylaws, They are short, to the point, and free of complex legalese.

    http://urtvweb.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=42&Itemid=60

  11. Sundance

    Well stated Elaneon and Tatuaje. If this vote is allowed to stand, and a re vote following proper procedure does not happen I hope the public will contact all members of Asheville and Buncombe county councils and demand that PEG funding be suspended to URTV until they comply with their bylaws, charter and agreements with the city and county governments.

    I am convinced after seeing the way management along Jerry, Pat and Ralph carried out this illegal vote and so called poll that the only way to stop them and bring order to URTV is to hit them were it hurts. No money, means they will have the resources to play with their toys.

  12. Sundance

    Opps…meant to say No money means they will not have the resources they need to continue to play with their toys?

    By the way Ralph, does 1Vid have its own production facilities are are you using URTV’s facilities for free in order to make a profit for yourself at the expense of the general public???

    The pictures on your website kind of look like the URTV facilities???

  13. These are this issues I observed at the membership meeting last evening.

    #1 The email changing the voting process from a 7:00 pm meeting to a cumulative poll, created confusion. People thought the member meeting was canceled due to this email. The email indicated it came from a Board decision, yet three of us on that Board did not take part in this discussion to send a message to the membership regarding a “poll.”

    #2 Board chairman, Jerry Young was telling members who went in the afternoon that the special membership meeting called for at 7:00 pm, was not happening. This was the experience of at least one Board Member.

    #3 Known Dial supporter was allowed to vote yesterday afternoon….but others who were obviously not Dial supporters were told to come back at 7:00 to vote otherwise their vote would not be counted. So if they knew a person was a Dial supporter, they said nothing and allowed them to vote, but non supporters were told to come back at 7:00.

    #4 The meeting was never called to order or convened for the purpose stated on the special membership meeting notice, by the person calling for the meeting. It would seem to me that the voting should have taken place in the room where the meeting was designated, the meeting called to order by the individual calling for the meeting, and discussion by the accused , members and the accuser of the charges she stated for dismissal, immediate voting by qualified members in the room and and votes counted immediately by an unbiased individual…that did not happen.

    There may be other issues that evolve too, but this is off the top of my head.

  14. Rick_Taylor

    But, Ms. Dial, you were voted out of office by a majority fair and square. Is that not so?

    Now will all you idiots at URTV quit squabbling? Many of us out here are getting sick of hearing about it.

  15. Sundance

    “But, Ms. Dial, you were voted out of office by a majority fair and square. Is that not so? ”

    Not if there Bylaws were not followed correctly Rick and for that matter the vote is void because the format was changed without 10 notification as required.

  16. Tweet from Mountain Xpress: “Count from URTV member vote last night, 33-12 in favor of removing Davyne Dial from the board, according to URTV staff.”

    Too bad the poll is not a valid vote at a properly convened meeting. Nice try. What will they think of next? Oompah, loompah, doopididoo…

  17. James L

    You people are precisely what is wrong with this community. We’d be the greatest city in America if any of you were one 1000th as impressive, knowledgeable, honest or heroic as you are in your own minds.

    You know what the public thinks of all this?

    They don’t. They could not care less about your private little dramas, at least not until your raving and ranting calls enough attention to the fact that your wasting their money on your personal soap operas. Stop embarrassing yourselves and the rest of us.

  18. Rick_Taylor

    Thank you, Sundance, but I was asking Ms. Dial.

    If you lose by 73.3% to 26.6%, it seems pretty definite no matter what rules were in place.

    I have several friends who produce for URTV. They tell me everything runs smooth and fairly down there since the current director took over. They are happy with things as they are and resent Ms. Dial and Mr. Bernier. “Idiots” is the nicest thing I’ve heard about them.

  19. Tired

    tim, blackwell, peter, richard, (AKA the drama club)
    Too bad you all couldn’t vote (members only) it would have really helped the final count….
    oh wait, no it wouldn’t!

    She lost fair and square! Even by playing by her lawyer’s rules.
    Stop acting like babies and get over it!

    Tim, do you have any idea how pathetic this sounds:

    “Too bad the poll is not a valid vote at a properly convened meeting. Nice try. What will they think of next? Oompah, loompah, doopididoo…”

    What will you all think of next? I’m sure you all have some sad little plot in the works!

    The membership of our organization no longer wants Davyne to represent us. No conspiracy, no E.D. or Board drama, just simple fact. (33-12)

    I hope Davyne (the only actual URTV member in your little drama club) will see her resounding rejection by the MEMBERS as a call to break ties with your pathetic little non-member drama club.
    Like it or not, she no longer represents us,
    Of course she is still very welcome as a member.

    The membership has spoken! Take a shot at dealing with it.

  20. “Like it or not, she no longer represents us,”

    And yet she is still a board member. And the ED still stands in violation of open records laws.

    The next “sad little plot” will be conducted by the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners between now and November.

    You will have yourself to thank.

  21. FED UP

    I seems to me MOST of the members of URTV are happy with the services of URTV, and that only a very few non-members and members are unhappy. It seems to me the non-members should think about getting a new hobby and leave URTV and its HAPPY members alone.

  22. Tired

    Go get ’em Tim!!

    You all (The Drama Club) really should go tell those Buncombe County Commissioners how they need to do their jobs as well!!
    Tell ’em about how everyone at URTV just refuses play by your rules.(you know, firing the E.D. and replacing the board)
    Tell them how the City Counsel wouldn’t take any of you seriously…. but the County Commissioners should!

    Drama, Drama, Drama!
    This is just getting sad.

  23. Sundance

    Well “Tired” if you are so sure of that how come you were incapable of following your own bylaws…what is URTV so afraid of that you folks in charge can not even follow your own bylaws and agreements with the city and county?

    I have a suggestion for you “Tired”. Why don’t you just give back every single penny of PEG money URTV has gotten from the city and county and become the private secretive organization you so desire?

    You didn’t answer this question last time and I am still waiting for you to do so.

  24. Sundance

    well Rick there bylaws require a certain amount of the members vote to be valid and that objective was not met.

  25. Sundance

    “Go get ‘em Tim!!

    You all (The Drama Club) really should go tell those Buncombe County Commissioners how they need to do their jobs as well!!
    Tell ‘em about how everyone at URTV just refuses play by your rules.(you know, firing the E.D. and replacing the board)
    Tell them how the City Counsel wouldn’t take any of you seriously…. but the County Commissioners should!

    Drama, Drama, Drama!
    This is just getting sad.”

    No “Tired” URTV, at least by me is being asked to follow the rules and bylaws they agreed to with the city and county and if they don’t want to and want to be private….that is fine…just return all the money it has taken.

  26. Tired

    Thank you Sundance, but I was addressing Tim and the Drama Club.
    (well put Rick, I had to borrow it)

    “You didn’t answer this question last time and I am still waiting for you to do so.”

    Sundance, please read this carefully:

    I’m just a URTV member, I’m not in charge of anything at URTV. I have no control of PEG funding, and more importantly, neither do you.

    URTV has provided me and many others the services it was supposed to all along. It seems the main people who have a problem with URTV are the ones who don’t even take advantage of it.

    This was a member issue, 33-12 the membership has spoken.

  27. Tired

    Sundance:

    “No “Tired” URTV, at least by me is being asked to follow the rules and bylaws they agreed to with the city and county and if they don’t want to and want to be private….that is fine…just return all the money it has taken.”

    1. No one in charge at URTV is even listening to your drivel because you are not a member.

    2. If you really want your .03 cents back, for all of our peace, please tell me where I can send a check!!
    (I will insist on seeing your charter subscription though, for all I know you might not be a member there either)

  28. Cable Guy

    PULL THE PLUG!! PULL THE PLUG!!!! Seriously. This has turned into an embarrassing train wreck. You should all be ashamed.

  29. Fred Keister

    Davyne, now that that is over, perhaps you can move onto other projects. How about protesting the coal-fired power industry? Or agitating for the next chapter in Asheville City sustainable allowances for home owners and renters within the city limits. Hey, what about the meat eaters? HUH? The egg and honey people are happy now, but what about the meat eaters? Let’s agitate for sustainability here. Allow pigs and cows within 50 feet of your neighbor. And when the old boys are fat enough, do the hog killin and cow whackin roght there at home! Hang them quarters up in the curin barn. Yeah, let’s turn Asheville into farm country within the city limits! Hog callin, then hog killin on the Montford. Whoo-pee!

  30. Sundance

    hate to tell you this “Tired” but people are listening and when your agreements expire I think you folks are going to have a very hard time getting funding again unless you folks clean up your act.

    As far as me not being a member why on earth would I want to seeing as you folks can’t even obey your own Bylaws. For that matter why would aanyone want to give you $75 out of their pocket to be run off because you might have a differing opinion from the collective bunch of drones you folks have become to your “Big Brother” ED who thinks she does not have to answer to anyone.

    “Tired” please do all of us a favor. When URTV’s contacts are up for renewal don’t go back to the city and county begging for a handout again, Fund it yourselves by doing your own fund raising and by applying for private grants.

    After all grant writing was suppose to be one of your ED’s big strengths so why hasn’t she gotten any for the station?

    Where do you want the bill to come to and by the way that is three cents for every month for the past eight years and seeing how they handled phone, internet and cable while I was there its probably more then three cents a month…you can just give it back to the city of Asheville so they might not have to take money away from water repairs to patch pot holes.

    While your at it why don’t you just all the money URTV took back to everyone?

    You folks have proven you can’t follow your own rules so why should anyone trust you with public funds again?

    Don’t hand me your nonsense of what a valuable resource it is because in its current state of non compliance it is far from it.

  31. this is a sham…
    do you think that maybe pat just dictates emails to curt,and tells him to sign them(“the board”),and then the board finds out what they said when they read the email??i do not think that is the way it is suppose to work…this dose show how pat can not even follow her own rules.. she just has to brake the rules. she can not help it..pat can not follow one rule.she will not be told what to do by anyone.. no rule can restrain her.. she must be free.. set her free,set her free.go,go,and be free pat. just go..

    also i must say that under this ED i have seen urtv change from a wonderful fun place,into a place filled with hate,and much venom..i have never seen anything like it,and it is very sad..

  32. John Carpenter

    URTV has been operating as a circus for many years due to its clueless and totalitarian inclined staff. There has been no need for any member(s) to be blamed for any “negative stuff (publicity)”… the management has and continues to do a superlative job at that! A name change to DramaTV would certainly be in order for consideration at the next dictatorial assembly. Indeed, the only consistent service URTV actually provides to the community is embarrassment. The inception of URTV was a very good idea at first, then once established and Kurt was ejected, it has been a train wreck ever since and only spirals further into useless oblivion – thanks to some mighty incompetent/self-serving/back-PATting hands. I personally won’t go anywhere near the place, let alone to be charged a fee for doing so. I thought it was supposed to be Public Access TV and not the Public Asses TV it has surely become!

    –JC

  33. elaneon

    While NC law allows for the possibility of a removal of a member elected director by the membership in certain non-profits, URTV does not qualify. Don’t take my word for it. Look it up in the bylaws on the URTV homepage.

    At URTV, two thirds of the board must vote to remove a seated member. That is the only way to remove Ms. Dial until her term expires, unless she fails to show up at a certain number of meeting, or she resigns. Until one of those four things happen, Ms. Dial is a board member in good standing at URTV.

    She can not be kicked off the board by a membership vote and can not be suspended from her duties by Mr. Young. Seriously folks, why is it so hard to get things done at URTV in the correct, legal, and honorable way? We teach our kids to read directions and follow the rules. Why are we as adults having such a hard time doing the same?

  34. Sundance

    “PULL THE PLUG!! PULL THE PLUG!!!! Seriously. This has turned into an embarrassing train wreck. You should all be ashamed.”

    Agreed cable guy and I also agree with you John and this is why I am telling folks to contact city and county councils and ask that PEG funding be stopped and additionally demand that all PEG funding it ever received is repaid.

    If they had not gone threw with their stupid vote that did not even follow their own bylaws perhaps it might have been able to be retooled by getting rid of the bad management but it is too late for that now and its time to put URTV in its coffin and nail down the lid with hundreds of nails and bury it.

  35. Sundance

    Here is a link to part 1 of the video that was shot at the Kangaroo court held by URTV to remove Davyne Diall from the URTV board. Pay careful attention in the video and see how Dale Joyner became angry that she was on camara and her assertion that the meeting was not an open meeting as required by NC Meeting laws. Once the meeting got underway the accuser herself, Dale Joyner, was remarkably absent so no one had the opportunity to question her about her trumped up and fictitious charges!

    Here is the link:

    http://exposureroom.com/members/dixiegirlz.aspx/assets/8d1db920dd7e4c6ca373d244a267d36e/

    Is this the way you want your money, Public PEG Funds, to be wasted? Do you think people like Dale Joyner, Ralph Roberts and others at URTV should be able to run around unchecked and out of control?

  36. Elaneon

    Dr. Blackwell writes “changing the status of the producer Board members to ex-Officio or non-voting members”

    Please clarify. What is changing the status of producer board members to ex-Officio?

  37. Sundance

    board members elected by the membership will no longer have a vote on the board. In other wards they would be there just to look pretty and not help make decisions in regards to URTV. Also once Pat and Jerry’s planned changes to the ByLaws happen you would no longer be a member…you would be a “user” with zero input in regards to anything related to URTV’s operation.

  38. The original committee that set up URTV wanted equal representation on the Board. That is what the management agreement specified also. They felt 2 from the city, 2 from the county and 2 from the membership would help maintain all points of view in the decision making process. Obviously the current management doesn’t want input from the membership. You can make of that what you will, I take it to mean that the membership is a pain in the neck.

    I believe they want to make it where they never have to deal with members, just mail in your disc and stay outta URTV…hell just upload a file, that way no one in the office ever has to deal with you people. That’s the attitude I’m picking up.

  39. davyne,you have hit the nail on the head..when urtv started it had no member-board members,because it had no members..later they began to put members on the board,so the members(who know what it is like to be a member)could help the board out ,with there input…now days when a member makes a suggestion,they are just ignored..
    case in point,at a board meeting ,months ago,a member asked if they could get caller id on the phone in studio-a,so they could block obscene calls before they got on the air… this is a very little thing,but it would be a big help to members,trying to do call in shows… i ran into the member who asked for this,the other day,and he told me that the ed said it was just not financially feasible to do this…
    multiply this by every little thing that could work for members,and you start to see the picture of how things are being run…
    no wonder 2/3s of the membership have just gone away.. at this point mostly the dregs remain..soon that will be all… people who know what they are doing,get tired of being treated like dirt,and just go away ,or some try to fix things..

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