Once again, Xpress coverage of MAIN/WPVM misleads

It was no surprise to see some mention of the WPVM debacle in your year-end review ["A Lot to Say," Dec. 30, 2009]; but it was surprising that the mention was one-sided — and misleading.

At the MAIN board meeting your selected quote referenced, the volunteers' spokesperson, Edwin Shealy, was asked to substantiate his claim that the freedom of volunteers had been violated. He could not.

In a candid, follow-up e-mail a few days later, Mr. Shealy reiterated his inability to cite specific examples. Instead, he cited "a psychological reality, not a news-like objective reality — they [the volunteers] perceived it," he wrote, "so for them, it was real, whether an observer standing there saw it or not."

Citing the psychoanalyst Carl Jung, Mr. Shealy concluded: "For a woman hearing voices, the voices are the dominant reality, tho a journalist might see nothing and perceive the situation as normal and stable. Hence, perception is reality — the reality of, from, or by the psyche."

This psychic reality was manufactured by a few volunteers who had long wanted to separate the radio station from MAIN. With the oxygen of publicity provided by Mountain Xpress, they used the suspension of one of their leaders to attempt a formal separation. As the publicity legitimized the psychic reality, unwitting individuals — like Mr. Shealy — were drawn into the power play.

Volunteers at our radio station had more than five years of complete freedom (including the recruitment and hiring of the station manager) despite claims to the contrary. Your reporting never once questioned or attempted to substantiate the claims made by this handful of volunteers.

Manufacturing psychic realities is the essence of propaganda. At the national level, Rush Limbaugh and Fox News use the oxygen of publicity to sustain the Birther, Tea Party, and global warming-is-a-hoax movements. Repeated "news" coverage legitimizes and allows psychic realities to gain traction and grow.

Real journalism challenges and reveals perception-is-reality propaganda in order to help a nation — or a community — find an objective basis for public discourse, debate and problem-solving.

— Wally Bowen
Executive Director
Mountain Area Information Network

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94 thoughts on “Once again, Xpress coverage of MAIN/WPVM misleads

  1. JWTJr

    “At the national level, Rush Limbaugh and Fox News use the oxygen of publicity to sustain the Birther, Tea Party, and global warming-is-a-hoax movements. Repeated “news” coverage legitimizes and allows psychic realities to gain traction and grow.”

    Way to go around 3rd to 1st to get a Fox/Rush bash in. Your letter seemed pretty rational til then.

  2. Barry Summers

    With the oxygen of publicity provided by Mountain Xpress, they used the suspension of one of their leaders to attempt a formal separation.

    And the attempt to rewrite history continues. Like much of what Wally says, the above statement is false. We asked MAIN’s Board to recognize that a dysfunctional and demoralizing atmosphere had taken root at the radio station under Wally’s leadership, and that a new structure, under the MAIN umbrella, would lead to a better use of this community resource. The Board responded by giving volunteers the right to manage station operations, and created a Subcommittee that we reported to instead of to the Executive Director. All of this is well documented.

    We never EVER tried to separate from MAIN. This is ludicrous. MAIN holds the license to the station, and you can’t simply walk away with it. We were well aware of the inseparable financial and legal intertwining of the station and the rest of MAIN, and we simply proposed a new relationship between the volunteers and the Executive Director, and MAIN’s Board responded.

    Wally’s ego couldn’t stomach this, however, and he waged a scorched-earth campaign to drive away staff, volunteers, and Board members, until those who were left didn’t have the will to fight with him anymore. Now, two years later, he is continuing to demonize those of us who helped him build the station, but were driven out when we tried to get him to realize that things weren’t working.

    Erasing the letters WPVM from the planet won’t erase the history of what you did, Wally.

  3. JWTJr

    Before anyone starts assuming things, all the blow hards on radio and TV – Rush, Hannity, Beck, OReilley, Maddow, Shultz, Matthews and the rest all use the same ‘tactics’ to draw viewers. They are all fame hounds who will say anything to make themselves fame and fortune. Neither the left nor the right can claim they don’t.

  4. “Erasing the letters WPVM from the planet won’t erase the history of what you did, Wally.”
    Barry

    Thanks Barry, for that reality fact check.
    Seems like the most oppressive folks are the quickest to whine about that pesky reality. It’s used so very often by those I know to be extremely oppressive, I have to assume most folks fall for it.

  5. Piffy!

    i love watching wally prove all his detractors right every time he says anything.

  6. R.Bernier opinions

    Wally,
    I will give it to you for speaking up & wanting your time to share your views unlike the Director of URTV, Pat Garlinhouse.

    Todate, Ms.Garlinhouse along with board chairman Rev.Jerry Young has never sit down & defend the stories coming from Mtn.Ex

    Wally – again Im glad you will make a stand on your postions & work maybe the lacklusters from URTV will step up.

    RB

  7. I’m constantly bemused by Wally Bowen’s consternation over entities like the Mountain XPress because in his eyes, they can’t get the story right. If there’s anyone who doesn’t have the story right, it’s you, Wally.

    You personally alienated scores of volunteers who were initially some of your strongest supporters. They devoted countless hours of passion and talent helping you realize your dream of having a vibrant community radio station.

    To destroy the allegiance of such a large body of people – people of widely-varying personalities and temperaments – takes some doing, but you prevailed in that effort (sadly).

    All these months later, you still can’t let it go. You continue to stubbornly assert that all the problems with WPVM were everyone else’s fault, and that your behavior was beyond reproach.

    My advice? If you truly want to resolve the problem, get a mirror and take a long hard stare into it – if you dare.

  8. I will step up for URTV, Richard. The way you generally handle the type of muckraking that you and Davynne engaged in your joint-letter accusing Pat of embezzlement to city manager Gary Jackson is to ignore it. The city reviewed your letter of complaint and found the claims groundless. They found no problem with Pat Garlinghouse or URTV. Why should Pat or Jerry stoop to respond to your bullying attempts at character assassination when the City of Asheville has done it for them? Your false accusations are a matter of public record now and anyone who wishes to look into them can go get a copy of the letter from the city. You guys clearly did not like URTV’s presence in our community & went on a fishing expedition hoping to take it all down and you came up with nothing. Sorry but there it is.

    I say leave WPVM and MAIN alone already. Obviously, there was a major clash in management style there. I saw that coming years ago and quietly walked away. It ended badly & people felt used and unappreciated. It is unfortunate. Sounds like everyone is MUCH happier being elsewhere. (I listen to Dr. Filth on AshevilleFM.org occasionally for the great music.)

    As a former volunteer at WPVM, I can say without any disrespect, Wally never seemed that big on the music end of things. His vision was much more about getting independent news and analysis on the air. Given our current glib talk-show Clearchannel “800 the revolution” type of media landscape, I can understand his desire to cut through all of that bogus opinion-making “journalism” and try to deliver some journalistic standards in this day and age. Most people have to stream WPVM anyhow, as it STILL has next to no viable signal. Moving all the DJs to Asheville FM really is not that big of a deal in my mind. Anyone can google WPVM and see that the music is now on Asheville FM and connect to that stream accordingly. Great. Let Wally program the news on his bandwidth and let the DJs kick out the jams on their bandwidth, and let the chips fall where they may.

    Here is a novel idea: If it is true that WPVM is going to cease with the music altogether, why not create a link on MAIN WPVM website and send folks who want the music to ASHEVILLE FM? Wouldn’t that be a nice olive branch to extend? (Give peace a chance and all?) And in exchange, all these disgruntled folks who still feel burned by Wally’s management style can leave off trying to tie Gulliver Bowen to the ground. Leave the giant alone in his garden to finally program his station the way he wishes. Whatever you think of Wally personally, the programs he wants to get out there are very important alternative voices. Don’t belittle that important effort by letting some lingering valid sore feelings get in the way.

  9. “You guys clearly did not like URTV’s presence in our community & went on a fishing expedition hoping to take it all down and you came up with nothing. Sorry but there it is.”

    This statement by Mr. Jones is patently untrue….Mr. Bernier and myself were targeted for removal from a Board when he and I began asking questions that any RESPONSIBLE Board Member should ask. That we were targeted for removal by the ED should raise serious questions by any objective concerned citizen.

    He and I raised our concerns privately with-in the Board, and immediately became targets for removal. It became obvious that we were going to be removed for asking questions we both felt were our responsibility as good stewards of a public trust to ask. We simply stood our ground and didn’t just meekly leave as was being demanded behind the scenes. The repercussions of “standing our ground” were documented here at Mountain Express and elsewhere….for which I will be eternally grateful. As will others who face similar problems elsewhere in the world of Public Access; as the ensuing brouhaha does show up on Google searches.

    Myself and my husband were the largest charitble contributors to URTV in 2008…giving a large cash gift, that was never formally acknowledged with the required documentation for tax deductions. That was a big problem for my husband who has a long history of charitable donations and is sensative to how a charity handles their acknowledgement’s as a sign of the financial competency of that non-profit. I was the first paying member of URTV, back when Kurt Mann had the first producers workshop in ’05. That is not the behavior pattern of a person who wants “take down” Public Access in our community.

    Mr. Bernier gave countless hours of politically oriented programming, till he became a Board Member. He has stressed (along with myself) that URTV is a victim of poor management partly due to a lazy and ignorant board, (especially during the past 18 months). That does not appear to have the intestinal fortitude to thoroughly discuss and research decisions on the agenda, instead they rubber stamp what ever is decided behind the scenes.

    A prime example is the recent removal of membership status (voted into the Bylaws unanimously at the November Board Meeting). No one at the meeting really ask a serious question regarding the repercussions or implications of this…how it effects the original “mission” of URTV. Instead now the Bylaws have the following very cleverly crafted piece of wordsmanship / double talk as an explanation. This explanation is taken word for word from the recent amendment to the Articles of Incorporation; “ Member benefits specifically defined in Bylaws. Power to change resides with the Board> There will be no change in status to clients (members) or their function.”

    The mere fact that there is no appreciation or tolerance of open dialog or exchange of ideas should be problematic to anyone who purports to have a serious inquiring mind. Since open dialog and the exchanging of ideas is what a Board is SUPPOSED to do.

    We will continue to watch the future meetings to see who has the intestinal fortitude to do the responsible thing at URTV’s Board of Directors. So Mr. Jones, you and the rest of the BOD do your duty responsibly, and Public Access will not just go away.

    JMHO

  10. travelah

    Who don’t the 4 or 5 of you self interest conflicted souls go get a room and mesh.

  11. Travelah: Local, public, non-profit media resources hardly constitute self-interest. (BTW: Did you see my Goldwater tribute on the Obama thread?)

    Davynne: my understanding is that you and your husband are always welcome at the open Board Meetings, with or without your video camera. You are always welcome to speak during the public comment section of each of these meetings. And you are always welcome to continue producing whatever kind of show you desire at URTV. (And just for your information, you are not “giving” URTV anything when you produce “countless hours” of content, just as URTV is not “giving” Charter Cable anything by adding one more channel to the 800 that they now offer a buying public. You are using the resources provided there to put across your messages in the medium of television broadcasting on a privately owned and operated cable TV network.

    I cannot say what the URTV board meetings were like when you served on the board last spring, before you were removed by a “no-confidence” vote by the URTV membership last summer. Maybe they were disorganized way back then. (My experience has been that the bi-monthly meetings are pretty organized and to the point now.) My understanding was that the vote to remove you from that board was augmented largely because of your continuing negative media campaign against URTV in the press. Most of the membership saw what you were doing as more harmful than helpful for URTV and so voted by a margin of 3-1 to remove you from the board. Pretty simple. Your letter to City Manager Gary Jackson, which was pretty much a seven-page unfounded hit piece against Pat Garlinghouse, written at the request of Bill Russell in order to get you to put all your complaints in one heap and be done with it, was reviewed by the city and deemed unworthy of much investigation. Wonder why? Is the city lacking in intestinal fortitude too? Unfortunately, after the Membership and the City bailed on you, you were still not done with it.

    So, after the URTV membership removed you from the board, after the city reviewed your 7-page attack letter and found no wrongdoing on the part of Pat Garlinghouse or the URTV board, what did you and your husband do with your money? You hired a private investigator by the name of Mr. Rosenthal to come down from New Jersey and begin attacking URTV at City Council and County Commissioner meetings for you through a carefully orchestrated negative PR campaign. Unfortunately for you, Davynne, Rosenthal was using your return address as he projected some of this continuing negative PR campaign. David Gant certainly showed some intestinal fortitude at the county level when he sent your private investigator/professional muckraker Rosenthal back to New Jersey, with a few choice words.

    You and Richard are always welcome to return and produce shows at URTV if you wish to do so. You are welcome to continue to support URTV with another charitable donation any time you please. And of course you are welcome to continue your muckraking campaign against URTV here on the Xpress blogs, where I am welcome to put it in check. (And you are also welcome to start a similar muckraking campaign against me personally, as you have chosen to do on other threads here, which I will also continue to put in check.)

  12. Barry Summers

    …all these disgruntled folks who still feel burned by Wally’s management style can leave off trying to tie Gulliver Bowen to the ground. Leave the giant alone in his garden to finally program his station the way he wishes.

    I don’t give a hoot about this giant of a man’s management style, or the fact that now, after years of oppression, he’s free to ‘finally’ program the station the way he wishes.

    I just won’t sit by & watch him lie about what happened. You are all about getting to the truth at URTV, DCJ – why are you mocking those of us who want the same from the situation at WPVM?

  13. travelah

    And you wonder why people treat you like you’re not a nice guy…

    Wrong bunch of peeps I suppose.

  14. Barry Summers

    Wrong bunch of peeps I suppose.

    I like that! It’s not your behavior that’s wrong, it’s the people themselves. Spoken like a true Calvinist.

  15. Barry: I am sorry if I gave you the impression that I was mocking you. There is an old fairy tale I remember from childhood about a giant who has this great walled garden and a bunch of kids discover it and climb the wall in order to play in it, but the giant comes charging down the hill and scares them all away. I see the WPVM situation as sort of an analogous. MAIN is Wally Bowen’s Non-Profit. MAIN acquired and retains the license for WPVM. That was always pretty clear to me as I sat in on countless meetings at the outset of the founding of WPVM years ago. So Wally has finally flexed and scattered the volunteers. In doing so he stepped in a major PR hornets nest. Sorry to see it go down that way. Yall can keep stinging him ad infinitum. It is probably not going to change much.

    I am not trying to tell anyone to refrain from pointing out dishonesty or underhanded dealings here. I was just suggesting a way to quell the storm. That is really all I am trying do with URTV as well. Richard and Davynne made their points long ago in their letters to the city and the Xpress about what they misinterpreted as underhanded dealings at URTV. They had every legal right to do that. (Nothing illegal about hiring a private investigator to muckrake for you either, as bad a such of course of action makes you look when exposed.) However, the URTV membership, the city and the county looked into their claims and saw no malfeasance on the part of URTV or it’s ED. Yet Richard and Davynne continue to drag it all out whenever they get a chance, as they do here above.

    All I am saying is let it go already.

    With WPVM I think it has been amply exposed here and elsewhere that Wally is a real pain to work with. Throw a rock while blindfolded in this town and you will hit somebody who can probably tell you the same thing.

    Travelah: I paid tribute by quoting him on the important topic at hand there.

    “The Trilateral Commission is intended to be the vehicle for multinational consolidation of the commercial and banking interests by seizing control of the political government of the United States. The Trilateral Commission represents a skillful, coordinated effort to seize control and consolidate the four centers of power political, monetary, intellectual and ecclesiastical. What the Trilateral Commission intends is to create a worldwide economic power superior to the political governments of the nationstates involved. As managers and creators of the system, they will rule the future.” – U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater in his l964 book: With No Apologies.

    I greatly appreciate that insight from a TRUE conservative.

    I also greatly appreciate the fact the this TRUE conservative pushed through the 1984 Cable Franchise Policy and Communications Act which allowed local governments to require the transmission of public access television, also called PEG (Public, Education, and Government) access channels, barred cable operators from exercising editorial control over content of programs carried on PEG channels, and absolved them from liability for their content.

    Without Goldwater’s true CONSERVATIVE vision, we would not have URTV today.

  16. Barry Summers

    All I am saying is let it go already.

    I’ll let it go when he stops lying about it. This is the sad lesson I and others learned from dealing with Wally over the years – he rewrites history constantly, in small ways and large. If you don’t fact-check him in real time, a year or two down the road, he’ll say, “See, it was printed in MtnX that the volunteers were thieving pirates, and no one contradicted me, so that makes it true.”

    Here is an actual true story. When complaints were made to the Board about Wally being autocratic, he sent out an email saying that he had reviewed meeting minutes and emails and found no evidence to support the charge that he was autocratic. No joke.

  17. Barry Summers

    Sorry to interrupt this URTV thread with another irrelevant comment about the letter at the top of the page…

    Just kidding. I’m done snarking now.

  18. francois Manavit

    There are two infinites: the Universe and Wally ‘s stupidity; and I am not sure about the Universe.

  19. francois Manavit

    At the height of laughter Wally is flung into a kaleidoscope of new possibilities.

  20. francois Manavit

    ‘You are here to enable the divine purpose of Wally Bowen to unfold. That is how important you are.’

  21. “Sorry to interrupt this URTV thread with another irrelevant comment about the letter at the top of the page…”

    My thoughts exactly.

  22. R.Bernier opinions

    David,
    Wally has spoken out & stood up for his vision which I glad for. Open Board Meeting Laws need to be follow which was not done during my time on the board at URTV.

    Im always glad to see a director stand up such as Wally no matter if I agree or not but to sit silent like URTV did was just wrong.

    Thanks again Walley,
    RB

    I also thank the Board Member for speaking out at the Airport though the board got upset, sounds like URTV does it not!

  23. It is absolutely uncanny how you and Barry have exactly the same thoughts, Davynne. Thing was, he was just kidding. Were you? Cause if you weren’t just kidding, then the spirit of your exactly the same thought was not actually exactly the same.

  24. I am all for following whatever rules are set forth in any set of by laws, Richard. And if that was all you spoke up about, then I would commend you for it. However, when you start slandering the Executive Director, accusing her of embezzelment in a co-authored letter to the City, then I think you are off base and should be put in check and removed from the board.

  25. http://www.independentsector.org/PDFs/sarbanesoxley.pdf

    WHISTLE-BLOWER PROTECTION SUMMARY OF SARBANES-OXLEY PROVISION (These guidelines also apply to non -profit Boards and volunteer Board Members)

    The Sarbanes-Oxley Act provides protections for whistle-blowers and imposes crimi-nal penalties for actions taken in retaliation against those who risk their careers by reporting suspected illegal activities in the organization. It is illegal for any entity — for-profit and nonprofit alike — to punish the whistle-blower in any manner.

    RELEVANCE TO NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS
    Nonprofits must start by protecting themselves. They must eliminate careless and irresponsible accounting practices and benefit from an internal audit that brings to light weak spots and installs processes that are not vulnerable to fraud and abuse. Written policies that are vigorously enforced by executive staff and the board send a message that misconduct is not tolerated. These policies should cover any unethical behavior within the organization — including sexual harassment.
    Each organization must develop procedures for handling employee and volunteer complaints, including the establishment of a confidential and anonymous mechanism to encourage employees and volunteers to report any inappropriateness within the entity’s financial management. No punishment for reporting problems — including firing, demotion, suspension, harassment, failure to consider the employee for pro- motion, or any other kind of discrimination — is allowed. Even if the claims are unfounded, the organization may not reprimand the employee. The law does not force the employee to demonstrate misconduct; a reasonable belief or suspicion that a fraud exists is enough to create a protected status for the employee.
    RECOMMENDATIONS
    Nonprofits must develop, adopt, and disclose a formal process to deal with com-plaints and prevent retaliation.
    Nonprofit leaders must take any employee and volunteer complaints seriously, inves-tigate the situation, and fix any problems or justify why corrections are not necessary.
    DOCUMENT DESTRUCTION

  26. Headcheck: Davynne, you didn’t blow any whistles when you wrote that letter. You slandered someone and tried to destroy her career and URTV with her. Your claims of embezzlement/fraud had no basis in reality. That is not whistle blowing, its slander.

  27. Headcheck DCJ…the city manager didn’t seem to think so. He told me, what was written was basically a performance evaluation of the ED. I saw it then and still see my role as a “whistleblower”…you can call it whatever you like.

    As I said before, the concerns were written at the request of Bill Russell, who was the city’s liaison to URTV last spring. Since from your perspective the only reason for holding back was to preserve a seat on the Board…..I knew my removal was inevitable (see experiences of Peter Brezny & others)….so I wrote what I knew to be facts. I wasn’t concerned with perserving my seat, I wanted to get to the truth.

    You are only writing this stuff, from a very narrow point of view. I’d suggest you open your mind and investigate this situation from all points of view.

  28. OK. Call it a “performance evaluation.” As a curious member/producer I got a copy of it from the city, read it and found it to be a very poorly researched, slanderous “performance evaluation” that was disregarded by the city and it got you removed from the board. I find it odd that you would hire a lawyer and a private investigator and a professional muckraker after you were removed by the membership from a simple volunteer position on the board by a margin of 3-1, but hey, its your money and your ax to grind. Grind it till it is as dull as an old brown leather shoe.

  29. I find it odd, that you are so easily conned. You’re an embarrassment.

    How many more accusations are you gonna make on this thread…in the hopes of getting something to stick?

    Anyone who wishes can get that letter from Maggie Burleson…it’s public record. Think I sent it out around April 1st, if you need a point of reference and was addressed to the City Manager, Gary Jackson.

  30. You have been fairly prolific at posting and re-posting seedy stuff. Maybe you should examine your own posts as per the seedy-ness campaign.

  31. Ex-Pat2

    Barry Summers wrote: “Here is an actual true story. When complaints were made to the Board about Wally being autocratic, he sent out an email saying that he had reviewed meeting minutes and emails and found no evidence to support the charge that he was autocratic. No joke.”

    And Mr. Summers wrote: “During the brief tenure that the volunteers ran the station, we had access to all sorts of info. Documents showed that Wally was warned very specifically by a professional radio engineer about the frequency early on. He took his normal I-know-better-than-you approach, and the weak-ass signal that WPVM was saddled with was the result.”

    Mr. Summers, you must be holding some “smoking gun” emails and documents that would expose Mr. Bowen’s evil ways once and for all. The emails and documents you refer to above do exist, Mr. Summers, do they not?

    Your claims would carry sooooo much more weight if only you would share this documentation! (Please don’t refer me to the wpvm.blogspot site for your documentation; there’s nothing there but more ad hominem claims.)

    Of course, Mr. Bowen’s evil genius may include the ability to “erase” all traces of incriminating emails and documents from ALL the inboxes of ALL the volunteers, staff and board members for ALL these years!

    In that case, you are one brave and (may I assume, lonely?) man fighting this giant evil genius who continues to live among us mere mortals. Lord help us all.

  32. OK. I will do that review for you, Davynne.

    (1) I pointed out that you wrote a letter to the city accusing the URTV Executive Director of fraud. The allegations made in this letter were not deemed credible.

    (2) I pointed out that you called in an attorney from Raleigh to threaten URTV with a lawsuit when it’s membership called for a vote to remove you from the board. The membership did not feel that there was any grounds for such a lawsuit and went ahead with the vote and you were removed from the board.

    (3) I pointed out that soon after your removal from the board a professional muckraker/private investigator – last name of Rosenthal – came to town and began mailing out attack literature accusing URTV of harboring pedophiles. He continued to decry other unsavory falsehoods before City Council and elsewhere. My understanding was that when this Rosenthal attempted to hijack a Buncombe County Commissioner’s meeting to soap box about the evils of URTV, David Gantt told him to zip it. When he refused to cease with his harrangue, Gantt called him to a private chat after the meeting. We have not heard from Mr. Rosenthal since that day.

    That’s it for me on reviewing the seedy details. It’s yesterday’s newspaper. Whenever you are ready to drop it, I am ready to drop it too.

  33. #1. In my letter to the city manager, in response to a request from the city’s liaison to URTV (Bill Russell); I pointed out various issues of non compliance with the management agreement. No where do I specifically accuse anyone of fraud. How do you know the points were not deemed credable? Do you have direct communication with the City Manager?

    #2. When URTV announced a poll vote, it became apparent that they would flout their own bylaws. An attorney was necessary at that point. But my attorney pointing out to Scott Dillon that a poll vote was in violation of URTV’s bylaws, is not the same thing as filing a suit. I was simply protecting myself…no more, no less.

    #3. As for your third point…that has nothing to do with me.

    Thank you again for giving me the opportunity to elaborate.

  34. Excuse me, but the last time I checked the letter at the top of this thread of comments, it was about MAIN and WPVM. But once again, the comments have devolved into bickering about URTV.

    Does the phrase “on topic” mean anything here?

  35. Sorry, David. Richard brought it up and I felt compelled to respond.

    Good elaborations, Davynne. I am now convinced that you never actually meant URTV any harm at all, that it was all about protecting yourself. My bad. I will let it go now.

  36. DCJ said: “You hired a private investigator by the name of Mr. Rosenthal to come down from New Jersey and begin attacking URTV at City Council and County Commissioner meetings for you through a carefully orchestrated negative PR campaign. Unfortunately for you, Davynne, Rosenthal was using your return address as he projected some of this continuing negative PR campaign. David Gant certainly showed some intestinal fortitude at the county level when he sent your private investigator/professional muckraker Rosenthal back to New Jersey, with a few choice words.”

    Why would I need to go to New Jersey to hire an investigator???? There are plenty here. That is la la-land delusional. Besides one doesn’t need to hire a detective to pick up on the many, many blatant instances of non-compliance of the management agreement, open meeting laws and statutes governing publicly funded non-profit’s which URTV is. The upcoming 90 day management agreement from the City puts URTV & the BOD on notice that is still being watched very closely.

    BUT even if I had hired an investigator to review shenanigans @ URTV…that’s not against the law. Lying to the DA, about being threatened and physically assualted is against the law. And the individual who accompanied the liar into the DA’s office is complicit, too.

  37. I’ll be brief to your rant.

    URTV was using Western North Carolina Media Center for a very long time, but out of laziness failed to officially apply for the name. So a group of former producers did. My address is shown on the Articles of Incorporation. So what!

    Your leader did say at the last Board meeting (for the benefit of Mr. Davis) that URTV’s main purpose is to “train people in the media industry.” So opening a non profit to promote local media (print film, etc. is what URTV’s purpose is…and that is why we OFFICIALLY set up the name.

    The rest of your rant….I’ll leave it lay. It’s nothing more than the usual smokescreening, to divert attention from the facts that have been presented time and time again.

  38. As per you constant drone of “Don’t you have anything better to discuss on these blogs than your failed campaign against URTV?”

    My “failed attempt” to get URTV into compliance with management agreements and statutes governing non-profits????

    Here’s evidence to the contrary. The following is from the new management agreement to be signed next Tuesday Jan. 26, 2010.
    It specifically addresses the concerns we have been raising for some time.

    The new 90 day agreement addresses concerns expressed by City Council regarding open meetings
    and public records.
    • The agreement also clarifies the organization’s board structure and the city’s payment
    terms for management services.
    • The extension period will allow for additional time to resolve any concerns City Council
    may have with the conduct of the WNC Community Media Center’s board and/or the
    organization’s operations.

    B. BOARD MEETINGS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.
    1. Contractor shall provide ample public notice of all meetings of the WNC Community Media Center
    Board, or any committee or subcommittee thereof.
    2. Any person is entitled to attend, and may record or broadcast, WNCCMC Board meetings. Any person
    may attend meetings of committees or subcommittees and may record or broadcast said meetings, subject
    to facility limitations.
    3. The WNCCMC Board may go into closed or executive session for any of the reasons set out in N.C.G.S.
    143-318.11(a), to the extent applicable to the activities of WNCCMC. It is specifically recognized that
    WMCCMC may go into closed session as necessary to consider or discuss confidential information,
    provided that the information to be discussed qualifies as confidential information within the meaning of
    N.C.G.S. 132-1.2, or a “trade secret” within the meaning of N.C.G.S. 66-152(2), or to prevent the
    violation or infringement of a copyright or patent.
    4. Full and accurate minutes of each meeting of the WNCCMC Board, including committees and
    subcommittees, shall be kept, including general accounts of all closed or executive sessions.
    ____________________________________________
    And last but not least…and because of the attention we’ve placed on non-compliance in this very important area:________________________________

    Compliance with the North Carolina Public Records law, N.C.G.S. Chapter 132, shall be prima
    facie compliance with this Section.

    So much for your spurious argument that the city has ignored my and other citizens, concerns.

    Now, come up with some more smokescreens to obfuscate the real issues here, David.

  39. DCJ and DD:

    Ok, it’s all been arranged. This Friday night at Harrah’s Cherokee – you will both duke it out in a Mixed Marshal Arts bout, which will take place in a hexagonal cage, no holds barred, elbow throws permitted.

    You’ll need to prepare quickly, so top snarking back and forth on this forum and bone up on your boxing, Ju Jitsu and Muay Thai skills, and be prepared for some hard-core “ground and pound”.

    Whoever submits or is knocked out first loses the URTV debate.

    This should be fun!

  40. Sham69

    To Ex-Pat2

    Documentation does exist, in hard copy. I know as I have enough to paint very dark pictures. Many of those there at the time and post had decided it was best to just let it go, it wasn’t worth it anymore. The station has a lot to offer even w/out the core volunteers. It was our/their belief that it was best for the community to let it go to sleep and rest. None of us/them wanted to rest control from HIM. We just wanted a great station.

    Ex-Pat2, I don’t know who you are and frankly I don’t care much. Please just rest assured that Barry & David’s and many more’s words, though passionate, are steeped in fact, not BS. I personally can prove it to the letter. Yet I prefer to take a positive road and not do more damage. WB would be wise to do the same. He should keep his mouth closed on the past. He should learn from his past mistakes. Maybe his new volunteers can rebuild the station to the tremendous place many of us got it to in it’s 1st 5 years. I can only imagine what it might be like now had he trusted his volunteers and had an inclusive model instead of HIS autocratic and somewhat paranoid method of non communicative double speak passive aggressive gobbily gook.

    HE has many strengths, but leadership isn’t one of them.

    So summing it up Ex-Pat2, even if Barry does have the smoking gun…he and others chose not to share that with you Dear Reader, for the good of all concerned (read : the progressive ears of the mountains).

  41. With in all the yada, yada, yada you’ve written on the subject of URTV aka WNCCMC, you have yet to address any of the FACTS that have been presented by reporters and participants this past year.

    http://www.mountainx.com/topics/find/URTV

    FACTS don’t lie.

    FACT The first month revealed the ED, Secretary and Treasurer on videotape misrepresenting the letter & spirit of Open Meeting law. See link here…
    http://www.mountainx.com/news/2009/controversies_continue_over_urtv_transparency

    FACTURTV had secret meetings that were in violation of their required meeting notifications.
    FACTMinutes are required to accurately reflect what transpires in Board Meetings…that has not been done this past 18 months. (Though I do notice there has finally been some attention paid to this issue.)

    FACTURTV is required to comply with NC open records under N.C.G.S. Chapter 132…repeated requests to review financial records have been denied. URTV is paying a high priced law firm to delay my reviewing records.

    FACT Numerous issues have been written about in the links above…they are facts. Otherwise Mountain Express would be liable

    You do not address any of the FACTS presented in print here this past year. You cannot defend the indefensible, so you resort to personal attacks, innuendo and libel. You fancy yourself a journalists???

  42. travelah

    I think DCJ has spanked Ms Dial hard and she ended up getting Olbermensched. Perhaps she should just roll over, light a cig and convince herself she enjoyed it and call it a night. It’s all Mr. Jones is going to deliver. Seriously, does anybody in Asheville give two cents about the personal squabble between you two?

  43. I could again enumerate all the facts regarding Davynne’s underhanded campaign against URTV, but at this point I think anybody can stick a fork in her and plainly see that she’s done. (As she put it on another post, “flayed and dressed.”)

    I am through roasting her here, there and everywhere …

  44. That’s your best shot???

    You didn’t address any of the FACTS that have been presented in MtnXp as expose’ articles, much less any of the ones I listed above. Why is that?

  45. That’s your best shot???

    Davynne, hitting the bulls-eye of your barn door of an ass on this issue is no difficult task. I have splayed many an arrow here, one upon another, for a week or two now. It is becoming a boring chore of a pastime.

    As for the rest of your FACTS, I can ‘t really say what was going on with the URTV board way back then. I was busy actually producing shows featuring local artists & musicians and paying my membership dues, which is more than I can say for you. My educated guess about the so-called “secret meeting” you are now whining ad infinitum about, a whole year later, was that it was merely a phone call between board members who were trying to figure what to do with a destructive nay-bob provocateur like you as you started to relentlessly destroy URTV’s image in the press. But that is just an educated guess.

    Ever since I was elected to the board to fill your seat, I have been privy to all financial statements regarding URTV’s budget and all minutes of previous meetings have been duly reported at the start of each new meeting. All of this basic BORING information is available at URTV and is dutifully made available to the city. (I actually was able to walk right into the URTV studio and request it before I was elected to the board.)

    Your demand last year that the ED produce all check stubs of a previous year’s expenditures was by any standard a ludicrous request from a Tweedle-dee-dee member who had long stopped producing/supporting URTV, who was now only committed to talking S-H-I-TUT about URTV whenever she appeared on some other producer’s show. You were no IRS auditor. You were not designated by the city to demand such a Herculean task be performed. The city has all such records of expenditures that it needs/requires, and the city appears to be satisfied that URTV is above board and on task. You were simply witch-hunting, trying to find some way to insinuate that because the ED would not run scared to locate all these check stubs for the frightening likes of you, that said ED was therefore hiding the embezzlement of funds. Anybody with half a brain could see that you were simply on a fishing trip and did not mean any good by your request. Stonewalled, you decided to unload all that dysentery in the Xpress, and David Forbes obliged. Because Forbes did such a bad job with his coverage of your bile, I suspect the ED & URTV board declined to dignify your trumped-up assaults in the press with a “No Comment” response. But for that attack of yours, you got drop-kicked from the board – duh. You then hired a lawyer to scare URTV from removing you from your volunteer position on the board via a vote of the membership, a vote which came down against you by a margin of 4 to 1. Then along comes your man with the fecal touch from New Jersey, Alan Rosenthal, to amplify your destructive campaign before City Council and before the County Commissioners, alleging, among numerous other false charges, that URTV was a “safe harbor for pedophiles.” (I have a stack of his bogus “literature” before me now.) Then Allan Rosenthal was exposed & drop-kicked from public comment by County Commisioner David Gantt. Now you are reduced to producing these Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum displays of manufactured discontent by marionetting oafish John Blackwell and brainwashed Richard Bernier in order to continue your flagging campaign. I say whatever. Go ahead. Continue. Hell, trot out Alan Rosenthal again at public comment at City Council next Tuesday and once again give him your allotted time. It will be good to see this most conspicuous “citizen” again after a 6 month absence, a curious man who only gained said “citizenship” by using your home address upon his arrival after you were removed from the board last summer.

    Every time you or one of your drones badmouths URTV now, you are only painting yourself further into a corner. At this point it is only hurting each of you individually, and your greater anti-progressive cause as a whole in our community.

    Now, I would suggest that you go pull all of these splayed arrows out of your ass and find another progressive cause to try to take down … target practice is over.

  46. I think DCJ has spanked Ms Dial hard and she ended up getting Olbermensched. Perhaps she should just roll over, light a cig and convince herself she enjoyed it and call it a night. It’s all Mr. Jones is going to deliver.

    Who loves ya, T? (I do!)

    Thanks for sharing your wit.

  47. JWTJr

    “Davynne, hitting the bulls-eye of your barn door of an ass on this issue is no difficult task.”

    Pretty immature for an old guy. Buck up.

  48. Barry Summers

    Documentation does exist, in hard copy.

    Thanks Sham69. I found it too absurd to answer charges of lying from an anonymous commenter, especially a rightwing sockpuppet like Ex-Pat2 (inferior straight-to-DVD sequel of Ex-Pat, the classic comedy about an androgynous person (Pat) who’s tired of being mistaken for the wrong gender so he/she picks one & runs with it, with hilarious results).

    There is indeed hard evidence of everything I said, including the signal issue being directly Wally’s fault. However, it would harm more than just Wally if we released it, so we decided to sit on it.

    If you’re who I think you are, Sham69, you’re the one who urged me to delete the Lebowski-esque “This aggression will not stand, man” statement I added to our last petition to MAIN’s Board. Guess you were right.

  49. Barry Summers

    Oh, sorry to go off-off-topic like that. Back to the merely off-topic…

    DCJ, you won’t persuade folks by making rude personal comments at Davyne. Up til now, I think you’ve made the best case here. I suggest you quit while you’re ahead.

  50. Sham69

    I think the topic has something to do with the connection, nein dizbatcher says zere iss problem mit deine kable. It would have been nice if it had stayed on topic, but then this very entertaining thread would not have been read.

  51. Ex-Pat2

    To Sham69 and Barry Summers:

    I have not accused either of you of lying; I simply requested that you provide documentation to back up your claims. I have been following your accusations against Mr. Bowen and MAIN for more than a year now, and I have yet to see ANY documentation.

    “it would harm more than just Wally if we released it, so we decided to sit on it,” Mr. Summers writes.

    Sham 69 writes: “even if Barry does have the smoking gun…he and others chose not to share that with you Dear Reader, for the good of all concerned.”

    Mr. Summers, you warned of the need to “fact check” Mr. Bowen to prevent his “lying” (your words). Yet you are not willing to be held to the same standard?

    Meanwhile, you continue the personal attacks against Mr. Bowen, while refusing to back up your claims with evidence “for the good of all concerned.”

    That’s a nice bit of double-speak, if you can pull it off.

  52. Sham69

    Dear Ex-Pat2-
    It was a bad idea for me to join the fray again in my backing up Barry. I believe I must have been shocked that Mr. Bowen would open his can of worms and go fishing again. He has an amazing knack for drawing negative attention to himself. It appears that again I was sucked in to his whirling vortex of …whatever you want to call it.
    I will not publish what I have. I would disappoint too many people and hurt some as well along the new journey. Instead I will just choose to disappoint you. I’m sorry I brought it up. My bad. Get it in your head here: I got nothing, you were right.

  53. My comment implies that Davynne has created a very wide target here for me to hit. I am not referring to her literal body when I say she is “showing her ass” here and I am easily hitting it. If accusing someone of “showing their ass” is immature, well then I guess I am guilty of being immature. I see it as a common figure of speech. Davynne, myself, and anyone else that posts comments on this these Xpress blogs, is essentially becoming a “guest commentator” for the Xpress, you are becoming a public figure and your words and ideas are open to all sorts of discussion/criticism/ridicule.

    I don’t see anything wrong with the metaphorical comment. But if the Xpress deems that figure of speech a no-no, then I will stand corrected.

  54. JWTJr

    DCJ – Just so you know … most women don’t appreciate ‘analogies’ like that. Just so you know. If you didn’t know.

  55. Mr/Ms Moderator…I got a message earlier today that I , along with DCJ were on moderation for straying off topic.

    Isn’t the discussion my a$$, OT? Reprint following;

    “My comment implies that Davynne has created a very wide target here for me to hit. I am not referring to her literal body when I say she is “showing her ass” here and I am easily hitting it. If accusing someone of “showing their ass” is immature, well then I guess I am guilty of being immature. I………..
    all sorts of discussion/criticism/ridicule.

    I don’t see anything wrong with the metaphorical comment. But if the Xpress deems that figure of speech a no-no, then I will stand corrected.”

  56. Davynne, we are discussing a simple figure of speech. This was my response to having been accused of making a below the belt personal comment. I said in effect that when anyone “shows their ass” in regards to any given issue, it makes for an easy target.

    “Davynne, hitting the bulls-eye of your barn door of an ass on this issue is no difficult task.”

    I hardly think defending one’s previous comments, the ones that are still posted here, the ones that others continue to discuss here, is taking us further off topic by introducing any new information.

    My defense is simple: The case of you “showing your ass” here was that you had said that you did not have “anything to do with” Mr. Rosenthal. I then pointed out that a simple search of both your names on google proves he was using your address to register a business with the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce. To me that seemed like a clear case of you “showing your ass.” You then retorted here with the comment that just because you and a few fellow citizens banded together with Rosenthal and chose him to be the president/ceo of your business and you allowed him to use your address to register said business, that did not prove that you knew anything about his negative campaign. I can only now assume that my post linking you to him by specifically exposing the common address was some kind of violation of Terms of Service agreement. The removal of my comment, along with your comment admitting this address was in fact yours, has not been explained to me and leaves the dialogue incomplete.

    I think for the sake of honesty, we should all at least acknowledge that Rosenthal was/is using your address with the Asheville Chamber. That is public knowledge. We can certainly do that much without actually exposing any physical address here on the Xpress blog. (You certainly did not mind linking for everyone the results of your google search of my name that yielded my police record.)

    I accept that we are leaving this topic behind. But because the Xpress obliged your request to remove certain comments of mine, the very ones that make sense of my use of this figure of speech now in question, I would appreciate it if this modest recap of the deleted comments could be left up as my farewell comment, for it explains and defends the reasoning for many of my previous comments.

    I am done. You may have the last word, Davynne. Say anything you like to finish up and if it is reserved and fair and our moderator therefore approves it, then we will be tit-for-tat done. (“Tit-for-tat” is another figure of speech and in no way references any actual physical body part belonging to you.)

  57. Ex-Pat2

    Sham69 wrote: “It was a bad idea for me to join the fray again in my backing up Barry. . . . I will not publish what I have. I would disappoint too many people and hurt some as well along the new journey.”

    Can you and Mr. Summers say “innuendo”? 1. “an indirect intimation about a person or thing, esp. of a disparaging or a derogatory nature.”

  58. JWTJr

    DJC – Your cohorts on the left created the PC environment you now live in. Welcome to the party.

    That being said, I would think you would be more sensitive to making analogies that in any way suggest that a woman’s butt is big. Literally or figuratively.

  59. Barry Summers

    DJC – Your cohorts on the left created the PC environment you now live in. Welcome to the party.

    That being said, I would think you would be more sensitive to making analogies that in any way suggest that a woman’s butt is big. Literally or figuratively.

    Wow, way to have it both ways, JWTJr. Got to find some angle to turn anything into a ‘dig’ at those darn lefties…

    There’s nothing “PC” about saying “Hey, don’t make rude comments about a person’s appearance,” as you yourself just demonstrated.

    Nice try. Go back to throwing darts at your Che poster.

  60. JWTJr: They are not my cohorts on the left. I think the PC micromanagement of speech is complete BS. Any rich white president of the United States (including the one we got now) can step off of Air Force One and say “African-American” in an address to an impoverished section of an inner city. It doesn’t prove anything about said presidents real attitudes towards that “demographic.” Whereas, a poor “ignorant” southerner from a previous generation, say Flannery O’Connor or William Faulkner, or contemporary rap group like the Ghetto Boyz, or a filmmaker like Quentin Tarrentino, or comedian like Dave Chappelle can use the “N” word (I cringe having to censor myself here) and still care far more about the well being of the race in question than the phony president working the “new and improved” gears of rhetoric.

    As far as referring to “big fat butts” goes, I cannot lie, I am a feminist on this point. Women deserve equal pay for equal work and they deserve equal protection under the law. The buck stops there. That is the world that 3rd wave of feminism has created and we now all live in it: sexist chivalry has been banished. So ladies can all buck up. (Of course, in the above case it was a figure of speech and not to be taken as a literal reference to anyone’s ass.)

  61. JWTJr

    Barry – who said I was having it both ways? I just pointed out that a hard core lefty got caught in a PC trap. The irony is delicious.

  62. Sham69

    So- does it mean this thread is over? I was hoping to hear some more, now I will be:

    At the local Dance, whilst posing by the door
    A lady begged ‘would I come on the floor?’
    Above the band, my voice was heard, Quite suddenly
    it had occurred to me:I’m bored!

    I’m bored with everything I touch & see
    I’m bored with exposes of LSD
    I’m bored with Frank Sinatra’s new LP
    And so I roar: I’m bored.

    Drinking different colored wines or beers (chug a lug) Just quite frankly leaves me bored to (tears for souvenirs)
    And quite apart from what one hears, I’ve been like this for years & years – You see? Ennui

    I’m bored with mother nature and her son
    I’m bored with everything that should be done
    And so, I just poke out my big red tongue (rasberry) I’m bored

    I’m tired of art! (drawing bored)
    Sex is a drag! (in a bording house dare I say)
    Awk! Australians bore me! (a-bore-iginals)
    I’m bored to death (like mortar bored)

    I’m bored (repeat many times)
    This is boredom you can afford

    I hate each Julie Andrews film they’ve made,
    I’m just a narrow minded jade
    Don’t think that I will smile at it,
    I’m not a week willed hypocrite, I’ll say:
    I’m bored

    I’m bored with with-it men in spotty ties
    Who hum tiresome tunes like Eidelweiss
    I’m bored, and when I hear it
    In a thrice, I shout, I’m bored

    The only thing that intersts me…
    Is ME! (Me! Meee!Me! Me!…)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvFHmDCD56M

  63. Barry Summers

    ‘Having it both ways’ is calling this a “PC trap” (whatever that means), but in the same breath, pointing out that it’s simply bad form to make rude comments about a woman’s appearance. When others called DCJ on his bad conduct, it’s somehow ‘political correctness’. But when you call him on the very same conduct, it’s not?

    We both agree his conduct is inappropriate, but you need to concoct some political hay out of it. Sad.

  64. When others called DCJ on his bad conduct, it’s somehow ‘political correctness’. But when you call him on the very same conduct, it’s not?

    Ah, the double standard prevails …

    Think whatever you need to think in order to make sense of my opinions and my use of free speech to express those opinions, I am neither left, nor right.

  65. Testosterone and estrogen, by their very natures, cannot be “politically correct.” They are the raw energies of man and woman in their hormonal form, untempered by the nay-bob “civilizing” efforts of what was once understood to be plain “manners,” what we now call “political correctness.” I will take the language of chivalry, the unbound wit of a bygone courtly life, over the legalistic sniping dictated by self-appointed cultural “guardians,” nimrods who did not actually gain an education by going to college in the late 80s/early 90s, but only learned to parrot some jingoistic attempt at arbitrating “justice” through the employ of “correct” speech. (The PC “cultural revolution” made disembodied neanderthals of us all.)

  66. JWTJr

    Here’s my point. Anybody who knows women at all will know that pain is coming if you say something like that. Serious consequences. Especially if you live with them. That’s not PC, its a life lesson. Part of being a dude.

    The PC police jump on this type of thing saying “You can’t say that! You are a sexist and must go!”

    I’m not big on PC, but life lessons are something to pay attention to. There was a little hay to be had given who made the comment. I couldn’t pass it by.

  67. JTWjr: I know women pretty well. I have lived with plenty of them. Most of the women I have known intimately – be they friends or lovers – have not been so insecure that a passing comment about their ass, be it big or small, upsets them and brings about any real strife. What is actually said is never the real issue. The context and the intention is the real issue. (That is the crux my beef with the PC speech “movement.”)

    If you can communicate effectively to a woman that you love her, no matter what she looks like, that is all any sane woman really cares about. A woman absolutely, neurotically tied and bound by the facile opinions of others regarding her personal appearance is a colonized death trap of a woman. She can go buy all the Secret-Ban roll-on she can afford so that she can raise her hand when she is Sure, gob on all the Lorreal in the world, let her get her tummy tucked once a year and pull her face back ad infinitum. At the end of the day, if that is her biggest concern, then she is doomed to a hollow narcissistic loneliness anyhow. Such a woman will never know love, even if love were to knock upon her door with a thousand roses. This is the type of woman our sick mainstream culture wants to create with its crap magazines and talk show hosts and then exploit year after year. An insecure woman who can easily be duped into believing she can purchase security is very good for sales, however very bad for society.

    Ella Fitzgerald had a big ass. Big Mama Thornton had a big ass. Queen Latiffah has a big ass. They all know it and they are quite secure in themselves with their sexuality. They don’t need to look like Beyonce to attract a mate. A gentleman by the name of Sir-Mix-a-Lot wrote a song about his great admiration for the big ass. The famous underground comix creator Robert Crumb has the same proclivity. It takes all kinds to make a world. To quote an appropriate however glib PC slogan, “Celebrate Diversity.”

    Now, generally speaking, if you really don’t like your big ass, and you really don’t know how to make it work for you, I say don’t go shopping, join the YWCA and get cracking. A weekly exercise routine will do far more for your figure AND your mind (not to mention your savings account) than a trip to the mall/plastic surgeon. (A good psychotherapist might help too.)

  68. JWTJr

    “JTWjr: I know women pretty well. I have lived with plenty of them”

    That’s like a comedy routine. You should sell it.

  69. Barry Summers

    DCJ, I respect you & you have a lot of good ideas, but this is not one of them. Lay off trying to pretend that you weren’t being deliberately unkind to Davyne, simply to rack up some retribution for her revealing your DUI – a truly low blow for which I and others criticized her. She sank into the muck with that one – you didn’t have to join her down there. I beg you to let this drop.

  70. JTWjr: “Take my wife please” …. it’s been done ad infinitum … it’s “part of being a dude.”

    Barry: OK. I admit I was being sort of snide with my analogy. I did use the term as part of an analogy, however, I knew it would sting her. (See JWTjr, I do actually know women.)

    Perhaps I got dragged down into the muck for a minute there. She brought a professional Rosenthal muckraking tactic to the blog earlier in the foray, and so I gave into my baser instincts and tagged her with a parting shot. As has been noted by “The Dude,” JWTjr, it was “immature.”

    Please forgive me, Davyne. I got a little out of line.

    (Do take note that she will probably NEVER apologize for the dragnet approach she took against me with the police record search/expose.)

    Sham69: What, you’re still here? I thought you were busy trying to cure your boredom watching YouTube videos about singing walruses.

  71. Attn: Mssrs. Sommers & Jones.

    While y’all were engaged in your self-congratulatory adolescent circle jerk, over snarky butt cracks…. the City approved a 90 day extension for Asheville’s publicly funded public access service, with more teeth than a crocodile….which is what we’ve been lobbying for this past year. Very. Happy. Camper.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8tuTSi6Sck

  72. Barry Summers

    Davyne, I appear to have offended you by calling DCJ on his rude behavior towards you. Apologies. From now on, I’ll sit quietly while anybody who wants to says nasty things about you.

  73. You mean like this attempt?

    “DCJ,…………- a truly low blow for which I and others criticized her. She sank into the muck with that one – you didn’t have to join her down there. I beg you to let this drop.

    Thanks, but no thanks.

  74. travelah

    I think Davyne Dial should beat this issue to death for another week. Not enough people really know whats going on. Lets have another 1,000 word pissing attack but this time let loose towards barry.

  75. Barry Summers

    Yes, Davyne. You and DCJ both behaved badly. You aired his legal troubles, and he paid you back with a nasty personal comment, and you both deserved to be called on it.

    I suggest the two of you engage in a competition to prove which is the bigger person, and put the sniping to rest.

    Except for unfairly persecuting the travelah puppet, which is always good fun. Call him a Calvinist. He hates that.

  76. Actually Barry, I’m done. However I don’t need you to instruct me on proper behavior. Fact is, I persisted on a higher level for a good while before getting down in the muck with DCJ.

    That said, we got somewhere in lobbying the City…we couldn’t ask for more. I’m outta here on this subject. See ya

  77. I offer my sincere congratulations to you and your team of crocodiles, Davyne. (You might just get to design that 101 Dalmation fur coat after all!)

    However, I do think you need to be corrected on one of your facts. Public Access TV is not “publically” funded. The funding for the 3 PEG channels comes through a PRIVATE deal negotiated between the City and Charter Cable. There is absolutely no public taxpayer money involved. What little money that gets allocated from the cable company is earmarked by the city for URTV and the Government Channel and the Education channel at the outset of each contract period. The money would not be there to spend on something else if there was no PEG channels.

  78. DD I don’t need you to instruct me on proper behavior.

    I happen to agree with Davyne on this point, Barry. We are quite aware of what are comments mean, however we choose to word them in the heat of the moment. Your “reprimanding” us on our conduct is really not necessary.

  79. Barry Summers

    Hey, knock yourselves out, then. Who cares if you’ve lost the chance to persuade others, as long as you scratch that itch.

    Why do I keep getting this thread? I thought I unsubscribed…

  80. R.Bernier opinions

    Mr.DCJ,
    I have sit here reading all of this “stuff” tell you what, Mr.Jones as a sitting board meber of URTV, why not do a sit down with the lady or even myself & turn the camera on & share with the viwers of public access. (This is after all a story on Main & not URTV)

    I have always fought hard that URTV be open & film their board meetings, I hope you will take me up on my offer. (im 99% sure you will not accept my offer)

    We can see by the issues of the Asheville Airport Board of Directors the clear need to be open due to their problems & issues. Public Access should be open, the City of Asheville will make it clear in their next agreement with URTV that they are required to follow open board meeting laws.

    Since you did not attend any Board meetings before becoming a board member then I would suggust you watch this clip Mr.Jones.

    Study more David & you will find your answers even though you already know who is hard to work with inside the walls of URTV.

    Ask hard questions – know the real roll of a board member & not that the current spin.If you dont ask, Im sure in time others will.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFfV2Ge4HQI

    R.Bernier
    URTV Board Member
    2008-2009

  81. Richard:

    I was not on the board when you and Davyne were serving, so I really cannot speak for any mistakes that may have been made during that period. I was merely producing my videos about local artists and musicians at the time. I only became involved after the initial fairly negative Xpress cover story hit the fan.

    I am all for abiding by NC open meetings laws and every other URTV bylaw. Since I have been serving on the board, that protocol appears to have been followed to the letter. The meetings are open to the public and video taping is permitted from a designated area. You do not have to ask permission. My understanding is that you can use any footage in any legal way you see fit. So what is the problem?

    From my limited view, it seems like a whole lot of griping over a few regrettable past mistakes and misunderstandings. It also seems like a good deal of demonization based on ignorance – from both sides -has occurred here. (This was in large part do to the nefarious Mr. Rosenthal, who appears to have left town, perhaps to continue professionally harassing Public Access elsewhere in the US.)

    My belief is that the best thing for URTV would be to abide by the bylaws as they stand, follow the city’s oversight guidelines to the letter and stop crying over spilled milk.

    If you want to meet for an informal chat about any of these issues, I would be open to meeting with you. Send me a private email to discuss this idea further:

    dcj@halcyonpro.com

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