Commissioners question RVTV service value
From our weekly issue dated March 04, 2009
Back when Josephine County Commissioner Sandi Cassanelli was a private citizen, she always was concerned about services provided to the county by Rogue Valley Community Television (RVTV).
And during the commission meeting Monday, Feb. 23 in the courthouse conference room in Grants Pass, Cassanelli got to weigh in on the issue as an elected official.
Commission Chairman Dwight Ellis said that he continues to receive complaints about programs not airing as scheduled. Joe Brett, RVTV operations manager, said that schedules are updated by noon every day on that organization’s Website. However, he acknowledged that the process is complicated by airing live meetings.
Cassanelli said she feels that Josephine County has to compete with neighboring Jackson County for space on the public access channels.
“We don’t have control over here,” Cassanelli said. “It seems like it’s more of an Ashland station than a Grants Pass station.”
Cassanelli said that she would like to see the county’s contract with RVTV go up for a Request for Proposal (RFP) to see if those services can be better met.
“I see a lot of things in the contract that RVTV doesn’t seem to be doing,” Cassanelli said. “There are a lot of things, I think, that an RFP could solve.”
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Brett said that an RFP would be a “healthy process for all involved,” and that RVTV has tried to emphasize regional coverage.
Ellis directed county Chief Financial Officer Rosemary Padgett to give regular reports to the board regarding the content being aired on RVTV and all related expenses. The board received such reports on a quarterly basis during 2007, but none last year, Ellis said.
The county’s existing contract with RVTV will expire in June, Ellis said. As such, if the county seeks an RFP, it should do so soon, he added. Ellis said that the county could make additions to the RFP so citizens can get “more bang for our buck.”
Padgett said that her office will review the current RFP. If the county seeks another, it will have to go back in April and be put together in March, she said.
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