Finally, another O.K. Newsletter!
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Finally, another O.K. Newsletter! |
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The Ohio/Kentucky Alliance |
Volume 2, Issue 1 |
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Tommy's Tunes You know, I have to admit that sometimes I used to wonder why the ACM has organizations at the state level. Post House Bill 283 I wonder no more. Thanks to you, your volunteers, your cities, your boards and you again, we were able to make a difference in this dangerous piece of state legislation. To refresh your memories, HB 283 was the state budget bill. After it had passed the House…, after the Senate held public hearings…, in the stealthy quiet of a Senate Finance Committee…, Senator Louis Blessing, a state senator who's district contains parts of Cincinnati and the Waycross Community Media area, slipped a little booby trap into the state budget at the behest of his good friends at Cincinnati Bell. Of course the Senator wasn't deterred by a recent Ohio Supreme Court case which reaffirmed that Ohio bills must be single issue, in other words you can't have legislation for dog collars and car emissions in the same bill. He didn't let the fact that public hearings had already gone by and the chance for public comment, or even notice, was greatly diminished. No, the only thing that deterred him was YOU! We got the word from OK Chapter Treasurer Chip Bergquist who got from one of his city officials who happened to be a member of the Ohio League of Cities. (Sure shows you the importance of good relations with your city government) From there we were off to races. The word was spread and you contacted your cities, your boards and your volunteers. A couple of visits to the capitol and few zillion faxes and phone calls later significant changes had been made. We were the only folks invited to sit in on a meeting with Senator Blessing that weren't representing a municipality or a utility company. We didn't get everything we wanted but our current franchises were protected and franchise fees were specifically protected in the bill. They can no longer be tied to the right-of-way but the federal act provides for them, as well as other non-monetary items such as channel space, facilities, etc.. The best news Chip & I heard in Columbus was when one Senator's legislative aide told us she "was really tired of hearing about HB 283." They didn't expect this to cause a fuss and thought it would pass with no problems. You did this. Your calls, faxes, in person meetings and spreading the word gave us the clout to get something done about this. I'll never wonder again why we have state chapters. I'll have more details for you at our meeting in Michigan City. In the mean time, if you have any questions just contact me at 513-396-5573, or e-mail atbishop@pacetc.org. |
Just Vote, O.K.! It's election time in the OK Chapter and we have some significant departures from the board at the moment. I know that Ric Hayes, has done a wonderful job with our annual workshops as conference planning chair, will not be running again as he plans to pursue an advanced degree. Gail Robinson, our Vice-Chair, is in the theatre business full-time now so she may also not be running. All positions are open by-the-way, and here they are: Chair, Vice-Chair, Treasurer, Secretary, Conference Planning, Information Services, Ohio Public Policy and Kentucky Public Policy. We can also elect other members at large to our board. This is your chance to be involved. Nominations will be held at our meeting during the fall Central States Regional Conference in Michigan City. Check the conference brochure for time and place.  |
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Chip's Change The amount in the O.K. Alliance account at the Alliance for Community Media National Office stands at $409.31. GO O.K.!
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CHAIR VICE-CHAIR TREASURER SECRETARY INFO. SERVICES |
PUBLIC POLICY --
OH PUBLIC POLICY --
KY CONFERENCE
PLANNING AT-LARGE --
Education AT-LARGE -- Web
Services |
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Send announcements, job listings, stories or anything else you own the copyright to that you would like to share on the web to brian@waycross.org |
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