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Thursday, June 26, 2008

County May Get Community Radio

By Laura Nesbitt
Mountain View Telegraph
      A needs assessment completed last year may have opened up an FM channel for a countywide community radio station.
    “The (amended application) has been accepted by the (Federal Communications Commission). They have initiated the 30-day period of comment and/or protest prior to approval,” said Al Geduld, a member of the Partnership for a Healthy Torrance County and chairman of the FM Task Force.
    If the FCC approves the application, a construction permit will be issued and the group will have up to three years to put the station on the air.
    However, members will begin immediately to find approximately $100,000 to get the station on the air, including buying broadcasting equipment and using donated space.
    “To raise the funds, we're expecting a fair amount to be grants from the federal government, and we'll be looking to organizations in the community for sponsorships and support.
    “We'll put pencils to paper to do a strategic plan of what has to be accomplished from the date that we get the approval to the day that we go on the air. That's our very next step, is developing a strategic plan,” Geduld said.
    The original application requested a 100-kilowatt station and was amended to request a 40-kilowatt station, but the amended application will still give coverage to the entire county, Geduld said.
    “What we are primarily is an education and community services operation, which will be available for emergency broadcasting, as well. For example, during the Trigo Fire there was no way that information was able to funnel out to local citizens,” Geduld said.
    People need a spot on the FM dial that they can go to to get specific information, he said.
    To complete and amend the FCC application, the group raised funds to pay Sanchez Law Firm in Washington, D.C., and Albuquerque to provide legal support, and Cavell Mertz and Associates in Washington to provide technical support.
    Responses to the Community Health Improvement Plan, a survey asking residents about issues most affecting their lives in the county, were reviewed by PHTC members on Aug. 1.
    Members discussed the best ways of acting on the requested priorities, including a radio station that seemed to address all of the community health issues, Geduld said.
    Members of the FM Task Force include Geduld, County Emergency Manager John Cordova, project office coordinator Pat Lincoln, public health nurse Audrey Rodriguez, Read “Write” adult literacy program Director Kathy Segura, former County Manager Bob Ayre, Lisa Locke, Catherine Lynch, Bob Maze, Blake Williams, Joe Keefe, and Art and Dixie Swenka.
   

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