After 6-Month Delay, TV3 to Undergo Hearing
Evaluation Hearing Follows Audit, Looks at Performance of Station
– Allison Goldsberry
Six months after an April hearing was cancelled due to a delay in the completion of a financial audit, TV3 Medford will undergo a performance evaluation hearing on Wednesday, October 29, at 7PM in the Council Chambers at City Hall.
In April, Mayor Michael McGlynn announced he accepted the recommendations City Solicitor Mark Rumley made in his report on TV3 for the station to undergo an audit and performance evaluation hearing.
The audit started in April and looked into the past four to five years of the station’s financial information. The audit was expected to take only thirty to forty-five days and was conducted by Melanson and Heath, the same firm that audited the city’s Water and Sewer account after a $3.2 million deficit was discovered.
It was not immediately known why the audit took so long to complete. In Rumley’s report, he notes that a bookkeeper asked to compile the station’s financial data, Patricia Cappucci, criticized the station for its lack of organization and internal controls over its finances.
“[There was] no central filing location for any vendor or employee files. My assignment to collect the information to produce financial statements was quite a chore. The data that I was able to find, was scattered in many places. Most of the records are missing,” wrote Cappucci in an email to Rumley.
The performance evaluation hearing was planned to follow the audit to look at the station’s operations, namely, how it has handled its funds and how it has provided public access in the community. The Mayor selected retired Judge Marie Jackson, formely of Medford, to serve as the impartial evaluator for the hearing.
Jackson, a Harvard Law School grad, served as the presiding justice for the Trial Court of Woburn for eight years. She retired in June 2007 and currently lives in Woburn.
In an April press conference, Mayor McGlynn said he picked Jackson for her reputation.
“She’s tough, she’s fair, and she’s impartial,†said McGlynn.
Judge Jackson said though she has read Mark Rumley’s report, she has no “pre-disposed notions†about TV3.
“I’m not hear to rubber-stamp the Rumley report. I’m here to hear from the citizens of Medford…I’m not here to judge the past,†said Jackson last April.
Jackson referred to the section of the contract TV3 has with the city that authorizes the city to call for a performance evaluation of the station, and said the “guiding question†of the hearing will be if TV3 reflects the diversity of Medford and if it has provided an opportunity to participate in a fully inclusive manner.
The hearing is open to all and the public is encouraged to participate to provide feedback about TV3, the city’s public access station. Prior to the hearing written comments may be submitted, in person or by mail, to the Law Department, Room 206 or the Office of the City Clerk, Room 103, Medford City Hall, 85 George P. Hassett Drive, Medford, MA 02155. Written comments may also be submitted by email to markrumley@medford.org.
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