Friday, March 29, 2024
43.3 F
Larchmont
HomeNewsLMC Under Seige: Larchmont says Hard Choices Ahead

LMC Under Seige: Larchmont says Hard Choices Ahead

BOC Mtg 11/10/21
Cable TV Board of Control met Wednesday evening with LMC board members and staff present.

“The status quo not sustainable,” Larchmont Trustee Sarah Bauer told her fellow Board of Control members Wednesday night. “We need to have some hard conversations.”

She was facing representatives from the Village and Town of Mamaroneck, and members of the Board of Directors of LMC Media which is partially funded by cable franchise fees from the three municipalities.  The 40 year-old arrangement is fraying under the weight of diminishing revenues as more and more residents “cut the cord” and rely on internet streaming for their home entertainment.

Larchmont Trustee Sarah Bauer
Larchmont Trustee & BOC member Sarah Bauer

Before the franchise fees vanish permanently, Larchmont has sought to get some of that cash, previously demanding a $100 thousand disbursement from the BOC for its village capital fund, a move the other two partners say would cripple LMC Media, which produces TV and on-line content for the three communities.

The award winning non-profit covers local meetings and recently aided FEMA in visually documenting flood damage from Hurricane Ida. As franchise fees have dropped, LMC has increasingly pivoted to fundraising and charging production fees for some services. It operates a studio at Mamaroneck Town Center and a mobile TV truck, but has reduced its staff from 7 to 4 in recent years as funding has been slashed.

Larchmont has been unhappy with the arrangement for some time and claims a “lack of transparency” in the LMC operations, although its own decision-making process in withdrawing from the agreement has been somewhat opaque.  The unilateral decision to withdraw was discussed solely in trustee work sessions. according to Bauer, and Larchmont residents were notified by e-mail and Facebook with no trace of the official notice on its Village website. In reaction to Larchmont’s sudden move, the BOC voted Wednesday night to begin televising its meetings for the first time.

Village of Mamaroneck Mayor Tom Murphy
Village of Mamaroneck Mayor and BOC member Tom Murphy

Bauer insists Larchmont wants to “come to an agreement in the next year,” before the official withdrawal date. Village of Mamaroneck Mayor Tom Murphy, representing the senior partner in the agreement, told her “Its an interesting way to negotiate to say you’re leaving if you don’t get your way.” Town of Mamaroneck Trustee Abby Katz, the third member of the BOC, told Bauer flatly “we’re committed to giving our portion of the franchise fee for LMC.”  Larchmont clearly has other ideas.

Town of Mamaroneck Trustee and BOC member Abby Katz
Town of Mamaroneck Trustee and BOC member Abby Katz

The next Board of Control meeting is scheduled for December 7th and will be available to view via Zoom.

Editor’s note: The writer is a frequent volunteer contributor to LMC Media

 

 

Lou Young
Lou Young
Lou Young is a veteran journalist who has been honored with multiple awards including 10 Emmys. He retired in 2017 after 43 years in TV News and was recently appointed a Trustee in the Village of Mamaroneck, and has restricted reporting duties accordingly.

3 COMMENTS

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

3 Comments
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Long time VOL resident
Long time VOL resident
November 14, 2021 12:28 AM

I applaud the VOL board for stepping up and acknowledging that the cable fees are headed to zero in the next [X] years. Predictions are difficult and there are stragglers (I think there are still people on dial-up internet), but the cable bundle will be 90% gone in five years.

TOM and VOM officials have their heads in the sand.

jim swarthout
jim swarthout
November 11, 2021 7:17 PM

What’s up with the Loop having Lou Young, a political consultant who works with several in the area (check his linkedin), do political coverage? Seems, I don’t know, a little shady. Maybe change the name to the Fox News Loop?

• C O M M U N I T Y • C A L E N D A R •

3
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x