An ex-employee from Oxford Community Television’s past returned last week to criticize the station and urge the privatization of the media services it provides.

Ken LaPlace, who worked as station manager from July 2012 until he was fired in July 2013, spoke during the public comment portion of last week’s Oxford Township Board meeting.

“I’m here to save you money. It’s as simple as that,” said LaPlace, who owns a private production company called PVN-TV Motion Pictures in Brandon Township.

His comments to the board, accompanied by a one-page written statement he distributed to board members and the public, criticized virtually every aspect of OCTV, including the funding it receives, its relevance to the community, its level of professionalism, the quality of programming it provides and indeed, its very existence.

“Oxford Community Television currently really has no recognizable community support,” LaPlace said. “It experiences no community engagement. Really, citizens don’t go in and out of the place to rent equipment like they used to. It has no measurable audience . . . People aren’t really watching them.”

Despite these “deficiencies,” he said the township and other municipalities continue to fund what he considers “a failing service.”

“Truthfully, OCTV is more of a glorified video club,” LaPlace said.

He characterized OCTV’s programming as “1980s television with low resolution, low quality” and criticized the station for being more centered on paid staff than volunteers.

“I don’t think they have any volunteers, to be honest with you. Maybe a handful,” LaPlace said.

In his written statement, LaPlace asserted that “everything community television claims to offer citizens can now be easily attained” through the internet and on smartphones, “yet for reasons of pure sentimentality a few communities, like Oxford, still cling to this ancient vestige.”

“(Community television is) nothing but a municipal courtesy,” LaPlace told the board. “Everything that you want is on a cell phone and ten times more.”

LaPlace told the board that during the year he spent as OCTV’s manager he questioned “where are we going with this thing.”

“I could see where (the station) really needed to go wasn’t going to happen, so yeah, I left,” he said.

In his printed statement, LaPlace wrote he “decided to return to commercial production” because of “the many concerns I had regarding (OCTV’s) direction and purpose as a valued community service. A question of conscience, perhaps.”

But the reality is LaPlace did not voluntarily leave his position.

He was terminated in a 5-0 vote of the Oxford Area Cable Communications Commission at a July 22, 2013 meeting. No reason for the firing was stated publicly either during the meeting or afterward.

LaPlace did not attend that meeting, but he did submit a written statement to the commission that was read into the record. “I place in your hands my future,” he wrote. “Clearly, I will not tender my resignation. I am too proud of my many accomplishments most of which I predict will last far into OCTV’s bright future . . . I trust your ultimate decision regarding my current employment contract will be a solution for all, now and forever.”

On his way out the door, LaPlace tried to charge the cable commission $12,210 for equipment owned by his production company and supposedly used by OCTV between July 2012 and June 2013.

There was no signed contract for the rental of any equipment from LaPlace nor was the expenditure ever authorized by the cable commission, so the bill was never paid. It was simply received and filed.

Three years after submitting this bill, LaPlace is now telling township officials they can “save at least 80 percent” of what they’re currently spending on OCTV by privatizing the services it provides.

OCTV is not financed by local tax dollars. The station is primarily funded by the franchise fees paid by people who subscribe to cable television services provided Charter Communications and AT&T U-verse.

This year, Oxford Township and Village, along with Addison Township and Leonard, are receiving a total of $368,450 in franchise fees from Charter and AT&T. Of that, $341,350 is going to OCTV. Three of the municipalities retain a portion, which they are allowed to do, while Oxford Township gives OCTV 100 percent of the fees, which this year, amounts to $285,000.

The current OCTV operating budget is listed at $381,750. But once the $27,100 in franchise fees repaid to three of the communities is subtracted, the budget is actually $354,650.

LaPlace told Oxford Township officials they could put all the franchise fees “right into (their) general fund,” which is what “90 percent of all municipalities across the country do.”

He said the money could then be used for “outsourcing” media services currently provided by OCTV or given to organizations “that could really use it” like the parks department and Downtown Development Authority.

All this criticism of OCTV did not go unchallenged as a group of station staff members and volunteers were on hand to defend who they are and what they do.

LaPlace was just about to leave the meeting before the OCTV staffers started speaking, but he was stopped by township Supervisor Bill Dunn.

“You don’t want to hear any rebuttal? You taking the coward(’s) way out,” Dunn said.

In response, LaPlace stayed and listened.

First up was Teri Stiles, production manager for OCTV.

She said OCTV productions garner an average of 3,600 views a month. That’s based on people watching OCTV programs posted on YouTube, which help garner a broader audience for the station and generate exposure for the community.

“OCTV views have tripled since Bill Service was hired (as station manager) in 2013,” Stiles said.

YouTube views went from 10,500 in 2013 to 33,500 in 2015, according to her figures.

“The community support and viewership numbers are the highest they’ve ever been and they continue to grow,” Stiles said.

OCTV covers local government meetings, school activities and events, sports, festivals, parades, fund-raisers and nonprofit groups, local merchants, church services, concerts and human interest stories.

“Churches, charities, event-planners and businesses continually ask OCTV for help promoting local needs, local content and local interest in this community,” Stiles said. “We get people walking in the door every single day.”

“Franchise fees are intended for relevant community information to be broadcast to the community and that’s what we do,” she noted.

According to Stiles, people often request copies of OCTV’s coverage of events and as a result, the station has sold thousands of dollars worth of DVDs every year since 2013. The station even puts together video compilations of OHS student-athletes’ performances, which are sent to colleges in the pursuit of scholarship money.

OCTV currently produces 11 original programs and more are coming.

“We have four shows waiting to be produced that people from our community have asked us to produce because it’s relevant to this community,” Stiles said.

While it’s true OCTV has two full-time employees and nine, soon to be 10, part-time workers, Stiles said they also have volunteers and interns. “We’ve been training interns, students and volunteers consistently over the past two years,” she said. “We just hired an intern that just graduated last month.”

Stiles noted a former intern for OCTV went on to work at big TV stations in Montana and Minnesota.

According to numbers provided to this reporter by Stiles after the meeting, OCTV has had about 72 volunteers this year, “which includes people that have been on our shows.”

On the technical side of things, OCTV has been part of the “digital age” for three years now after the cable commission authorized the spending of $80,000 to bring things up to date, according to Stiles.

Elgin Nichols, technical supervisor for OCTV, told township officials every piece of equipment in the studio is high-definition digital capable, the only exception being a server that once upgraded will allow the station to broadcast in high-definition.

Rod Wright, a sports announcer for OCTV, talked about the relationship between the station and the students they interview and film.

“It’s not about the glitz and all the special effects and the technology, it’s the heart,” he explained. “I know half-a-thousand kids and I watched them grow up for years and years. We’re so close to them.”

“We love these kids. We love this community . . . I like to think that we do makes a difference. We make it about the community, not ourselves,” Wright continued. “I love OCTV. I love our community. I call it the Goldilocks community. We’re not too big. We’re not too small. We’re just right.”

Dawn Medici, an Oxford parent who works for the township Parks and Recreation Department, agreed.

“They have touched the hearts of so many children in this community,” she said. “They make it so special for the kids in whatever programs they’re in, whether it’s robotics or athletics. Hats off to them because they do a phenomenal job.”

In her capacity as a parks/rec. employee, Medici noted she can call OCTV “at the last-minute” to cover something and they always come out, “They’ll go anywhere you ask them to go,” she said. “They are true supporters of this community.”

Connie Miller, the host of OCTV’s original program “Connie’s Kitchen,” made it clear that despite what LaPlace said, the station does have volunteers.

“I’m a volunteer,” she said. “I don’t get paid for what I do. I just have a lot of fun doing it.”

“These guys are great to work with,” Miller continued. “They make it very personal and I’m really enjoying it. When (he says) there are no volunteers, there are, because there’s not only me, there’s a lot of others.”

Russel Currier, a cameraman, editor and producer for OCTV, had nothing but positive things to say about his three years at the station. He told officials he gets to meet interesting people every day, work with “some of the greatest people ever,” and work for “one of the greatest bosses,” Bill Service.

“My job is to document the history of Oxford and to support this community,” Currier said. “I love my job. I love this community. I love OCTV.”

The final word on the subject came from Dunn during board member comments later in the meeting.

“We had somebody in the audience tonight who had a lot of cojones to come in here and bad-mouth a wonderful organization,” he said. “If I was rude to him, I meant to be because OCTV does such a wonderful job. We’re proud of the work they do.”