Ortonville- Greg Normand has been cable coordinator for the local cable access station, Channel 18, for just shy of a decade, all without a written contract describing what is expected of him.
The township board has decided that is long enough.
At their July 6 meeting, the board unanimously voted to have a written contract drawn up, rather than renew Normand as cable coordinator automatically as has been done annually for the past nine years. For now, he will be cable coordinator on a month-to-month basis, as his contract expires at the end of July. It was also suggested that the cable coordinator contract be put out for bid, although that may not happen until next year, because of concerns of fairness to Normand.
Trustee Tom Stowell said boardmembers just learned that Normand never had a written contract.
‘Sometimes you make assumptions and they turn out not to be true,? Stowell said. ‘I think there needs to be a written document so expectations are clear on both sides, laying out what his duties are… I want a list of duties, the types of things he does in his position. We all need to be accountable and things in writing makes it clear to everybody.?
Normand says he has always reported to the township supervisor and asked for a number of years to have an agency. As of the last few weeks, a cable commission was created involving not only township officials, but also village and school district representatives.
‘We needed someone to oversee the cable station so I had someone to report to,? Normand said.
The township board approved a 2009-2010 budget for the cable station on Monday of $63,068. That figure includes a $30,000 stipend for the cable coordinator and $18,573 for cable technicians? the high school students who Normand says film meetings and events, running cameras, and do editing within the confines of the station. Currently, there are seven students working. When Normand was asked what the students are paid, he first declined to give the information, although the students are paid for with taxpayer money, then said they are ‘essentially minimum wage.’Normand also initially declined to say whether he has any other jobs besides cable coordinator, before answering that he is a coach. According to collegelax.us, Normand coached men’s lacrosse at Central Michigan University in 2008, has spent 24 years coaching high school lacrosse in California and Michigan and also served on the staff for Team England during the 2006 World Games.
Prior to becoming cable coordinator for the township, Normand held positions as editor of The Citizen, the Oxford Leader and also worked for The Oakland Press. But he noted at the board meeting that the cable station is not a newsgathering organization like newspapers are and he is dependent on people bringing stories to his attention.
As cable coordinator, he says he ‘runs the station, does the programming, films whatever is necessary within the confines of the community and keeps the station running.?
Normand says he sometimes works more than 40 hours and sometimes less, but doesn’t have a typical workday. Sometimes he works from home, sometimes from the studio and he explains that it takes four to six hours to edit a half-hour program.
Cable offerings are listed at the township website, www.brandontownship.us. The weekly broadcast schedule for June 29-July 5 gave time to Brandon High School football,