Foundation must step up

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: KOCE-TV will best serve

the community under the ownership of its foundation.

Christian broadcaster Daystar Television Network filed a lawsuit

against the Coast Community College District board of trustees

claiming it and not the station’s foundation submitted the highest

responsible bid.

That will be for the courts to worry about. The primary concern of

the KOCE-TV Foundation needs to be not letting the sale get away.

The foundation has already missed two deadlines to submit part of

the $8-million cash portion of its bid, accepted in October,

according to the district’s attorney, Milford Dahl. And if it misses

the March 10 deadline, then that’s it -- goodbye foundation and the

full slate of local, public television; hello Daystar and the 25% of

local, public programming it might continue to broadcast.

Foundation Chairman Bob Brown has said the group has the $100,000

due on March 10 and is confident that all $8 million will be raised

by the June 30 deadline.

District trustee George Brown, unrelated to Bob, said he’s equally

confident the foundation has the money, but that it continues to

haggle over the terms.

The foundation needs to quit haggling, meet the deadlines to which

it agreed and allow this issue to become strictly one for the courts.

The district and the public both need to know the foundation is good

for the money it promised. It’s more comforting to see that the story

is only one of Daystar versus the Coast Community College District --

without the uncertainty of whether the foundation’s capable of

sticking to its word.

With all the talk of who has the “most responsible bid,” it seems

the most responsible bidder is the one dedicated to keeping KOCE-TV

in its local, public form and improving upon it. Only the foundation

sounds capable of responsibly delivering that.

The foundation needs to puts itself in a position to do so,

leaving the issue to the court’s interpretation of the word

“responsible.”