College board debates ruling on KOCE-TV

COSTA MESA ? More than a dozen Orange County residents attended the Coast Community College District board meeting Wednesday evening to voice support for KOCE-TV, while an attorney for the Daystar Television Network defended his client’s right to own the public television station.

After the meeting, district trustees met in closed session with attorneys to discuss their next move in the KOCE case. The trustees were still in closed session at the Pilot’s press time.

During the board’s regular meeting, a series of speakers portrayed KOCE as an essential asset to Orange County and decried the Christian network’s attempts to purchase it. However, other speakers insisted that Daystar was the rightful winner of the KOCE sale two years ago and argued that the district had played favorites in selling the station to its own foundation.

After the district’s meeting, trustees met in closed session with attorneys to discuss their next move in the KOCE case. The trustees were still in closed session at press time.

“When you make a decision like that, you have to play by the rules,” Richard Lloyd Sherman, the Daystar attorney, told the board. “The rules do not change because there are people in the community who think KOCE is an asset.”

Along with his comments, Sherman offered a settlement proposal to the board of trustees, outlining ways to ease a possible transition of KOCE to Daystar. The proposal offered to indemnify the KOCE-TV Foundation, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and any previous donors from legal claims, and also pay off the foundation’s bank loan that it used to make the down payment on KOCE.

In its proposal, Daystar said it would try to keep as many KOCE employees as possible, boost the number of Orange County-themed programs, and even keep the news show “Real Orange” on the air, provided that the foundation or the district paid the costs.

According to college district attorney Milford Dahl, the proposal will be a tough sell, at least for now.

“I think it’s premature right now, and I don’t think legally they can force the station out of the foundation’s hands and into Daystar’s even if they wanted to,” he said before the meeting. “And I don’t think the foundation’s on board.”

Dahl added that Daystar’s offer was solid in many respects and that the district might consider it if an appeal didn’t work.

“I think, at the right time, the district will at least give it good, thoughtful consideration,” Dahl said.

In 2003, the district put the station up for bidding and awarded it a year later to the foundation, which had bid $8 million in cash and $24 million in credit. Daystar, which bid $25.1 million in cash, sued shortly afterward. The appellate court ruled against the district last summer, and both the district and Daystar filed appeals ? the latter asking for the court to give it immediate control of KOCE.

Last month, an appellate court ruled that the district violated its own rules by selling the channel to the KOCE-TV Foundation rather than to Daystar, which had made a higher cash bid. However, the court did not order the station automatically transferred to the Christian network, ruling that the district could still opt not to sell KOCE.

At present, the foundation owns the license to KOCE, and Daystar has a federal case pending against the district and the board of trustees.

Most of the speakers on Wednesday said that KOCE rightfully belongs to Orange County.

Rabbi Stephen Einstein, a member of the KOCE advisory board, said the station is essential for Orange County, an area with little media coverage of its own.

“We live in Orange County, and in terms of the advertising market, we’re considered part of the large L.A., Southern California market,” he said.