Editorial: Hard choice facing EOB

Friday, Aug. 19, 2005 | 9:01 a.m.

For 32 years now a publicly funded anti-poverty program in Las Vegas, the Economic Opportunity Board, has owned radio station KCEP 88.1-FM. The station, which has a music and talk format, is becoming the focus of attention. Its mission is being questioned and criticized, and a suggestion has been made by the EOB's new executive director to sell the station and use the proceeds to pay off $2.3 million in debt.

Fernando Romero, local president of Hispanics in Politics, says the station virtually ignores the Las Vegas Valley's growing Hispanic population. Chester Richardson, a former EOB board member, said this week, "It's clear that less than 10 percent of the (station's) programming serves the mission of the EOB." And new board member Darryl Martin, who formerly headed Clark County's Social Service Department and is now an assistant county manager, has this to say: "The goal is to eliminate poverty in our community. Does (the station) fit the current mission? Is it the kind of business we should be in? Maybe now is the time to bring up this issue."

We agree. The continued use of taxpayers' money to operate a radio station is an issue that should be publicly debated. Jean Childs, the EOB's new executive director, began a public dialogue at an EOB board meeting late last month. She suggested selling the station, which could be worth between $5 million and $10 million, as a way of relieving the EOB of its debt. The debt was mostly incurred last year during a tumultuous time for the organization. State and federal authorities launched separate investigations after the EOB could not account (and still can't) for $2.1 million in public money that was supposed to have been used to finance child-care programs. The EOB said the money was used for other programs, but was never able to show in its books where those transfers occurred. In the ensuing controversy, a majority of the board members and top staff res igned.

The radio station is nearly $228,000 in debt but is nevertheless a valuable asset that could justifiably be sold to further the EOB's core mission of providing direct services, such as job counseling and day care, to poor people. Few, if any, other anti-poverty organizations in the country operate radio stations. We know that KCEP is revered by many listeners and that it has many defenders, including EOB Chairman Claude Logan, who says, "We don't want to lose the voice of the community." That's why we believe there should be public hearings on the station's future before a final decision is made. The decision, though, should not center around emotions. It should focus on the EOB's debt, and in light of this threat to its continued services, whether the radio station is worth continuing. The best solution, in our view, would be to find a buyer in the privat e sector who would agree not to change the station's basic format.