From a press release issued by The Media Literacy Project in Albuquerque, NM
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BREAKING NEWS: PUBLIC ACCESS STATION DENIED ACCESS TO BUILDING BY ARMED GUARD
Albuquerque public media nonprofit Quote Unquote made unable to fulfill contract with City by force.
Albuquerque
citizens along with the staff and board Quote Unquote Inc. showed up to
the station at 519 Central NW to find their access revoked by an armed
officer placed there by the City of Albuquerque. Preliminary reports by
community members and would-be “movers” gathered on the street outside
the station suggest that sometime over the course of last night the City
Attorney ordered the locks changed on the building and used taxpayers’
money to station an armed guard there to prevent access. Apparently, the
City of Albuquerque became aware of Quote Unquote’s very public and
transparent appeal to its 30 year-long base of community supporters for
help with moving all real property owned by the nonprofit for use at the
new location of the public access television provider.
Currently still on the air (Comcast Cable Channel 27 or www.quote-unquote.org)
and fulfilling their end of the bargain, Quote Unquote staff, employees
and volunteers fully expected to be able to “do their job” this morning
when they arrived to a guard with a gun. As you can see in the attached
letter by City Attorney David Tourek, Quote Unquote’s contract does not
end until June 30th, 2012. Expectant volunteers and outraged
community members are now gathering at the station with concerns about
the City of Albuquerque’s ability to uphold Quote Unquote’s 30 year
legacy of providing working-class citizens with a platform to exercise
their right to free speech for the remainder of this month and into the
future.
Quote
Unquote Executive Director Steve Ranieri is currently attempting to
follow City protocol expressed in the City Attorney’s letter and arrange
a meeting with City of Albuquerque Media Resources Manager and Request
for Proposals ah-hoc committee member Dave Mathews, in order to gain
access to the building so that employees and board members can retrieve
property that does not belong to the City of Albuquerque.
The
City of Albuquerque is the defendant in a forthcoming lawsuit regarding
Quote Unquote and a possible investigation into the misappropriation of
IPEG funds.
THE
PRESENCE OF THE PRESS IS REQUESTED AT 519 CENTRAL NW TO MONITOR THE
TRANSPARENCY OF THIS PROCESS AND ENSURE THAT PEACE IS MAINTAINED.
Quote Unquote staff, board and community supporters will be available for comment.
Contact Executive Director Steve Ranieri via cell at 505.463.4018
Contact Board President Allen Cooper via cell at 505.304.3144
PUBLIC ACCESS SUPPORTERS, USERS, COMMUNITY MEMBERS, COMCAST CABLE SUBSCRIBERS, etc. CAN CONTACT THE ALBUQUERQUE MAYOR’S OFFICE (505.768.3000 or mayorberry@cabq.gov) TO EXPRESS YOUR CONCERN ABOUT THIS BREACH OF CONTRACT AND THE INSTIGATORY MANNER IN WHICH IT WAS IMPOSED.
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