The following policy was unanimously adopted by the Town Board (with all five members voting) on April 14, 1999:
Scheduling Cablecasting Time for Public Access Programs
Relating to Candidates for Elected Office
In order to attempt to provide a fair and even playing field within which candidates for elected office, as residents of the Town, may continue to utilize the facilities and services of Greenburgh Access Television, the following policy has been created regarding the 60 day period immediately prior to a general or primary election:
CHANNEL 14
The government access portion of Channel 14 will remain unaffected during the 60 days prior to general or primary elections in the regular cablecasting of meetings or presentations by the Town Board, Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals and other government entities or entities authorized to cablecast programming by the Town Government. The public access portion of Channel 14's schedule, however, will be subject to rules designed to provide fair and equal opportunities to all candidates. Under no circumstances shall there be any solicitation of funds.
1) Candidates for any local office who will, if elected, serve constituents living within the cablecasting area served by Greenburgh Access Television, may appear a maximum of twice per calendar month on public access programs cablecast on Channel 14, regardless of the origin of the program, the identity of the producer or any other factors.
2) If the situation arises that a candidate would, apart from this policy, appear more than twice in a given calendar month - presumably on different programs, then instructions must be provided to the G.A.T. Staff as to which program will air and which program(s) will not. If instructions are not provided, Greenburgh Access Television will air the program scheduled to be cablecast first, and not air any other appearances by that candidate during the remainder of the calendar month. If series-programs are affected by this policy, previously recorded episodes featuring other guests may be substituted as needed.
3) New programs prepared specifically for viewing as election candidate information must be submitted to Greenburgh Access Television at least 15 days prior to the month in which it is to be viewed, i.e. July 15th for August viewing. A timetable will be maintained by the Cable T. V. Coordinator of scheduled election candidate programs and this timetable will be available to all candidates and the public.
4) Under no circumstances will any candidate or candidates be permitted to appear on the public access portion of Greenburgh Access Television's Channel 14 schedule, in any capacity, during the day of or the day immediately prior to an election (due to time limitations). Nor will programs containing political commentary be cablecast during either of those days.
Make up Policy:
In the event the scheduled election candidate program is not shown at the scheduled time Greenburgh Access Television will make every attempt to reschedule the program for viewing within 72 hours, including pre-empting (bumping) other scheduled non-election candidate programs.
Program announcements on the bulletin board will indicate election candidate programs submitted in a timely manner. Every attempt will be made to update the bulletin board promptly when rescheduling is necessary.
Debates:
The one and only exception to this policy is that of organized debates. While it may be difficult to do so, a public access producer may wish to arrange for a debate of candidates for elected office. Greenburgh Access Television supports the guidelines established and followed by the League of Women Voters for effective and fair debates, and requires that a debate follow these rules in order to qualify as an exemption from the twice a month appearance rule on Channel 14 by candidate during the 60 days prior to an election. If the L.W.V. guidelines are not adhered to, then the program may still be cablecast under the provisions for regular public access programs during this period as previously outlined. The L.W.V. guidelines for debates, as they relate to Greenburgh Access Television, may be obtained from the G.A.T. Staff.
Channel 16
Candidates for any local office who will, if elected, serve constituents living within the cablecasting area served by Greenburgh Access Television, may continue to follow the same procedures as previously outlined, with the exception that they may only appear a maximum of once per calendar week on Channel 16, regardless of the origin of the program, the identity of the producer or any other factors. If the situation arises that a candidate would, apart from this policy, appear twice or more in a given calendar week - presumably on different programs, then instructions must be provided to the G.A.T. Staff as to which program will air and which program(s) will not. If instructions are not provided, Greenburgh Access Television will air the program that is scheduled to be cablecast first, and not air any other appearances by that candidate during the remainder of the calendar week. If series-programs are affected by this policy, previously recorded episodes featuring other guests may be substituted as needed. Under no circumstances will any candidate or candidates be permitted to appear on Greenburgh Access Televisions Channel 16, in any capacity, during the day of or the day immediately prior to an election (due to time limitations). Nor will programs containing political commentary be cablecast during either of those days. Under no circumstances shall there be any solicitation of funds.
Debates:
The one any only exception to this policy is that of organized debates. While it may be difficult to do so, a public access producer may wish to arrange for a debate of candidates for elected office. Greenburgh Access Television supports the guidelines established and followed by the League of Women Voters for effective and fair debates, and requires that any debate follow these rules in order to quality as an exemption from the once per week appearance rule by candidates during the 60 days prior to an election. If the L.W.V. guidelines are not adhered to, then the program may still be cablecast under the provisions for regular public access programs as previously outlined. The L.W.V. guidelines for debates, as they relate to Greenburgh Access Television, may be obtained from the G.A.T. Staff.