Thursday, February 13, 2014

Exhibit A: Where's the Money? Follow the Money? New TV station being cheated out of monies we paid into the Access fund!

158,774

We cable TV subscribers and residents of Medford want to see every nickel that belongs to us that was paid to the old MCC TV3.  The corporation has NOT dissolved yet and City Hall is apprised of the fact that the board of directors could hoodwink the residents and attempt to resurrect the disgraced, embattled and detested old TV3.

We will be fighting hard to see those financial documents from the non-profit that has an agreement to provide access TV to the community. The lame excuses and the rhetoric when asked about monies - just excuses to push the goal posts back.  It will not be tolerated.
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Part 1 of a 2 Part series. 
Part 2 on its way soon


Got a phone call from the Attorney General's office regarding the alleged dissolution of Medford Community Cablevision, Inc.    So far there is no paperwork filed with the non-profit division of Martha Coakley's office, and no action filed in Woburn Superior Court for the corporation's dissolution.  Let's look at the timeline:

September 30, 2014  alleged board meeting of board of directors of Medford Community Cablevision, Inc.

We say alleged because on May 21, 2013 a representative of the station told the city council that there were ten board members.

On May 28, 2013 the self-appointed president of the TV station then told the City Council "I wanna say six" in regards to how many board members there are.

On or about September 4th the webmaster and former board member of the station was arrested on the charge of a "false bomb threat."  He was allegedly arraigned the same day in Somerville District Court.

On January 7, 2014 the case was moved from Somerville District Court to Woburn Superior Court after indictment by a grand jury. 

Case MICR2013-01473
Alleged violation of law C269S14(c) causing public alarm
False Bomb Threat


February 10, 2014 excellent meeting of the Mayor's hand-picked Community Access TV Panel.

February 11, 2014  excellent City Council meeting where the victim in an alleged racial discrimination case informs the city that the Mayor, Michael J. McGlynn, is the person who asked for the police to investigate

February 12, 2014  10:21 AM  Attorney General's office returns phone call and notes that Medford Community Cablevision, Inc. is still "Technically" not in compliance with the dissolution it promised the city back in October of 2013.

 Their fiscal year ends April 30, 2014.  What is the game?  Why is MCC TV3 once again dragging its feet while another entity is already shaping up to take over Channel 3 on Comcast as well as the Verizon Public Access Channel.  Where is the dissolution?

Where are the financial records?

Where are the meeting minutes?

Has the membership list been turned over to the new Cable committee?

Did the members who paid dues get their monies back and did the know about the "free memberships for life" that some board members enjoyed?

In December of 2007 this writer warned the Medford City Solicitor that Francis R. Pilleri, Jr. had lied to City Hall and had never intended to have an election for the board of Medford Community Cablevision, Inc.  A business partner of a board member, Harvey Alberg, who was allegedly attempting to get the web work for his own for-profit corporation while sitting on the board of a non-profit corporation, MCC TV3, had advised me that it was a sham; that Frank Pilleri fully intended to blindside the city and shut the election down.

Mr. Rumley phoned me from his cellphone at 8:30 PM after the December 2007 board meeting of MCC TV3 and alerted me that I was right. That Pilleri shut the election down.

That led to the Feb 2008 Rumley Report, the Judge Jackson-Thompson evaluation of October 28, 2008 and November 15, 2008,  and the audit by Melanson Heath & Co PC

These are the facts.  Now, in 2014, six and a half years after Pilleri failed to have an election on January 19, 2008, this alleged "dissolution" comes with a letter to City Hall dated October 3, 2014.

The letter is enclosed here showing that some kind of deal was cut between Frank Pilleri and Mayor Michael J. McGlynn.  The citizens of Medford need to know what kind of shenanigans are going on.

Read the above letter, garnered from a public records request. Read about some suspicious deal that was allegedly cut.  Ask the Mayor personally about his meetings with TV3, how close he was to the person indicted by a grand jury, and why four individuals from TV3 got swank luxury apartments at Arbor Point/Station Landing (where one of them is restrained from going near) and now the Malden/Revere apartments.  Was the Mayor handing out luxury apartments to low-income people on the board of directors of TV3?

Why did TV3 boardmember Steve Marra allegedly (and recently) use his mother's mailbox at the 22 Allston Street property owned by the Medford Housing Authority for a mail drop?    Is that honest and ethical?  Why do the TV3 board members think they can be handed things without working for it?

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This is an update of a previous article.

Public Records Requests and new information gathered from the authorities has made the primary focus recovering any monies owed the City of Medford to operate a cable TV facility.

Stanley Komins handed $100.00 to West Medford Hillside Little League. Does anyone really believe there is less than $100.00 in the account of a television station that hasn't operated since April Fools Day 2013 and which offered one last live show on December 17, 2012?

More information at the City Council in the coming weeks and at public hearings for access TV.