Biddeford tangled in TV controversy

BIDDEFORD – The city’s efforts to rein in public access television programming has raised the ire of some residents and drawn the attention of a national community media group.

The City Council is considering proposals that would ban a woman’s talk show for at least a year and make it more difficult for producers of public-access shows to air controversial programs.

The council began deliberations at a Tuesday meeting and will resume them on Oct. 16.

The controversy began months ago when Mayor Donna Dion pulled a tape of Dorothy Lafortune’s “Maine Forum” show, saying she believed it contained slanderous material. Usually, each episode airs several times.

The restrictions also target a councilor whose programming was criticized, especially following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The Maine Civil Liberties Union on Wednesday directed Lafortune’s attorney, David Lourie, to appeal the city’s interference with his client’s show.

Lourie filed a suit on Thursday in York County Superior Court that claims Lafortune’s First Amendment rights are being violated. The suit also says the council is acting outside its legislative power and has not followed proper procedures in its dealings with his client.

The Alliance for Community Media in Washington, D.C., is monitoring the situation and could get involved.

“It seems to me that the mayor and the City Council have severely overreacted,” said Bunnie Riedel, executive director of the national alliance. “If they go too far, they will be severely challenged.”

Dion and supporters of the restrictions say they’re confident they are doing the right thing to prevent the misuse of public access TV.

An ordinance change under consideration would require all programming to be locally produced and all public access producers to be residents and taxpayers “in good standing.”

Lafortune owes the city $24,882 in property taxes, sewer fees, interest and liens.

Riedel contends that the “in good standing” proposal is unconstitutional. A few cities allow only local programming, but most only require that producers be residents, Riedel said.

A guest on Lafortune’s July 4 show, her friend, Councilor Philip Castora, repeated accusations that city and bank officials conspired to illegally foreclose on the home of Lafortune’s mother. Castora also named an auctioneer who was involved in the foreclosure.

Dion said she pulled the tape because Lafortune failed to get the auctioneer’s permission to be named on the show and that such permission is required by the producer’s agreement Lafortune signed on April 17.

Dion said naming a private citizen as part of the alleged conspiracy constituted slander because several judges have found Lafortune’s complaints to be groundless.

Another proposal would drop Lafortune’s show because she has aired segments of the July 4 program again in violation of a council order.

Other proposals target Councilor Richard Rhames, a public access producer who has been criticized for saying he was “grieved” by U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. He has broadcast shows, including some produced in other states, that reflect his views.

On the Friday following the attacks, Rhames broadcast previously aired shows whose content included the plight of Iraqi children after the Gulf War, Maine veterans opposed to the Vietnam War and a University of New England professor talking about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Dion and some councilors said they received complaints about the programming, particularly following the attacks. Councilor James Grattelo criticized Rhames as “anti-American” and called on him to resign.

At Tuesday’s council meeting, public testimony on the cable proposals lasted an hour and a half and was overwhelmingly opposed.

“You should be ashamed of yourselves,” Samuel Zaitlin told councilors. “Do you see yourselves as the new mullahs of Biddeford?”