"Always Listen to Your... Equal Time for Mayor Candidates on... WMOM"

[XLFD]

When people heard the news that Ludington City Councilor Gary Castonia had officially entered the mayor's race they may have thought:  "Oh great; another tired, old, corrupted councilor about to be term limited out of office is blessing us with an extra choice we won't take." 

But the entrance of Castonia actually signifies more than that, and the reason is the part-time job he has been in  few years since his retirement.  Back in 2012, Gary "Cazie" Castonia teamed up with Todd "Scoop" Hansen to broadcast Ludington Oriole sporting events on local radio station WMOM (WMOM Sports Team).  Cazie provides color commentary for both boys and girls high school basketball, as well as football, Scoop providing the play-by-play.

What does this have to do with the Ludington mayor's race?  Cazie is part of a broadcast team, and so whenever he gets on-air to broadcast a game, he has a distinct advantage over the other three mayor candidates who don't, and who would have to pay for air-time on WMOM out of their campaign coffers. 

Federal law, specifically Federal Communications Commission (FCC) political broadcasting rules (section 315) has it that once a candidate becomes "legally qualified" (i.e. he or she has established their right to a place on the ballot by filing the necessary papers), equal opportunities rights are available to the opposing candidates.

What this means is that, if an on-air broadcaster who is running for political office stays on the air, any opposing candidate can come to the station and demand equal opportunities within seven days of the date on which the on-air announcer/candidate was on the air, and the opponent(s) would be entitled to the same amount of time in which they can broadcast a political message, to be run in the same general time period as the station employee/candidate was on the air.

Therefore, if a morning radio personality, radio commentator, newscaster, or even a color commentator for sports programming decides to run for mayor (or any other elected position) and he/she broadcasts twice a week for two hours, an opposing mayor candidate(s) can get up to four hours, and that opposing candidate(s) does not need to air the news, sports, or weather, but can do a full politically-based message  (see p. 7+ in this manual). 

Certainly, Mr. Castonia does not broadcast high school sports during the middle of summer, so he has no on-air time for now; additionally it should be noticed that the basketball seasons for both boys and girls do not start until well after the November election.  However, in just three weeks the Ludington Orioles football season begins with a home opener hosting Hart, with Scoop and Cazie scheduled to broadcast that event.

Eight other regular season games are spread out on Friday nights throughout the football season, all occurring before the election.  There could even be one or two playoff games before that time if the Orioles can turn things around this year.

The ramifications are that if Gary Castonia broadcasts as he has the last four years, his opponents could claim that amount of time (or less) for their own political messages.  If both the Orioles and their opponents feature a lot of running plays, this period may be as low as two hours.  If they are passing teams, it may be around three hours.  Conceivably, you could hear his three opponents coming on WMOM the following Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday respectively talking local politics for three hours, rather than the station's prime-time music line-up.

Is there a way around this potentially disastrous situation for Gary Castonia and WMOM?  They have four clear options:

• Obtain waivers from the opponents of the station employee allowing the employee to continue to do his job, perhaps with conditions such as forbidding any discussions of the political race.
• Allow the candidate to continue to broadcast in exchange for a negotiated amount of air time for the opponents.
• Provide equal time to the opposing candidates equal to the amount of time that the host’s voice was heard on the air if the opponents request it (within 7 days of the host being on the air)
• Take the host off the air during the election.

The third option is risky, and should likely be taken off the table once any other candidate claims the right.  Especially since now that their on-air personality is a 'legally qualified candidate' running in a contested election they must keep accurate records of his broadcast appearances (even in the use of Cazie's catchphrase "Always listen to your mom." advertisements of sportscasts) and put it in their publicly-available "public file". 

[AQUAMAN]

I thought Castonia lost the primary race? Isn't it Henderson vs. Buskirk? Btw, Cazie's broadcasting of the LHS Varsity football games is a boring and uninformative event. His voice is lousy, as well as his often incorrect assessment of the game, play by play. Why or how he got that job is beyond me completely.

[shinblind]

Unfortunately Gary is still in the upcoming election to be Mayor.

The race between Henderson and Buskirk is for the Commissioner at Large seat.

By the way I see that Brandi Henderson fiance works for the City's Freedom of Information Attorney.

Could this lead to a Conflict of Interest? We may find out.

In any event congratulations Brandi.

Beyond that I find that Aquaman's assessment of Castonia football knowledge is correct. Might also add that it is the same as Gary's job review as a City Councilor, boring and uninformative.

 

[XLFD]

Aquaman, I believe you are confusing Castonia with Wally Cain, whose policies and outlooks are very similar.  Gary is the one who has a face made for radio. 

In my opinion, Scoop does a great job on the play-by-play and in keeping the flow going even in blow-outs.  It often makes Cazie look like he's not carrying his share of the load and his input seem a lot less interesting in comparison.

I presumed Brandy's fiancé would have been working for the Chamber or Oxychem, thanks for the info shinblind.   

[Brad]

This information needs to get to the candidates.... or at least 1.

And possibly put to WMOM for their stand..?

[XLFD]

WMOM has made an announcement concerning Mayor-Candidate Castonia, they have chosen the fourth (and typically best) option mentioned above; their press release states:

"WMOM is proud to announce our fifth year of Ludington Orioles sports coverage.  This football season our sports announcers will be Todd “Scoop” Hansen and Steve Miller.

Scoop’s familiar sidekick in the booth, Gary Castonia, will be on the “bench” due to his recently announced candidacy for mayor and FCC regulations that require equal air time be afforded to all candidates seeking the same elected position.   WMOM General Manager Esther Beninati said, “We appreciate Mr. Castonia’s dedication and commitment to our sports team and to the city of Ludington.  We will miss his quick wit and analysis of the Orioles.  At the same time, our station does not wish to appear biased toward any political candidate and will strictly observe tried and tested FCC rules and regulations”.

Steve Miller is a graduate of Ludington High School and has an extensive business background.  He has worked at WMOM since May of 2015 and was promoted to Sales Manager late last year.  Mr. Miller is a fan of all Michigan sports, especially the Ludington Orioles.  He said “I’m excited to fill in for Gary Castonia and to work alongside Todd Hansen”.  

WMOM intends to retain Mr. Castonia in the sports analyst position once the election is over in November."

(see August 8 story on http://www.wmom.fm/)

[AQUAMAN]

Nice thread, perhaps you should have saved it for after the election, since it's obvious, the bunglers couldn't look this law up themselves without your help X. Funny, and also an indication of how smart some candidates really are about realities.

[XLFD]

It looked as if Steve Miller related the news to Councilor Castonia just before the city council meeting tonight, or at least the conditions.  In these situations, sometimes the replacement does so well that they permanently replace the regular.  Keep your ears tuned to the football broadcasts and give some unbiased feedback of whether Miller does a passable job. 

[AQUAMAN]

To the best of my knowledge as a classmate 1 year behind me, he didn't play ball, of any kind. He does have a good voice and demeanor of what he knows and is told. Let's see what he sounds like, can't be any worse right now imho, lol. I think anyone broadcasting over our radio, should have a least studied and practiced football, or be a nut on the subject. The co-host sounds real good to me anyhow.

[AQUAMAN]

Interesting post Good ole boys, thanks.

[XLFD]

GOBCN2G, welcome to the Ludington Torch.

From your post, it sounds like you either are a member of the MHSAA or have access to some additional information about WMOM's expenditures (or non-expenditures).  If the former, you should be able to supply some record showing the 'oversight' on broadcast fees, if the latter it would be more problematic on proving your claim without exposing your identity.

Please send me some additional information or post it or give me contact information with the MHSAA so I can verify or refute your assertion come Monday.  I tend to think WMOM tries to be on the up-and-up, so any anonymous, unconfirmed claim to the contrary makes me suspicious that it may be a ruse by the local broadcasting competition.   Thanks.

[XLFD]

GOBCN2G, three follow-up questions:

Is this a new regulation, only affecting this coming year? 

If not, how do you know that WMOM has not paid this in the past?

Would this be available to the public at WMOM in their 'public file'?

[XLFD]

Mayor Candidate Gary "Cazie" Castonia violating the rules while not being a city councilor?  Say it isn't so.

I did some research over at the MHSAA website.  The Ludington Orioles are an MHSAA member, and the broadcasters should be paying their fees if that is the rules.  The LASD I believe are the ones who should be enforcing that.

From the website:  "The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by over 1,500 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition.

No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract approximately 1.6 million spectators each year."