Former SCTV board: We saw vote coming

SAUGUS – Jim Ravagno said he wasn?t surprised as he sat at home watching the broadcast of the Board of Selectmen?s vote to disband the Saugus Community Television?s Board of Directors.The former board?s chairman said he and fellow board members had been expecting that kind of decision since December.?I have to say that it?s sad that it had to come to this, that they had to take that kind of action,” said Ravagno Thursday.In addressing the Board of Selectmen?s comments about his board?s refusal to communicate, Ravagno said the boards had to communicate through their attorneys in order to eliminate the “he said, she said, they said” factor. “Had they contacted us and genuinely reached out to us, we would have been there,” he said.Moving forward, Ravagno said his board is “still exercising options. We don?t know what we?re going to do yet.”Ravagno said though he was “unfazed” by the decision, he received a lot of angry phone calls by people who literally interpreted November?s ballot question, “Would you like to see Saugus Cable Television revert back to Saugus Community Television, a community-operated organization, where you have a voice, as opposed to a Board of Selectmen-controlled operation?” to mean that the Board of Selectmen would have no control over the station.Rick Fail, who is a member of Saugus Concerned Citizens, the organization who designed that question, said, “We?re pretty upset with how the Board of Directors twisted the ballot question we wrote to eliminate the authority of the Board of Selectmen. We knew the Board of Selectmen was the convening authority and that they were the ones to issue the license to the station.”Fail, who was present at the meeting Tuesday, supported the Board of Selectmen?s decision in vacating the SCTV board. “The Board of Directors decided they did not want to cooperate with Board of Selectmen … they refused to come to the table.”Fail said vacating the board was “the only way to move station forward.”Town Meeting member Al Dinardo, who was also present at Tuesday?s meeting, said the board “overreacted” in their decision. “We don?t need to cut people off and call them ?rogue boards,?” said Dinardo.Dinardo said he didn?t understand how “they?ve let grease traps go on for months, meanwhile they just cut this board off ? The whole abruptness of it all really disturbs me.”Board of Selectmen Chairman Ellen Faiella said there has been no further discussion on the future of SCTV since the meeting Tuesday. The board will discuss it at its next meeting on April 22.Though she had no update to report, she said, “We?re not of the mindset to take over the board. We want the people to control the board because that is what has been desired through the vote.”