Trustees to blame for KOCE mess

It is beginning to look less and less likely that public TV station KOCE will remain in the hands of the Coast Community College District. Last month, an appellate court ruled that the district violated the law in 2004 by selling the station to the KOCE-TV Foundation, which is intent on keeping the station public. The judge did not hand the station over to the other bidder, Christian broadcaster Daystar, but did void the sale to the foundation.

Those who have been following this years-long struggle know that most people in Orange County served by the station, including us, believe KOCE should stay a PBS-affiliate and not become part of Daystar's Christian TV empire. There is already a paltry number of local media outlets, and nothing will fill the void left if KOCE quits producing educational programming.

The loss of KOCE will be a loss for Orange County, without a doubt.

Throughout this battle, it has been easy to demonize Dallas-based Daystar Television Network as an out-of-town entity driven by visions of profit and not visions of what is best for this community. It also has been easy to rail against the courts for not recognizing what the public good in this case is.

At this point, however, with the sale of KOCE voided (despite the fact the district has spent most of the $8-million down payment it received from the foundation) and more appeals and more lawsuits sure to come, it is time to shine the spotlight on the people who really messed this sale up in the first place: the Coast Community College District board of trustees. They mishandled the sale from the get-go, taking months to make a decision about it. They let the foundation miss some critical deadlines early on after the sale, setting up the problems that have only exacerbated this issue. They accepted what may turn out to be an illegal bid ? the foundation's was not the highest cash value.

They have messed up.