Mayor’s TV bid is canceled

CITY HALL — Mayor John Drayman’s concept for a new government-access television show that would feature short appearances by City Council members failed Tuesday after his colleagues voted to maintain a 2001 policy prohibiting their participation.

The ban was put in place seven years ago in response to the perceived political advantage that Councilman Dave Weaver received as host of “Weaver’s Dog House,” a show that adopted out shelter animals on the city’s access channel, GTV6.

While the show lives on as “The Dog House,” council members are prohibited from appearing on programs that are not part of their “participation in meetings, ceremonies, and/or community events,” according to the policy.

Since his appointment as mayor, Drayman has sought to increase the interaction between elected officials and their constituency through higher attendance rates at community events and greater involvement in addressing public inquiries, namely through his proposed show, which would address inquiries of “broad community interest.”

Drayman said the new show would feature only a nonincumbent City Council member in the introduction and at the end of the monthly show, which would be built around inquires submitted by the public via a link on the city’s website.

But on Tuesday, the political pressures of 2001 proved too great, with Councilmen Bob Yousefian and Frank Quintero — both of whom face reelection next year — citing the potential for perceived electioneering on taxpayer-funded television in declining to support Drayman’s idea as proposed.

Councilman Ara Najarian, who also plans to run for reelection in 2009, also feared the possibility that a vote to reintroduce the council to the public airwaves, however slight, would be used against incumbents during the campaign season.

“I don’t want to be accused of pandering to the audience in an election year,” he said.

But Drayman argued that the council in 2001 had overreacted, that incumbents would be excluded, and that people would be more likely to tune into a public service show if they could count on appearances by elected officials.

“We have the ability to focus the public’s attention on certain items,” Drayman said.

The City Council would also retain the authority to approve the prerecorded segments or any other show that a reversal of the TV ban might bear, he added.

“Allowing one program to go forward doesn’t mean every program goes forward,” Drayman said.

But the reverberations of 2001 had clearly maintained their hold, even with the majority of the council voicing its support for Drayman’s idea of greater government-constituent involvement.

“I actually like the concept,” Yousefian said, but added: “I still feel uncomfortable with the council being on any of these shows.”

Drayman eventually joined his colleagues in taking the show’s concept off the table as part of the approval of GTV6’s 2008-09 lineup, saying it was clear the council would not support it, “and I certainly respect that and accept that.”

 JASON WELLS covers City Hall. He may be reached at (818) 637-3235 or by e-mail at jason.wells@latimes.com.