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Council affirms city manager control of JATV after heated debate over 2012 oversight

2386621 · February 24, 2025
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

The Janesville Common Council voted 5-1 to reaffirm city ownership of Janesville Access Television (JATV) and to vest management authority with the city manager, rejecting calls to restore oversight to the library board and prompting objections about process and past council actions.

The Janesville Common Council on Feb. 24 voted to reaffirm the city’s sole ownership of Janesville Access Television (JATV) and to place day-to-day management authority with the city manager, after an extended debate over whether the 2012 council action that gave oversight to the library board was being circumvented.

City Manager Walt McLeener, who presented the administration’s position, said the change is intended to sustain and modernize JATV as cable franchise fees decline. “So the first one is that we are going to close JTV. That’s not the case,” McLeener said, adding the administration intends to use the city’s communications division to produce and distribute more content across additional digital platforms.

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