HAVERHILL — Local talk show host John "Jack" Bevelaqua says Groveland officials have taken his "Open Mike Show" off the air due to his criticism of town politics.
He said banning his show from Groveland's local cable-access television amounts to censorship and a ban on free speech. "I think it's all kind of silly and gives Groveland a bad reputation," Bevelaqua said last week after being informed by management at Haverhill online radio station WHAV that his talk show is no longer being televised in Groveland.
Town officials, however, downplayed the decision.
Groveland Selectwoman Elizabeth "Bette" Gorski denied that the show had been banned, saying "How could anybody do that?" Messages left with selectmen William Darke and Donald Greaney and Gorski Friday were not returned.
But Tim Coco, general manager of WHAV, said Tracy Gilford, a member of Groveland's Cable TV Advisory Board, informed a staff member at the station on Monday that he had been manually preempting the "Open Mike Show" for several weeks because Groveland officials did not like criticism of the town's government by Bevelaqua, who served as an elected official in the town for 30 years.
"As a result of his history, Jack obviously has a following in the town, but apparently enemies as well," Coco said.
Coco said Gilford would not say which officials had ordered the show pulled, only that "the board" wanted the program taken off the air. Gilford could not be reached for comment last week.
Greg Lebrecque, Groveland's finance director and a member of the town's Cable TV Advisory Board, said as soon as he got wind of the controversy, he contacted Gilford to ask what he told WHAV officials on Monday and why.
"I asked him, 'What did you tell them?' and he said he'd received some complaints about the show and that we were changing the station over, meaning putting on a different station," Lebrecque said. "I asked him specifically if Groveland officials asked him to do this, and he said no.
"I can tell you we did not get a letter from the Board of Selectmen telling us to do this," Lebrecque added. "I can guarantee you that. And if there is such a letter, I'd love to see it."
Lebrecque said he doesn't care what programs are carried in Groveland, as long as there are no complaints from listeners.
"We carried WRKO, and people complained to state officials that they didn't like Michael Savage's comments, so we changed the station over to WEEI, a sports talk thing, and no one complains about that, except maybe about some Red Sox trades," he said.
In addition to the Internet, WHAV programs are carried by a number of public access television stations across the Merrimack Valley, in Andover, Groveland, Haverhill and Methuen, MA and Sandown, N.H.
Bevelaqua's "Open Mike Show" is a two-hour program that gives area residents a chance to call in and discuss issues of concern.
Groveland's cable-access channel has carried WHAV broadcasts since the summer of 2007, and the "Open Mike Show" since February of this year, Coco said. He said the show was broadcast live from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Mondays and rebroadcast on Thursdays.
Bevelaqua said one reason Groveland might have pulled his show is that he has been critical of town approval of septic systems near Johnson's Pond, which is also Haverhill's backup drinking water source.
"I've talked about this issue on my show and have questioned why the only person to get a permit to build a septic system for a new house on Johnson's Pond happens to be a selectman," he said. "I don't know if this is behind this, but banning my show does have a chilling impact on free speech."
Bevelaqua said Groveland residents who want to listen to his show can still tune in online.
"They haven't figured out a way to block that yet," he said.
Coco said Tracy did ask him if there was a way to block just the "Open Mike Show" from Groveland's television airwaves.
"I did consider installing software that would automatically preempt Jack's show, but I thought it would set a very bad precedent that could lead to preempting other programming someone didn't like," he said. "I hope they reconsider — if not, I will make arrangements for them to remove our equipment from Town Hall, as there are other stations that can use it."
Coco said Groveland town officials are invited to appear on the "Open Mike Show" to address whatever Bevelaqua has to say about the town.
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