Law will keep candidates off local cable channel
BY VICTORIA HURLEY-SCHUBERT
Staff Writer

MARLBORO - Residents will be seeing less of Mayor Robert Kleinberg on the local cable television channel 77, MCTV, over the next few months because of a municipal ordinance that prohibits candidates for political office from appearing on the channel.

Kleinberg, a Republican, announced in April that he would seek a second four-year term in the November election. He will be opposed by Democrat Jonathan Hornik.

Channel 77 programming featuring Kleinberg continued to air until mid-May, when it was pulled in order to comply with the ordinance.

Hornik recently had his attorney issue a cease and desist order to the township administration for airing programming that featured Kleinberg. The letter stated it was a violation of municipal law to show the mayor on channel 77 since he was an announced candidate at the time the shows aired.

The municipal ordinance which regulates the cable television station states that "no political candidates (local, county, state or federal) may be permitted to appear on the [municipal channel] except if they are inadvertently included in a group shot. This rule shall be effective from the moment they are selected until after the formal election date. Political candidacy also covers incumbents running for political election."

"Just because you're mayor doesn't mean you don't have to follow the rules," Hornik said. "My purpose was to make him comply with the law. That's the purpose of a cease and desist order - it's a citizen's chance to make him comply with the law."

Kleinberg said he was not aware the programming was in violation of the ordinance and said he has never told anyone what should go on the air.

"It's unfortunate because there is programming that we have been working on for a very long time and it's not political," he said.

Kleinberg said he has been working on a cooking program with students from the culinary program in the Freehold Regional High School District.

"The students and the community at large will not benefit from the program," he said. "We received a complaint from Jonathan Hornik and turned it over to the township attorney and are awaiting his opinion."

Curt Ciumei, the executive producer/director of MCTV77, who shoots and edits video of local events, said, "From this point on there's not going to be anybody running for political office" on the air.

He said it was not his intention to disregard the ordinance by running the programs that featured Kleinberg (a show about the mayor's weight loss program and a show featuring a Chinese new year parade) after the mayor had announced his candidacy. He said he has informed township officials of the regulation.

Ciumei is paid to coordinate the taping of events and volunteers who do the work, but uses his own equipment. Last year his production company, MV Digital Productions, billed Marlboro $12,386, CFO Al Steinberg said. A resolution passed by the Township Council in 2006 dictated his fees could not exceed $15,000.

The ordinance that prohibits candidates from appearing on channel 77 also applies to the individuals who are seeking Marlboro council seats in the November election: Democrats Randi Marder and Frank LaRocca, and incumbent Republicans Joseph Pernice and Patti Morelli.