THE WINDING ROAD TO DECIDE THE FUTURE OF KMHD

With a February deadline fast approaching, the Mt. Hood Community College District Board will soon vote on KMHD’s future. Weighing the costs and benefits of bringing the station back to campus is a complex exercise, and some underlying facts remain in dispute.

The Advocate previously examined the three options the District Board identified for consideration as it determines where to house KMHD going forward. Option One would continue Mt. Hood’s contract with OPB to operate KMHD out of its Portland facility for another five years. Option Two would involve the creation of a non-profit entity to oversee KMHD. Option Three would bring KMHD back to campus.

On December 12, the District Board will workshop the different options. Then, the Board is set to take action on KMHD at their meeting on Jan. 16. This will occur less than a month before the date by which Mt. Hood must give notice if it intends to end its current contract with OPB to house and operate the FM station from Southwest Portland.

Crunching Numbers

Earlier this fall, the Advocate reported that documents provided to the District Board estimate a cost of $368,800 to Option Three. This figure includes instructional load credits (ILCs) for faculty and an operations coordinator, fundraising support and accounting staff, technical support, and a student office manager for the station. The amount also includes some materials and services related to equipment, power, repair and maintenance, and basic office supplies. This number does not include the cost to repair or replace KMHD’s transmitter, located on Sylvan Hill in West Portland. The transmitter may be nearing the end of its lifespan, and replacement costs could rise to $200,000, according to Mt. Hood Budget Director Jennifer DeMent.

The Advocate spoke with DeMent about the breakdown of estimated costs for Option Three. DeMent produced the estimate with input on ILCs from JD Kiggins, head of the broadcasting department. DeMent also collaborated with Mt. Hood President Lisa Skaari and Foundation Executive Director Al Sigala to calculate likely fundraising support costs. The $368,800 estimate does not factor in potential revenue from underwriting or the value of trade advertising for Mt. Hood, only expenditures.

“OPB is not doing Mt. Hood any favors,” he says. The contract does not take into account the depreciating value of Mt. Hood’s transmitter, he says. That transmitter is overdue for maintenance, and will likely need replaced within the next five to seven years. OPB has been reluctant to allow maintenance to occur, Kiggins says, because it would require going off the air for a short period of time. The cost to replace the transmitter, a capital piece of equipment, is not incorporated into the estimate for Option Three. However, “OPB has insinuated they would help us cover that cost,” DeMent says – if KMHD remains housed at OPB, of course.

But the version of KMHD represented in the estimated costs for Option Three and the on-campus station Kiggins envisions are not exactly one and the same. Kiggins sees potential duplication in the ILCs listed in the cost breakdown, and questions whether all of the administrative support laid out in the estimate would be necessary for a viable FM station on campus. Instead, he hopes that KMHD could focus on instruction and community service, resulting in a station that more closely follows the college’s mission. Kiggins points to other affiliated radio stations, such as KCRW at Santa Monica College and KEXP, an affiliate of the University of Washington, as examples of what a station could grow into over time. Part of that would likely involve spinning off a foundation to support the station’s fundraising. This is an idea represented in Option Two under consideration by the District Board that Kiggins does not feel has gained enough traction.

DeMent, for her part, acknowledges the $368,800 cost estimate could be dropped to around $150,000, but only if KMHD continued on campus as an instructional lab, rather than a professional jazz station. Both Kiggins and DeMent have deep institutional knowledge of Mt. Hood and KMHD. DeMent served on the accounting staff at the time KMHD moved to OPB, and Kiggins has been a part of the Integrated Media department for the better part of two decades. Yet each approaches the question of KMHD’s future from very different perspectives. Kiggins sees the opportunity to once again house KMHD on campus as limitless in possibilities to involve MHCC students. DeMent, on the other hand, says any investments or expenditures need close examination.

Facing Operational Deficits

Why is so much scrutiny being applied to Option Three’s cost estimates? “We don’t have any extra money,” DeMent plainly states. Colleges face limits on how to generate revenue. Property tax increases are capped annually at three percent, and tuition rate hikes do not generate more revenue without stable or growing enrollment. Mt. Hood currently faces a decline in enrollment. The state also provides direct funding for community colleges, but DeMent does not foresee the coming legislative session producing enough dollars to eliminate the college’s operating deficit. Based on the Oregon Community College Association’s recommended funding level, she projects the deficit to decrease from $4.4 million to $1.8 million next year. But, “That is an optimistic funding level, and significantly higher than what we currently have,” she asserts. Operating deficits are not unusual for community colleges, DeMent points out. “I think it’s inherent to a public agency.” She further explains, “Your contracts are going to go up every year, your revenues are pretty stable.” To manage this, schools like Mt. Hood must redistribute how they spend their money.

DeMent raises the question of whether an investment of $150,000 in the Integrated Media department makes the most sense for the college. Integrated Media currently enrolls about 200 students. “Would we be better off adding an Anatomy and Physiology lab for our health profession students?” she wonders. Yet other departments with fewer students have seen significant investments, Kiggins notes. A recent example of this is the Mechatronics program which recently opened a new lab at a cost of approximately $150,000.

As for where MHCC could trim costs, DeMent said, “You can’t just cut one more custodian and expect there to be toilet paper in the bathroom.” But she certainly foresees future investments by the college, in KMHD or anything else, cutting into other operations at some point. Perhaps not entire instructional programs, she says, but functions within programs may need to end in order to focus on what the college can do better or differently.

Looking Ahead

Might the District Board approach OPB again should KMHD’s return to campus not pan out in the way stakeholders hope? DeMent is doubtful. “At that point, we would probably be looking at selling it,” for a value of one to two million dollars. Another return to OPB is unlikely, in her opinion. “I don’t think it would be a friendly hand-off,” she speculates. Current OPB staff assigned to KMHD might lose their jobs, and reputational damage to all parties might occur.

As for the upcoming FCC license renewal process set to occur in 2022, DeMent says that is a time-intensive undertaking. “It’s just not a super time for a transition,” she worries. Kiggins, on the other hand, does not see the renewal as a deterrent, considering Mt. Hood’s part-time engineer has been in the business for thirty years.

There are limits when trying to forecast how things might ultimately shake out should KMHD return to Mt. Hood’s campus. But Kiggins would prefer to see the District Board really commit to a Mt. Hood-based KMHD in a sustained way. This includes more closely adhering to the original purpose for which the FCC granted Mt. Hood its license to broadcast – to serve the college and surrounding community. Currently, Kiggins points out, “There’s not a lot of Gresham going on at KMHD.”