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Last-Minute Switcheroo Is a Very Devilish Trick

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Who knew the KOCE foundation had this kind of deviltry in them? Who knew such fine, upstanding Orange County citizens would invite eternal damnation just to keep a Texas televangelism network from making off with their TV license?

If nothing else, we know they care.

I care, too.

Yes, KOCE has some of the same programs as KCET, the public broadcasting station outlet in Los Angeles. So what? Nothing wrong with watching some of the shows twice in a week, and besides, the L.A. station doesn’t offer much Orange County news.

I wrote a year ago that I’d hate to see our local PBS station go by the boards and that replacing it with 24-hour televangelism programming would be a double whammy.

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But what profiteth a man to retain a PBS station and lose his own soul?

In language perhaps more familiar, ‘Hey, this ain’t fair!’

In conduct unbecoming PBS patrons, some of them have succeeded in getting a bill to Gov. Schwarzenegger that would rewrite the rules under which Daystar Television Network thought it had bought KOCE fair and square in 2004 from the Coast Community College District.

Daystar argued it made the highest bid -- roughly $25 million -- but was thwarted when a cabal of PBS patrons known as the KOCE-TV Foundation countered with a bid announced at $32 million. However, that seemingly higher bid included only $8 million in upfront cash, with the rest stretched out over 30 years. Accordingly, some analysts placed its actual value at $12.5 million to $19.5 million in today’s dollars.

Bottom line: not wanting to turn the station over to televangelists, the college district awarded the station to the foundation.

Daystar sued, and an appellate court sided with it. The phrase that stuck from the court’s ruling was that the district had showed “the rankest form of favoritism” in taking the foundation’s bid. If the district didn’t want to reopen bids, the court ruled, it would have to keep the station.

That’s where things stood, until the state Legislature passed a bill last week that would let the district sell to the foundation -- at the much lower price than the Daystar offer. The bill was sponsored by Orange County Assemblyman Tom Umberg, with the essence of it being that the district can consider things other than the highest bid when selling the station.

Hooray for that logic, except for one small thing: It’s been introduced way, way after the fact. It basically rigs the game -- after the game was played -- against a potential single-issue buyer such as Daystar.

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I asked Umberg why he carried the water for the KOCE foundation. “The bill has sort of been positioned as the KOCE foundation vs. Daystar,” Umberg said. “That’s not really my concept.”

He said the district should have the flexibility to consider “values” other than a dollar figure.

What he means is the range of programming -- such as local news, local access programming and educational shows -- that presumably wouldn’t be part of a televangelist program schedule.

He’s preaching to the choir. I agree.

Except for the last-minute rules switcheroo.

Umberg won’t concede that point, saying the law regarding these kind of “surplus property” sales generally refers to things such as excess furniture. An FCC license, he argues, is a whole different ballgame and deserves more textured consideration than mere dollars.

Again, preaching to the choir. Again, a bit late to change the rules.

“The rules weren’t well-defined early on,” Umberg said, adding that his bill “further defines the rules.”

I like Umberg, so I didn’t make an unpleasant sound on the phone, but that is an argument that doesn’t fly.

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Here’s why I know it doesn’t: simply reverse the interested parties. Imagine that a foundation favoring PBS-style programming made the high bid under the existing terminology in the law, only to have a televangelist come back with a lesser bid. Imagine the latter then getting the station, then losing it in court, but then imposing on legislators to amend the law specifically to get it back.

The public would squawk. So would Umberg.

His bill sits on Schwarzenegger’s desk, where potential intrigue awaits.

Every Republican in the Legislature opposed the bill. Will they, backed by whatever muscle Daystar can muster among its constituents, lean on the governor to veto it?

I’m irked that I have to argue for Daystar. I’m irked the foundation didn’t make sure from the start that it would outbid the televangelists.

KOCE’s license hangs in the balance.

What will Schwarzenegger do?

Hard to say, but there is this: The big lug has a bit of the devil in him, too.

Dana Parsons’ column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. He can be reached at (714) 966-7821 or at dana.parsons@latimes.com. An archive of his recent columns is at www.latimes.com/parsons.

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