Cable Station Bars Preacher From Studio : Broadcasting: Bill Woodard is accused of intimidating workers. He denies it and says he’s a victim of racial and religious prejudice.

After five years of spreading the Gospel on community-access airwaves, a local preacher has been forbidden by Ventura County Cablevision from using the company’s equipment to produce his shows.

Company officials have told Bill Woodard that he will not be allowed inside the Cablevision building on Agoura Road for the next year. They say that Woodard, host of the “Love & FaithWorks” and “Window of Hope” programs, has a history of intimidating station workers, and the one-year suspension is an appropriate response.

The suspension does not remove Woodard’s programs from the air, and his wife, who helps produce the Christian ministry shows, can still use Cablevision equipment. Alan McDaniel, community programming manager, said the couple can--if they choose--tape their programs at home.

Woodard said his problems with the station are the result of long-running disagreements with McDaniel, as well as racial and religious prejudice.

“I was accused, tried and convicted before they even talked to me,” said Woodard, who is black. “All I want to do is continue to use the system, and I haven’t done anything wrong.”

Cablevision President David LaRue said Woodard’s claims of bias are not true.

“It’s our policy not to have any kind of discrimination--racial, religious or anything else,” he said. “It’s my impression we have extended to Mr. Woodard every courtesy we would anyone else, and neither race nor religion has a part in any of the complaints.”

Woodard, a former actor who appeared on “The Jeffersons” and “All in the Family,” began broadcasting on Ventura County Cablevision in 1990. The religious programs he produces with his wife, who goes by the name Sister Woodard, appear in Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley and sections of Los Angeles.

The couple’s relationship with Cablevision began to sour early, Woodard said. He believes the company places little importance on community access users, especially those who demand as much as the Woodards. The couple have often pushed, for instance, for videotapes that have been used relatively few times, Woodard said.

The couple have had a number of arguments with McDaniel, Woodard said, mostly over the use of equipment and videotapes.

One such argument led, in part, to the suspension. In a letter to Woodard announcing the move, McDaniel wrote that on Sept. 5, the preacher “physically threatened” him in front of two witnesses. The letter also cited four other instances in which Woodard allegedly threatened or verbally abused staff members, in some cases asking them to “step outside” to settle disputes.

Woodard said he did not threaten McDaniel or anyone else at the station. In the Sept. 5 incident, he said, he interrupted an argument between McDaniel and Sister Woodard, told McDaniel not to holler at his wife and also told him to “get out of my face.”

Also, the Woodards said they have encountered what they consider racist attitudes from staff members. While staff members would help carry equipment for white women visiting the station, Woodard said, they would not help Sister Woodard.

“I’ve watched them let her labor like a pack mule, and I know it’s because she’s a black woman,” he said.

McDaniel said the charge of racism is wrong. “My whole staff--and by the way, half of my staff is black--strive to treat everyone equally,” he said.

McDaniel and company Vice President Dan Deutsch met with the couple Friday to discuss the suspension. After listening to Woodard’s version of events, Deutsch will interview station personnel, then decide whether the suspension was warranted, McDaniel said.

If Deutsch upholds the suspension, Woodard can appeal the decision to the city, McDaniel said. Deputy City Atty. Jim Friedl said city officials most likely would send the dispute to the American Arbitration Assn. for resolution.

Woodard said he hopes the situation can soon be settled. His goal, he said, is to continue preaching through Ventura County Cablevision’s community access.

“We didn’t want to be in any position of controversy,” he said. “Our purpose is to . . . use the system.”