MMU cable TV measure soundly defeated

Marshall voters chose almost two-to-one Tuesday to decline a proposal from Marshall Municipal Utilities to offer cable television services. [Click to enlarge]

Marshall Municipal Utilities asked the public for permission to provide cable television services Tuesday, but the proposal was overwhelmingly rejected.

Unofficial results issued Tuesday night show voters downed the issue by a nearly two-to-one margin, casting 983 "no" votes to 493 "yes" votes.

One early indicator pointed to a possible victory for the measure, however. Absentee ballots, which often foretell the final result, gave the issue a four-vote victory, coming in with 22 in favor and 18 opposed. The issue went on to fail in every Marshall ward by margins ranging from 73 votes in Ward 2 to 198 votes in Ward 1.

According to information released by MMU prior to the election, the utilities wanted to expand use of the fiber optic system it has in place around the city. In addition to cable television service, an expanded system would allow for automated meter reading, electrical outage monitoring, high-speed Internet service and communication for better educational opportunities and better medical care.

In the weeks leading up to the election, the issue faced sharp criticism. A number of direct mailings from a group identified as Citizens for Responsible Government attacked the proposal and former Marshall City Council member Tom Marshall spoke out publicly against it.

Speaking at a Marshall City Council meeting, Marshall decried the proposal as a hidden tax, alleging that costs for the system would be borne by those who did not use the service. He also said it was "repugnant" for the city to go into competition with a private company. The mailings posed dark questions, asking, for example, if residents would have their power turned off if they failed to pay their cable bills.

MMU General Manager Paul Jensen said he was disappointed and shocked by the vote.

"Shocked because Time Warner's $50,000 campaign to confuse a simple issue was much more successful than I thought it had been," he said. "Disappointed because Marshall passed up an opportunity to lower the cost of cable television service and keep those dollars in the local economy, and an opportunity to support extension of a fiber optic system."

Despite the setback, Jensen said MMU would move forward with its effort to expand its fiber optic system.

"MMU has plenty of projects, plans, and issues to deal with including development of a plan to extend fiber optic cable to the homes and businesses of Marshall," he said. "Cable television just won't be included as one of the possible services to be provided by such a fiber system."

Contact Chris Post at

marshallhealth@socket.net