Lehigh Valley Public Media Posts Just Two Public Meetings for All of 2026; That’s Not Enough Scrutiny for a Multi-Million-Dollar Boondoggle

May 4, 2026

— Jeff Ward, Lehigh Valley News Briefs

Lehigh Valley Public Media, often known as Channel 39, has posted just two dates for public board meetings in 2026.

One meeting was in January, and the next one is in December. In 2025, LVPM held six public board meetings.

For an organization that has spent recklessly, paid excessively and bloviated endlessly, two meetings in a year is not enough. Perhaps more meetings will be added over the year, but public scrutiny for this boondoggle is essential.

LVPM/Channel 39 may have changed course. Maybe. It has to prove that. It’s endowment is public money. Public money, public media, public television, public radio … get it? PUBLIC.

The public media outlet spent recklessly for years, sought public money relentlessly and delivered very little to the public.

Now I’m bloviating too, but this place still has about $80 million in the bank and somebody has to pay attention.

Remember, this is the same organization that:

— Burned $40 million from its public endowment over five years for no discernible gain. Where did all that money go? Who benefited? What did the public gain?

— Cut its staff from about 80 to 27, as of today.

— Paid big salaries to the people in charge during the years of reckless spending. The station was running multi-million-dollar deficits while paying the top four lots of money:

Here is compensation in fiscal 2024; all are now ex-employees:

— Tim Fallon, president and chief executive, $299,682.

— Yoni Greenbaum, chief content officer, $264,785.

— Andrea Cummis, chief technology officer, $224,094.

— Arthur Troccoli, chief financial officer, $212,459.

LVPM operates Channel 39 and for some reason took over Lehigh University’s WLVR FM radio station. Those initiatives did not deliver, the board of directors conceded in December, noting “performance in both areas fell well short of expectations.”

The December meeting minutes are worth reading, they reflect a board finally acknowledging disaster. I’ll post them below. They are also on the WLVT.org website, under the Board of Directors tab.

The minutes remind me of when a traded company has a bad year, and they combine all their write-offs and firings and dropped plans into one big ugly quarterly report.

LVPM also cut staff across the board, including reporters for its digital news outlet. The outfit’s venture into news was touted as one of the biggest journalism ventures in Pennsylvania in decades when it was rolled out.

The rollback was quieter. A television program quietly disappeared after a couple years, and staff cuts were steady until a big firing last year.

Maybe things are better. They probably couldn’t be worse, but just two meetings is not enough.

Here is a list of board members. If you know them, ask for more disclosure. I’ve called Channel 39, sent emails and on one occasion actually talked to a real person, but they never got back to me.

I’ll try the board members too. A polite, “Are you going to hold only two meetings? You should hold more” will suffice.

The board has changed and there is new management, but this boondoggle has a long way to go before it can be trusted.

Here are the December minutes, I’ve deleted some items for length and marked some things in bold print.

Here’s the main thing, dealing with three big failures in one paragraph:

Mr. Campos noted that looking back over the previous five years more than $40 million was drawn from the investment account and only strong market performance has maintained the balance. Mr. Keim acknowledged that the Board approved the radio and news initiatives, however, performance in both areas fell well short of expectations. Ms. Yee further noted that we need to move quicker going forward to course correct when initiatives are not performing as anticipated.

Michael Keim and Luis Campos are still on the board; Ms. Yee is Susan Yee, now a former board member.

The minutes:

Lehigh Valley Public Telecommunications Corporation (“LVPTC”)
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
Monday, December 1, 2025, at 1:00 p.m.
DIRECTORS PRESENT:
Mr. Michael S. Keim (Chair)
Dr. Rick A. Bucher
Mr. Luis E. Campos
Mr. Todd P. Donnelly
Ms. Tinku Khanwalkar
Judge Joseph F. Leeson, Jr.
Mr. Laks Srinivasan
Dr. Christoper S. Wolfel
Ms. Susan C. Yee
Mr. John S. Huemmrich
Mr. Joe Topper
Ms. Lucinda McCarthy
STAFF PRESENT:
Ms. Hasanna Birdsong (Staff Liaison)
Mr. Stephen Bahmueller
Mr. Stephen Budihas
Ms. Rachel Knoblach
Mr. James Deegan
Mr. Thomas Shortell
Ms. Darice Pauselius
Ms. Catherine Reifsnyder
PARTNER(S) PRESENT:
Ms. Dolores A. Laputka, Esq.
I. Welcome and Introductions
Mr. Keim opened the meeting at 1:06 PM and noted that a quorum was present. Mr. Keim noted that
today’s meeting was both our annual meeting and a critical discussion of our go forward operating model
as the status quo for LVPTC and public media at large is unsustainable.
II. Approval of Minutes
Ms. Yee inquired whether the capital expenditure items noted in the minutes from the previous meeting
required Board approval. Mr. Budihas stated both requests dropped below $50k and approval was no
longer needed. Mr. Keim asked for a motion to approve the minutes; Mr. Topper made the motion, Ms. Yee
seconded; all approved; the minutes were approved.
III. Finance Committee Update
Mr. Bahmueller shared his screen to present the financial reports:
FY 26 October Overview

• Revenue: $570,153 YTD, $200,199 favorable to budget but $339,759 below FY25
• Operational Expenses: $2,723,419 YTD, $268,795 favorable to budget and $637,870 below FY25
• Net Operating: ($2,153,267) YTD, $468,994 favorable to budget and a $292,111 improvement from
  FY25
• Funding Draw: YTD $1,694,293, 2.33%, November Draw $500,029
• Investment Balance: Balance $82.2M, YTD Income $433,430, Unrealized Gain $5.39M
  It was noted that the November and December monthly budgets were approved by the Executive
  Committee. Ms. Yee noted that the November and December budgets were approved with the expectation
  that a strategic plan in alignment with the Board’s approved vision and related full year FY26 budget would
  be approved at today’s meeting. Mr. Campos noted that looking back over the previous five years more
  than $40 million was drawn from the investment account and only strong market performance has
  maintained the balance. Mr. Keim acknowledged that the Board approved the radio and news initiatives,
  however, performance in both areas fell well short of expectations. Ms. Yee further noted that we need to
  move quicker going forward to course correct when initiatives are not performing as anticipated.
  IV. Corporate Governance Committee Update
  The Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee met on November 18, 2025, and produced five (5)
  resolutions for Board consideration.
  Resolution 2025.06 – Nomination of Slate of Officers for LVPTC Board of Directors for January 1, 2026, to
  December 31, 2026
  The LVPTC Board of Directors elects the following individuals to serve a one (1) year term – Chair: Mr. Laks
  Srinivasan, Vice Chair: Mr. Luis Campos, Treasurer: Mr. Joseph Topper, Secretary: Ms. Tinku Khanwalkar,
  require Board approval. Mr. Donnelly made the motion to accept the resolution, Mr. Bucher seconded;
  Four (4) abstained (the nominees) ; Eight (8) in favor.
  Resolution 2025.07 – Class Two Directors Re-appointment to LVPTC Board of Directors
  The LVPTC Board of Directors re-elects the following from January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2028 –
  Mr. Michael Keim, Mr. Todd Donnelly, and Judge Joseph Leeson. require Board approval. Dr. Wolfel made
  the motion to accept the resolution, Mr. Srinivasan seconded; Three (3) abstained (the nominees); Nine (9)
  in favor.
  Resolution 2025.08 – Retirement of Ms. Lucindalea McCarthy
  Ms. McCarthy was recognized for her years of dedication and commitment to the Board of Directors and
  the organization.
  Resolution 2025.09 – Election of John Eureyecko and Jamal Ahmed as LVPTC Directors
  The LVPTC Board of Directors elects Mr. John Eureyecko to serve as a Class 1 Director from January 1,
  2026, to December 31, 2026, and Mr. Jamal Ahmed to serve as a Class 2 Director from January 1, 2026 to
  December 31, 2028, require board approval. Mr. Topper made the motion to accept the resolution, Mr.
  Bucher seconded; all in favor.
  Resolution 2025.10 – Retirement of Mr. John Huemmerich
  Mr. Huemmerich was recognized for his service to the Board. Mr. Campos made the motion to accept the
  resolution, Mr. Topper seconded; One (1) abstained (Mr. Huemmerich); Eleven (11) in favor.
  A board survey was completed to ensure skill sets and communities are fully represented.
  We sit at twelve (12) board members today and can go up to twenty-five (25).
  V. Organizational Update
  Ms. Birdsong shared her Annual Board Meeting Organizational Updates Presentation. Highlights included
  the following:
• Community Convening
  o Hosted 16 events with approximately 1,000 people in attendance
  o Passport to Puerto Rico was our most attended event
• Content and Audience Engagement
  o There was a translation grant approved, which resulted in 34 stories being translated into
  Spanish on lehighvalleynews.com
  o We are collaborating with La Mega to bring LVN stories to our greater community
  o WDIY/LVPM collaboration, “Home for the Holidays”
  o We have also secured additional new content and new partnerships throughout the Lehigh
  Valley
  Mr. Keim ended the Open Session at 2:04 p.m. The Board of Directors then met in Closed
  Executive Session.
  Minutes prepared by: Ms. Rachel Knoblach —————————————————————————————————————————