Oshkosh council candidates criticize handling of Oshkosh Media shutdown, urge restoration or partnership

At a League of Women Voters forum, multiple candidates for three open seats on the Oshkosh common council criticized how city staff handled recent decisions that curtailed Oshkosh Media’s public-access channels and FM service, saying residents and local producers were left out of the process.

Alec Lefebvre, a candidate, said the shutdown was “really unfortunate all around” and called for rethinking the public-media space as a broader hub for community-produced podcasts, short-form video and continued long-form broadcasting. “Cutting the public out of that space entirely is a mistake,” he said.

Tim Neubauer told the audience he learned the same way many local producers did: by email and at the last minute. “I found out the same time they found out that it was getting shut down,” he said, adding that the move was not transparent and that older residents rely on FM and government channels for information.

Paul Eslinger, a former council member and mayor, called the actions “inexcusable” for being taken without prior contact with the council, local producers or citizens. He framed the issue as an example of too much unilateral power in the city-manager role and urged better consultation.

Several candidates proposed alternatives. Meredith Shireman encouraged pursuing next steps through a public workshop and suggested the library as a possible digital-media hub. Logan Youngbacher recommended exploring a partnership with UW Oshkosh so students and the community could share production resources. Incumbent Jacob Amis said he was speaking with City Manager Rebecca Grill to find ways to accommodate existing producers and maintain access while addressing communications needs.

No formal action or vote took place at the forum; candidates said any solution should preserve community access while allowing the city to modernize its communications functions. Several urged the city to involve local producers and the council before making similar decisions in the future.