That's according to University of Hawaii journalism Professor Gerald Kato, who advises students responsible for the show.

Councilman Steve Holmes is worried that an agreement with the council's new television producer to televise live Council meetings may be in jeopardy as a result of Kato's decision. The Council's bid specifications call for the program to continue.

Cyril Akashi and Infotech Inc. won an open bid recently to produce the Council's regular meetings and Open City TV, a weekly digest of Council happenings created in partnership with Kato and his students.

Akashi beat out longtime Council broadcast producer Sean McLaughlin, who helped start Open City TV in May 1994.

The project won a 1995 achievement award from the National Association of Counties for civic education and participation.

Akashi's term is to begin Jan. 1 although a contract has not been signed, Council officials said.

Kato said he met with Cyril Akashi of Infotech Inc. for the first time last week.

"I think it's obvious to me he's got a lot of work to do," Kato said.

"My feeling is that he's not totally prepared at this point to make the transition to Open City in addition to doing Inside Honolulu Hale (the title for the live telecasts of Council meetings). I felt rather uncomfortable about continuing."

Kato added that the program "relies on the fact that there are experienced people to supervise and provide oversight working with the students."

Kato said he's not sure that Akashi will be able to provide that help immediately, noting that, as of Thursday, the new producer had not hired key staff.

Kato said he'd like to continue the Open City program, which has provided a training ground for broadcast journalism students at the university over the past 21/2 years.

The blame, Kato said, should be placed more on the Council than on Akashi. "The process of discussing what is involved in producing our show should begin well before 11 days before the end of the year."

Council office Administrator Clayton Wong said an advertisement calling for bids ran Sept. 22 and the deadline to submit bids was Oct. 28.

Council Chairman John DeSoto accepted Akashi's final offer last Monday based on the recommendation by a committee made up of Councilman Steve Holmes and two Council staffers.

The process should have begun earlier, Wong said, noting that only once since the procurement process took effect over the bidding of the contract has McLaughlin been challenged by a competitor.

DeSoto and Holmes said Akashi was picked over McLaughlin largely because the new contractor promised live, closed captioning for the hearing impaired with a proposal only $2,000 more than McLaughlin's.

McLaughlin has questioned whether Akashi will be able to deliver on that promise.