LONGMONT PUBLIC MEDIA CO-FOUNDER LEAVING
Sergio Angeles thrives off chaotic situations and has found himself in quite a few of them as Longmont Public Media’s cofounder and executive director.
“It’s been … quite a journey,” Angeles said in an interview Monday.
Angeles has announced he will be stepping down from Longmont Public Media.
In 2019, the city approved a contract with the Longmont Observer — a nonprofit newspaper that Angeles also cofounded — to provide educational and governmental television services to residents.
“Our vision … was to create a media makerspace,” Angeles said. “Revolutionize public access — what that means and what it means in today’s world.”
The contract gave rise to Longmont Public Media, which launched in 2020 just a few months before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Over the past three years, the nonprofit at 457 Fourth Ave. in Longmont has continued to see its membership grow, and it received a new two-year contract with the city in September.
“After the pandemic, we weren’t sure where LPM was going to go,” Ryan Forbes, Longmont Public Media marketing manager, said Monday. “Thanks to (Angeles) working with the city … we were able to secure and keep LPM going at least for another couple of years.”
The latest contract provides Longmont Public Media with 50% of the city’s franchise fees in exchange for services such as broadcasting the city’s live meetings to the public.
“It’s been nice to have that kind of leadership,” Forbes said.
Now that Longmont Public Media’s foundation is sturdier, Angeles said it was time for him to embark on new endeavors.
“I like … starting something from scratch,” Angeles said. “Building something, getting it up to a certain point and then … passing the baton onto someone else.”
Angeles has not decided when his last day as Longmont Public Media’s executive director will be, but he plans to stay on the nonprofit’s board of directors even after his departure.
A job announcement for the Longmont Public Media executive director position was posted a few days ago.
Angeles, who is originally from Santa Barbara, Calif., has lived in Longmont since 2016 and has no plans to leave the city that he now calls home.
“I want to continue doing startups … there’s nothing concrete yet,” Angeles said.
Today, in addition to broadcasting government meetings, Longmont Public Media offers educational classes, hosts events, provides space for video and audio production and more.
The nonprofit has 383 members.
“That keeps growing everyday as more and more people find out about the space and how they can use it and what they can learn from being a member,” Angeles said.