Shoffner silences his recognizable radio voice during campaign

SANDUSKY — Until Election Day, the frequency at which listeners will hear a familiar radio voice is zero.Steve Shoffner, the longtime news director for BAS Broadcasting, who's also running for Erie County commissioner this fall, voluntarily pulled himself from on-air duties during campaign season.He's often heard on local stations, such as WLEC-AM 1450 and WCPZ-FM 102.7, providing news updates and covering high school sports.Shoffner recently made a Facebook post detailing his silent situation, going into effect in July and spanning through Nov. 6."It's a decision we made, the ownership and I, to take my voice off the radio until after the election," Shoffner said. "There are no laws, rules or regulations to require me to come off, but, if my voice stays on, there are certain things you might have to deal with."Shoffner referenced the equal-time rule which requires radio, TV stations and cable systems originating their own programming to treat legally qualified political candidates equally when selling or giving away air time."Simply put, a station which sells or gives one minute to Candidate A must sell or give the same amount of time with the same audience potential to all other candidates for the particular office," according to museum.tv, a website breaking down the rule.Shoffner wants to avoid any such possible occurrence."Something could happen that could trigger that," Shoffner said. "This is a business choice to minimize the potential actions we would have to deal with."He's still employed by BAS Broadcasting, working behind the scenes. He continues to write news, produce segments and field calls from listeners.Shoffner, a Republican, faces former Sandusky city commissioner Julie Farrar, a Democrat, in the commission race. The winner replaces Bill Monaghan, a Democrat, who will not seek an additional term in office.Reach reporter Andy Ouriel at ouriel@sanduskyregister.com and follow him on Twitter @AndyOuriel.Steve Shoffner talks during a segment of "Between the Lines" on Tuesday, May 8, 2018.