HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-CABLECOMM-1989-09-14 F
CITY OF ITHACA CABLE COMMISSION
Minutes -- September 14, 1989 _ 1 r °
Present: Demo, Heegard, Streb Terrizzi .
Absent: Herskowitz ( ,�' fi
1. The meeting was called to order in the second floor
conference room at 7 : 45 Em.
2 . The Minutes of the July 18 meeting were approved as written.
3. Chair 's report and correspondence:
A. J. Streb related the contents of a letter from Joyce E.
Gordon addressed to American Community Cablevision
citing the duplication of a New York Yankees baseball
game on three of the 26 channels she receives .
B. J. Streb related the contents of a letter to American
Community Cablevision from Steve Hertzberg and Mona
Sulzman complaining about the noise emanating from an
ACC power supply box mounted on a pole adjacent to
their house . Mr . Hertzberg and Ms. Sulzman who were in
attendance at the meeting then presented additional
information regarding attempts to have the box removed.
They indicated that the box had been shut-off but
expressed their concern that it might be replaced by
another box with a bothersome noise level . Barbara
Lukens, ACC General Manager, indicated that the
offending box would be removed and that no noise
generating box would be installed in its place . Mr .
Hertzberg and Ms . Sulzman expressed their appreciation
to ACC.
C. J. Streb distributed copies of a letter from Congressman
Matt McHugh 4nowledging receipt of the Commission's
letter regarding possible legislation intended to re-
regulate the cable industry and citing his own support
for such legislative efforts.
D. J . Streb reviewed a letter from ACC informing the Cable
Commission of selective rate hikes sheduled to go into
effect on October 1. These changes would add a 5%
franchise fee to the billing for each pay channel and
would impose a $35. 00 installation fee for any outlets
installed beyond the first extra outlet which would be
installed at no charge . Mr . Ray Van Ormen cited a
related complaint he had about billing he had received
from ACC for activation of a second outlet in a home to
which he had recently moved. He reportedly had been
billed $21. 48 for the additional outlet . Lukens
agreed that, based on the information provided by Mr .
Van Ormen, the charge was most likely in error . 0.)
indicated that ACC would look into the matter 4! - -Li //,>.
contact Mr . Van Ormen in the next day or two. i/
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C. Heegard questioned why there was such a
substantial charge for installation when it involved
very little actual labor cost on ACC' s part. Lukens
indicated that the charge was part of a standardized
fee structure. In response to a request from J. Streb,
she indicated that she would bring the schedule of
service costs to the next meeting.
4 . Public comment
A. Mr . Van Ormen raised additional questions about ACC' s
billing practices, producing the bills he had received
from ACC for three successive months, all of which
carried a different total . Lukens examined the bills
and indicated that an ACC representative would contact
Mr . Van Ormen to resolve the apparent discrepancies .
J. Streb asked Mr . Van Ormen to contact her if a
satisfactory resolution was not reached .
B. Common Council member David Lytel brought to the
Commission's attention a City of Ithaca request that a
cable drop be made available at the caretaker 's
residence in Stewart Park, pursuant to Franchise Sec.
13. 4 This action was in response to requests that a
satellite dish recently installed at the residence be
removed .
C. D. Lytel conveyed a copy of a letter from the Tompkins
County Human Rights Commission to ACC regarding the
company's policy on installation practices and their
relationship to a human rights concern involving
potential discrimination based on marital status . The
matter was tabled until the next Commission meeting.
D. Annie Ball voiced concerns that only 4 channels are
available on basic tier after 2 : 00am and that reception
on channel 23 (WVIA) continued to be very marginal at
best . B. Lukens indicated that requests to WVIA to
intensify their signal have gone unheeded.
E. Bill McCormick voiced concern that neither the
Cable Commission nor the Access Advisory Board were
doing an adequate job in upholding the franchise
agreement. J . Streb replied that the Commission needed
specific complaints in order to take action related to
franchise violations.
5 . ACC Report
B. Lukens briefed the Commission on a number of matters
related to ACC operations and services . These are
outlined in ATTACHMENT 1. Three of the matters raised
by Lukens ' report (senior citizen discount, underwriter
acknowledgement, and political endorsements ) were
discussed at greater length as separate agenda items.
2
6 . Acceess Advisory Board Report
Mary Jo Dudley, as Vice Chair of the Access Advisory Board
and representing the Board in the absence of Richard
Herskowitz, brought two matters that had been discussed
by the Board to the Commission for its review. These
concerned access policies related to (1) political
speech, and (2 ) commercial speech.
With regard to commercial speech, there had been
considerable discusion at the Sept. 6, 1989 AAB meeting
regarding what constituted appropriate underwriter
acknowledgement versus outright commercial advertising.
A set of underwriting guidelines developed by ICB-TV
was proposed for consideration. A motion had also
been passed at the AAB meeting urging ACC to work
toward establishing a second access station to be
commercial in nature . After brief discussion, the
Commission recommended that the AAB continue to explore
the matter .
Regarding the issue of political speech, M. Dudley
reviewed a series of developments surrounding
allegations that Ben Nichols had received a political
endorsement on More Than the News--such endorsement
amounting to an alleged violation of Franchise section
14. 3 .D. which states: "Designated channels shall not
be used for the promotion or sale of commercial
products or services, including advertising by or
behalf of candidates for political office. " A
resolution (ATTACHMENT 2 ) passed by the Access Advisory
Board 4 to 2, asked that the Commission interpret Sec.
14. 3 .D in a way that prohibited political fundraising
but not statements of endorsement of political
candidates. After considerable discussion focusing on
the ambiguous wording of Sec . 14 . 3 .D and speculating on
the intent of those who had formulated it and possible
First Amendment issues, the Commission voted 3 to 1 to
interpret the Sec. to apply to political fundraising
only and not to endorsements made on behalf of
candidates. J . Streb expressed concern about the legal
standing of such an interpretation, and B. Lukens stated
that ACC would further examine the record related to
the franchise negotiations and explore other
considerations before offering judgment.
7 . Senior Citizen Discount
As part of her report to the Commission, B. Lukens outlined
some possible procedures that could be followed in
certifying qualified senior citizens for the 10%
discount on basic service . J . Streb requested that a
written proposal be presented to the Commission.
The next meeting was scheduled for Thursday, October 12 7 :30pm.
Meeting adjourned at 10 : 20 02.
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ACC Report to the Ithaca Cable Commission 9/14/89
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* The meeting held to discuss the future of the Octopus was
covered by access staff as a public service.
* In July the cable office was struck by lightning , causing our
computer system to malfuhction. As a result of this malfunction
� a specific type of cable converter was unable to accept our
computer commands. The equipment manufacturer was unable to
resolve the problem immediately , although they responded quickly.
As a result , we gave 4 days of credit to all customers who had
"tan" converters regardless of whether they called with a
complaint.
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* The access studio remained open for the duration of the lunar
eclipse ( 1 :00 a.m. ) in order to allow users to complete the
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� filming along with the call-in show.
* CNBC and MSG were added to the expanded service on Aug. 1 .
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• We preempted the channel 6 prevue guide to provide live
coverage of Voyager 's Neptune fly-by , which was provided to us
by NASA.
* Time , Inc. purchased Warner Communications , defeating the
hostile takeover attempt launched by Paramount.
* ACC has provided scholarship money to TC3.
* Jorge Cuevas has been hired as an access coordinator ,
completing the franchise requirement for a staff of three.
* The power supply on Utica has finally been relocated ,
however , a new complaint has arisen at the new location. We have
temporarily replaced the stand-by supply with one of our older
type supplies, which has resolved the complaint. We are looking
for a longterm solution , however , working with the manufacturer
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and reviewing other possible locations for this supply.
* Our local origination channel provided a special wrap-up of
) the Empire State Games, as well as nightly news coverage. We ran
a preview of Ithaca College football . (- � so, we broadcast two
political debates. There will be two more pre-election debates, a
) mayoral debate on Oct. 31st and a debate between the candidates
for District Attorney on November 2nd.
On September 20th we will broadcats a preview of Cornell
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football .
• I spoke to Marilyn Strasburg at the County Office of the
Aging. They circulate a newsletter to about 7000 seniors in the
area. One idea would be to advertise the senior discount in this
publication as well as posting announcemc/ts in housing for low
income seniors (such as Titus Towers) . We , ill use standard ID to
prove that a person is of applicable age (65) . To determine
whether or not the subsrciber or potential subscriber 11Fa | ifies
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for a low income discount (gi-oss household income of $12,000 or
less) , we will either request that the City of Ithaca qualify
seniors, subject to our right to audit such procedure , or ACC
will have to institute an application/review process to qualify
them. It will still be incumbent on the subscriber to request
assistance. The discount would be in the amount of $1 . 00 per
month for budget basic subscribers only.
* Several issues surrounding access have surfaced. These are:
- what constitutes obscenity and where do we draw the line
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�� with access programming
- how do we control political endorsements which are
restricted per our franchise agreement - see letter to John
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~~) Efroymsmm - our polioy will be to allow no future warnings.
Violations will be followed by a charge for studio, equipment and
' air time and/or suspension from the use of the access facility
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-what is the definition of a commercial and how can we
regulate commercials on access - acknowledgements only will be
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�� allowed. For example, funding for this program was provided by
ABC Corp. or clothing for this program was provided by ABC
Clothiers. No further information , other than the name of the
provider will be allowed.
* A letter was sent to the commission re an increase in some of
ACC 's rates. While the letter stated that rates for pay channels
would be changed effective Oct. 1st , in fact that change will not
go into effect until Nov. 1st .
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Resolution * 1
Whereas, restriction on commercial advertising are
,a necessary practice of public access stations and
have been upheld by`the New York State Supreme
Court; and
. Whereas, restrictions on endorsements and
presentations of political candidates can inhibit
political speech and the potential contribution of
public access to informed political debate; and
Whereas, fundraising by political candidates is
recognized by numerous public access stations as a
form of commercial speech; and
Whereas, ACC staff encourage and facilitate
rebuttals and editorial replies;
BE IT RESOLVED that the Public Access Advisory
Board recommends to the City Cable Commission
that Sec. 14.3.D of Ithaca's Franchise be interpreted
to prohibit fundraising by political candidates, but
not endorsements or other biased expressions by
or for candidates in the course of election
campaigns.
This resolution was passed 4 to 2 with one abstention--? by4<<e4s , v.t. t d
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October 1989 Report to the Ithaca Cable Television Commission `
* Letter from the Human Rights Commission indicating that rights •
have not been violated and that ACC 's policy i : within the law.
A copy of the letter was provided to the commission.
* A copy of Barbara Lukens ' response to Joyce Gordon 's complaint .
_regarding duplication of programming was given <o the commission. .
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* ACC revised the contract for the loan of decoders for the •
hearing impaired. Penalty for loss or damages due to negligence .
were reduced from $500 to $189, ALL replacement cost .
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* We have looked at an extension to Stewart Park for the
caretaker 's house. At present we are working w/ NYSEG to try to
reach it aerially. We may need an easement from the city to do _
this. The only other alternative would be to bore under the PR '
tracks. While this can be done , it could take as much as three
months to obtain a permit to do the bore.
* ACC and its parent company have review� .1 the rules for _
syndicated exclusivity (syndex ) and also �or network non-
duplication. Because the rules are confusing there seems to be
as many opinions about how to comply as the number of people we
asked. It appears, however , that we may not nesd to blackout any
currently carried signals. We continue to -esearch this to
ensure that we remain in compliance w/ the FCC.
1 * Senior discount - We have decided to offer the discount to
seniors regardless of the level of service the'y carry. This is a
departure from our position at the last meeting.
Seniors who are on the list provided ACC by the commission
are on the discount program effective March 19E19.
Reference Mr. Nash 's letter to Janice Streb a �d Barbara Lukens.
ACC would agree to the following as a basis for qualification:
persons over 65 w/ household income not tc exceed $12,025. '
Qualification by the commission or the city � :uld be acceptable .
to ACC as long as ACC retained the right to audit the procedure
as deemed necessary.
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