HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-AOC-2021-02-02 1
MINUTES Access Oversight Committee (AOC) (as approved March 2, 2021)
Tuesday, February 2, 2021 at 5 PM.
The AOC met by ZOOM Conferencing (thanks to Paulette Rosa, Town Clerk, Town of Ithaca). Present: chair Rich DePaolo, Gossa Tsegaye, secretary Wayles Browne, Common
Council liaison Rob Gearhart, vice chair Wies van Leuken; Access Studio Coordinator
Lauren Stefanelli; employees of Charter: Mike Montesano (Sr. Manager, Programming, Charter Communications), Lauren Kelly (Director of Government Affairs - Finger Lakes Region, Charter Communications); members of the public Patrick Pinney, Tom Stern, Jim Blizzard.
01. Call to Order 5:02 by DePaolo.
02. Agenda Additions and/or Deletions: none.
03. Public Comments. Tom Stern: Producers' contact information is now made
available to the public upon request. There should be safeguards in place. I do not think that complete contact information should be released. (Note: Stern is referring to the line: ”I authorize Charter to make available contact information to members of the public who make inquiries about the Program(s)” in the Public Access Cablecast
Agreement included in the PEGASYS Policies and Procedures Manual.)
DePaolo: this will be a topic at today's meeting. Patrick Pinney: I have asked about the possibility of livestreaming Channel 13. This would be warmly welcomed by the public, but Charter seems not to approve. (To a question by DePaolo) Streaming could be on YouTube or on a Website. Public Access
is mostly unavailable to students on campuses now. Ithacon (yearly Ithaca Comic Book Club convention) will be held in April and would appeal to older and younger generations; it should be both telecast and streamed. DePaolo: recalls that subscribers should have all channels available on Spectrum App.
04. Comments by AOC members. Van Leuken: what info does Stern want not to be released to the public? Stern: phone and address. E-mail can be available. Van Leuken: appreciates that the Nexus’ second MPEG player is now online and that Channel 13’ connection with WRFI was restored. Tsegaye asks Pinney: who would be gatekeeper for streaming content? DePaolo:
streaming would be subject to the same rules as other cablecasts. Pinney agrees. DePaolo: does Charter have a response to the question about info on producers? Montesano: we keep names and addresses (e-mail optional). DePaolo wonders if public should be able to get addresses of producers. Can Charter delete this info from publicly available records? Montesano: Our Manual’s language is a suggestion. DePaolo to
Stefanelli: What information do you release? Stefanelli: No one has ever asked for complete contact info on producers. Producers could state preferences; currently our guidelines say that contact information is available to the public on individual producers. DePaolo asks Gearhart: what standards could we apply to release of information? What does Government do? Is this info subject to FOIL (Freedom of Information)
requests? Montesano: In the current agreement it does say "authorize Charter to make contact info available." Montesano: will get back to you in a couple of days.
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DePaolo asks Montesano about live-streaming. Montesano: will hold off for now on
replying. DePaolo: understands that each producer owns their show and can do
anything they want with it later, but the live-streaming question is unclear. Pinney will mail his request with more information to DePaolo who will funnel it to Lauren Kelly. 05. Approval of Minutes of the January 5, 2021 Meeting. Moved by van Leuken,
seconded by DePaolo, approved without change 5-0.
06. Access Studio Coordinator Report (in writing, attached). Stefanelli: we're doing a simulcast with WRFI radio every day from 6 PM to 6:30 PM. DePaolo: it seems we're no longer using WRFI radio as backdrop to the Bulletin Board.
Stefanelli: Two WRFI series (the 6 PM news and Ute Ritz-Deutch's Human Rights) have
signed PEG's standard cablecast agreements. Earlier, Felix Teitelbaum, General Manager of WRFI, gave blanket permission for using WRFI radio. We'll have to ask Teitelbaum about using their signal as backdrop. AOC favors doing this if Teitelbaum agrees (Tsegaye abstains). DePaolo: did we have a slide on video while broadcasting
WRFI's signal? Stefanelli: Yes, "You are listening to WRFI." Montesano: local stations
might be running programs subject to copyright. Browne: Teitelbaum's say-so is sufficient in case anyone wonders about rights to broadcast individual radio shows. a. PEGASYS’ operations during the COVID-19 pandemic – update. DePaolo: No
changes since the last meeting? Stefanelli: No.
b. Charter’s Report on collected Subscriber Fees for 2020 ($0.15/Mo/Subscriber). Kelly: I have the figures for Town, City, and Village; got them today. I will send them by e-mail. c. Maintenance and Repair Report: see attachment.
d. Subscriber Information (Section 15.9) – report from Charter. This request was first made during the December 2020 meeting. Kelly: Twice a year the back of each subscriber's bill shows who the Franchise Administrator is. I have been working on getting info on PEG onto the back of every bill. DePaolo cites §15.9 of the Franchise, which mentions 'availability of channels' and
'training'; hopes to see this language on the bill next month. Kelly: I see info about training on the PEG website. Browne: suggests also including the studio's phone numbers and e-mail address on every bill. e. Inclusion of PEG Channels on Spectrum App - report from Charter. DePaolo: PEG channels 13, 15, 16 used to be included on Spectrum's App for its TV subscribers, but then a
decision was made to discontinue them. AOC feels that PEG channels have to be available to all subscribers free, without them having to rent a set-top box. Kelly: Still working on that. DePaolo: It's a policy issue, but no one has been able to explain the rationale for reducing the availability of channels to subscribers. Did Kelly or Montesano participate in the decision? I asked the Spectrum store; they said that everything is available via the app. I say again that
I will initiate a legal complaint with the City of Ithaca under the grievance provisions of the Franchise. 07. Member Reports a. Term Renewals. DePaolo has been reappointed to AOC for an additional one-
year term. He will be sworn in shortly. He was the only member that needed reappointing now.
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b. PEGASYS’ operations during the COVID-19 pandemic – review. Same as
before.
c. Charter’s PEG Rules and Guidelines document. DePaolo: The document containing Charter's suggestions makes it hard to isolate the changes. Please provide a red-line version indicating what changes are proposed, starting with the present PEGASYS manual, so that we can more easily identify Charter’s proposed changes.
Montesano: sure.
Van Leuken to Montesano: What does the asterisked footnote (“ *Charter Communications reserves the right to review all definitions and policies contained in this manual and make changes as deemed necessary.”) on page 4 refer to? Montesano: nothing. DePaolo: You're not alleging that Charter has veto power? Montesano: I didn't
write it. It's about the definitions rather than the policies.
d. Charter’s Used Equipment Donation Agreement for crashed Nexus. DePaolo: In connection with the proper way to dispose of equipment (the broken old Nexus), Charter suggested an agreement ("Used Equipment Donation Agreement") to be signed by Charter and the person receiving it ("Transferee"). Question: who owns the equipment?
Equipment is funded by subscribers; AOC determines its acquisition and use; Charter is
responsible for its maintenance and repairs. DePaolo asks Kelly and Montesano: does Charter depreciate the equipment? Kelly: Our interpretation is sometimes different, but we're trying to reach agreement. DePaolo asks Kelly to ask Charter's Accounting about who depreciates it. The present wording of the document seems to suggest that Charter
owns the equipment, but the real purpose is to protect Charter from liability. So let's
include a clause saying that AOC has contractual control over the equipment. Kelly asks DePaolo: please red-line the agreement so we can see what you're calling for, and send it to me. Van Leuken asks: what have we done in the past with broken-down equipment?
Stefanelli: Sometimes just disposed of it; once we asked for requests from producers wanting outdated equipment. They signed a release. Van Leuken asks for a copy of the old release. Stefanelli: will find it and send it to AOC and Charter. Tsegaye wonders about the possibility of donations to PEG. He wouldn't want Public
Access to be a junkyard for donations of old equipment. DePaolo asks Stefanelli: did anyone ever donate equipment to us? Stefanelli to DePaolo: I believe you made the most recent donation. e. Publicity, outreach and networking – Report on Ithaca College Meeting.
Gearhart and Tsegaye asked students about working with PEG; some were enthusiastic. But no response yet from the faculty member involved. To be followed up. The semester has begun but teaching is still done remotely; some in-person classes begin the week of Feb. 8. Tsegaye: there is still uncertainty about classes. Don't get your hopes up too high.
Gearhart: work could be done remotely too.
Tsegaye asks Stefanelli if she gets requests to play foreign-language programming or foreign-oriented shows. She says: any local person can submit a program. We hoped for a Tibetan community show, but it didn't happen. Browne: recalls Miguel Piery's cooking show in Spanish: Conversemos! Cocinemos! Comamos!
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f. AOC’s Letter Re “Notice of Violations”. See above. DePaolo: we're working on
it.
08. Old Business a. Franchise Agreement. DePaolo: still waiting for proposals from Amanda Lanham (Charter).
b. I-Net “end equipment” maintenance cost shift – update. DePaolo will add this
question to his Letter. c. Playback System - update. It's up and running for Channels 13 and 15. DePaolo asks about the Bulletin Board: has it been constrained by any issues? Van Leuken: I submitted a notice about Amnesty International's meetings, and it's running
but there are very few other postings.
DePaolo to Montesano: why were changes made to begin with? Are you tidying up the format of postings? Does Stefanelli still have to run bulletin board postings by you? Montesano: A few times in the last few weeks I've made suggestions but Stefanelli is more familiar with the community than I am. We're working together to expand the
choice of backgrounds.
DePaolo: is there anything that precludes info from being put up? Montesano: I have the schedule that she produces, and I do have a way to look at the channel (as I do with channels from our other locations). DePaolo worries that the 'second set of eyes' may become cumbersome; wants to be
sure that Montesano is acting in an advisory capacity. Is Lauren allowed to upload
slides to the Bulletin Board without your review? Montesano: As a courtesy, I want Lauren to submit postings first. I'd like to look in advance. It's not a huge time lag. DePaolo: Is it quality control, or is it branding? Montesano: it's quality control, just as I do with other PEG coordinators.
Van Leuken asks about the 15-second disclaimers that Charter is posting before and after each show in her reserved timeslot. Montesano: They were there in the past and we re-introduced them. Van Leuken believes that no such disclaimers were ever on the channel. Montesano asked Stefanelli. Stefanelli: since Time Warner days and until recently, a slide was posted in the Bulletin Board lineup, explaining content
responsibilities. But there were none that were bookending programs. DePaolo: If Charter is already freed from liability, why this disclaimer? It doesn't further indemnify you, just puts individual shows into question. Who makes these unilateral decisions without consulting with AOC? Can AOC be warned beforehand? DePaolo: Is Stefanelli instructed to program this disclaimer into the Nexus? We request it be
discontinued. Montesano: I'll have something for you at the next meeting. DePaolo asks about the use of archived shows for TBA programming (= to fill unoccupied slots in the schedule). Stefanelli: I think it's a work in progress; Montesano has designed a system. Montesano: Stefanelli has time slots in which she can show
blocks of TBA events from the archive. DePaolo asks Stefanelli: do we have less programming on the channel than there was before this change? Stefanelli: Yes. There is less than before, but we're developing a process to use more archive shows. The Archive blocks do not completely fill the channel. DePaolo to Montesano: Is there a reduction in the amount of archive programming?
Montesano: The Bulletin Board was only midnight to 6 AM, but now we're giving it more play time. DePaolo: we'll leave this for next month's agenda.
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Tsegaye asks: Does Montesano have editorial control over what goes up on the bulletin
board? Montesano: No. DePaolo: But choosing colors and music choices are editorial
control. There is control being exerted by a corporate structure on a public entity. 09. New Business: none.
10. Next meeting: 5 pm, Tuesday, March 2.
11. Adjournment 7:02. ================
Authority: City of Ithaca code Chapter 18, "Cable Access Oversight Committee". Adopted by the Common Council of the City of Ithaca 11-5-2003 by Ord. No. 2003-17. Available at https://ecode360.com/8386207.
Contact information for AOC members: City of Ithaca: Wayles Browne, secretary <ewb2@cornell.edu>.
City of Ithaca: Rob Gearhart, Common Council liaison 2019- <rgearhart@cityofithaca.org>. City of Ithaca: member Gossa Tsegaye <gossavision@twcny.rr.com>, <tsegaye@ithaca.edu>.
Town of Ithaca: Rich DePaolo, chair <rd@richdepaolo.com>, <RDePaolo@town.ithaca.ny.us>. Village of Cayuga Heights: Wies van Leuken, vice chair <pmv4@cornell.edu>.
Web site for the PEGASYS Community Media Center studio, with program schedules: https://pegasys.webstarts.com/index.html
studio location: 612 West Green Street, Ithaca, New York mailing address: 519 West State Street, Ithaca, NY 14850
phone (607) 272-7272 fax (607) 277-5404
PEGASYS staff: studio manager Lauren Stefanelli Lauren.Stefanelli@charter.com
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Charter COMMUNICATIONS Lauren Stefanelli PEG Coordinator
Access Oversight Committee Meeting
PEG Coordinator Report 2/02/2021
Equipment Maintenance/Repair Issues:
• 3 new edit laptops are available for use. Notification was sent out to producers.
• Simulcast capability from WRFI is now available.
• Second playout channel from UltraNexus unit is functional.
Equipment Recommendations:
• There are no new recommendations this month.
PEG Rules and Guidelines:
• A document making suggestions to update the current Policies and Procedures manual was submitted
to the Access Oversight Committee.
Cablecast Common Council/Other Meetings Monthly Summary:
• 01/06- Ithaca Common Council Meeting- Prepared for playback on Gov. Access Channel by County
staff.
• 01/20- Planning and Economic Development Committee Meeting- Prepared for playback on Gov.
Access Channel by Charter staff.
• 01/27- City Administrator Committee Meeting- Prepared for playback on Gov. Access Channel by
Charter staff.
Non-Resident Summary:
• Current balance for PEG Usage Fees as of January, 2021 is $479.00.
PEGASYS Fees Report: Rees Collected and Spent in 2021
Total Balance 2020 $479.00
Name Municipality Period Amount Status
Total Fees Collected 2021 $0.00
Authorized Payments To For Payments Date
Total Payments 2021 $0.00
Total Balance 2021 $479.00
519 W. State St. | Ithaca, NY 14850 P (607) 272-7272 Lauren.Stefanelli@charter.com