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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Cable Communications Commission - 11/18/2004 MINUTES CABLE COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION November 18,2004 PRESENT ABSENT Chairman Richard Pulido,Norma Torres, Adria Palacios Sylvia Dancer and Juan Garcia,Jr. City Staff Oscar Martinez, Assistant City.Manager, Susan Cable,Director of E-Government Services,Lisa Aguilar, Assistant City Attorney,and Holly McCarty,E-Government Services Cable Operators Paula Kolda,Time Warner Chairman Richard Pulido called the meeting to order at 6:03 p.m.and verified the necessary quorum.The minutes from October 25, 2004 meeting were reviewed and approved. Juan Garcia, Jr. motioned to approve the minutes and Norma Torres seconded the motion.All Commissioners approved. 1. APPLICATION FOR PAUG CERTIFICATION — Richard Pulido announced that the Commission will recess after this item, so the Channel 10 lottery can be conducted and asked anyone who wanted to speak during public comment to stay until after the lottery. Mr. Pulido stated that an application had been received from City Secretary's Office for a group that has formed called PAC 10. He asked the audience if there is any other group that has formed and would like to be considered for the Channel 10 PAUG. Mr. Pulido stated he wanted to get legal advice from Lisa Aguilar regarding the letter from the organization that has formed, PAC 10, with a list of officers and other attachments, including a sign-in sheet, minutes and by-laws. He stated he would like the Commissioners to review the by-laws and ask any questions they may have. Mr. Pulido asked Jack Gordy, President of PAC 10, what the fees are. Mr. Gordy responded that fees are for operation expenses and will be determined by the producers at the first meeting of the group. Mr. Gordy also said the producers do not have to pay a membership fee; however, for those that do not pay the membership fee,no materials will be mailed to them. Mr. Gordy stated that in Section 4.02, it says the amount will be determined by the producers. In the same section Mrs. Torres stated that it says, "Each six months fees will be required from each public access member." Mr. Gordy responded that a producer does not have to join PAUG to submit his/her tape. Only those who wish to become a member will have to pay dues..Ms. Torres asked Mr. Gordy to clarify the fourth sentence in Section 4.02, asking if members of PAC 10 PAUG will choose their timeslots before the non-member producers.Mr.Gordy responded yes. Latrice Sellers.asked Mr. Pulido who led this meeting. Mr. Pulido responded that the producers did and named some that were on the sign-in sheet. Annando Camino asked Mr.Pulido to clarify because he understood that the City Council voted to give Cruz Colomo a contract and some money for the studio and he understood that there are two groups and wants to know how these two groups will work together. He stated he thinks there should be a plan brought to the producers to inform them of how the two groups are going to work together for the betterment of the producers. Mr. Pulido stated that currently the Commission is reviewing the new organization and he asked Ms. Colomo if she is prepared to submit a package for a PAUG organization for the Commission's review. Ms. Colomo responded yes and she began discussing that Oscar Martinez SCANNED is the new Assistant City Manager for the City of Corpus Christi. Mr.Pulido asked Ms. Colomo to sit down until Public Comment for any comments she wants to make. Juan Garcia asked Mr. Gordy to clarify the word"qualified" in the second sentence. Mr. Gordy responded that"qualified"means they must be a member of the PAUG. Ms.Torres suggested to Mr. Gordy that in another article they should clarify qualifications. Mr. Garcia asked Mr. Gordy to clarify the statement"A Director may resign at any time by submitting a hand written request for the entire Board of Directors."Mr. Gordy responded that it only needs to be addressed to one Board of Director and copied to the others. Oscar Martinez stated that the organizations for the studio contract and the PAUG do not have to be the same and the commonality is both groups are for the producers. Ms. Sellers stated that she thought she was only coming to a lottery to pick her timeslot. Mr. Pulido stated they want to try to resolve this issue tonight. Mr. Carcina.asked Mr. Martinez to define what he meant when he said the working of the two organizations is not material. Mr. Martinez stated that the groups do not have to be the same group. Mr. Cambia asked'if that means that the two organizations do not have to work together or they do need to work together and if they do, shouldn't there be a common ground for the two organizations. Mr. Martinez stated that both groups are serving two different needs for the producers. Ms. Sellers asked if she could go out and get the producers together and form a group to submit to the Commission. Mr. Martinez responded that an application has been submitted to the Commission and, at this time, anyone can submit an application to become the Channel 10 PAUG. Mr. Camina stated that this is the first time he has heard anything about putting together an application to form a group. He asked if there was any posting or notices sent out to producers. Mr. Pulido stated that it has been on City Council and posted on Channel 10 bulletin.Mr. Camina stated there should be written word.Mr.Pulido stated the agenda for the meeting was posted 72 hours in advance. Based on the questions asked, Mr. Pulido asked Ms. Aguilar if they could table the item to give the producers the opportunity to form another group. Roland Garza stated that at the time of the November 8, 2004 PAC 10 meeting, the majority of the producers were present at the meeting and voted on the by-laws. He also stated that the City will run the lottery because there is no certified PAUG. Mr. Pulido stated that, at this time, the Commission has,been acting as the PAUG for the past month and the Commission needs to decide on a nePAUG. Mr. Carcina stated that the dilemma is that no one knew about this process. Mr. Pulido asked Ms. Aguilar for legal advice because so far there has only been one group that has submitted an application to form a new PAUG and, from what he is hearing, other groups may want to form.He said that the information has been published on television by Mr. Gordy and the producers were notified. Ms.Tones stated that she feels the producers had enough notice and opportunity to know what was happening with the Channel 10 PAUG. Mr. Camina stated that he never received any.notification to inform him of what occurring. Mr. Martinez summarized the options: First,the ordinance requires that every producer/user has the opportunity to vote on officers and by-laws, and if the Commission feels that opportunity has been provided to the producers,then action can be taken on the current application. However,if - the Commission does not feel the producers have had proper opportunity, then the item can be tabled,the City hold the lottery and the Commission consider this matter at a later time when the Commission feels every producer has been given the opportunity to vote on the by-laws. Mr. Garcia wanted to update the producers on everything that was happening.He stated that the Commission decertified NUPAC as the channel 10 PAUG and they are no longer responsible for the tape pick-up and drop-off.Mr.Garcia stated that the Commission has an application for a new PAUG and they are reviewing their by-laws and the reason not everyone could be notified is because the previous administration did not have all the proper records for the producers, technical standards were not followed, and City Ordinances were not being followed. Mr.Garcia recommended that the new PAUG go back to the producers and set another meeting time to get the approval of the majority of all the current producers.Mr. Roland Garza asked if that is before or after the certification. Mr. Pulido reminds to the Commissioners that they are reviewing the by-laws and they have to stick to the agenda. He asks Ms. Colomo if she has a packet for the Commissioners to review. Mrs.Colomo responded that she does not have a packet prepared to give to the Commission.Ms. Torres motioned to table the certification process and ask the new groups to contact all the current producers to give them the opportunity to vote on the by-laws of the new group. Juan Garcia seconded the motion. Juan Garcia and Norma Torres approved and Richard Pulido and Sylvia Dancer disapproved. Mr. Pulido stated that since there was a tie, he would like to go ahead and have a vote to resolve this issue and he said only the producers who have their applications turned in will be allowed to vote. Mr. Camina stated that he feels that other groups should be given the opportunity to present by- laws and an application to the Commission before there is a vote. Mr. Pulido stated he had been advised by legal that no group has been certified and the producers need the opportunity to go over the by-laws and does not feel the majority of the producers have been given the chance to review and look over the by-laws of the current group. Mr. Garza stated that he believes at the time the group was formed on November 8,2004 a majority of the producers voted and approved the by-laws submitted to the Commission. Mr. Pulido said that a motion was made earlier and there was a tie. He also stated, considering legal advice, the Commission should table the item until all the producers get the opportunity to review the by-laws of the new group. He said the Commission is still considered the PAUG for Channel 10 and the tape pickup,will still be at the Word of Life Ministry, 1101 Staples. Richard Pulido motioned to table this item until the Cable Communication Commission meeting on January 17, 2004, to give the opportunity for all producers to review the by-laws and the opportunity for the group to reform again, so they can vote themselves and come back to the Commission to certify a new PAUG.Juan Garcia seconded the motion and all Commissioners approved. 2. CCISD REQUEST FOR PUBLIC ACCESS CHANNEL — Mr. Pulido stated they have documentation from CCISD to request a second education channel and made a motion that the City get with CCISD and Time Warner to discuss the details for a second channel.Norma Torres seconded the motion and all Commissioners approved. 3. -DISCUSSION OF CHANNEL 10 2004 FALL LOTTERY—Commission recessed the meeting for City Staff to conduct Channel 10 2004 Fall Lottery. 4. CLARIFICATION OF TIME WARNER ADVERTISING ON PUBLIC ACCESS CHANNELS—Susan Cable stated that they should not have a problem with advertising because there are few blank spots in the schedule. Mr. Pulido informed the audience That Time Warner was advertising during blank spots on Channel 10 and the City had received many complaints about the advertising. 5. PUBLIC COMMENT — Cruz Colomo stated that she is going_to concentrate her time on the studio and she wants everyone to know that she has abided by all the rules and wanted to set the record straight. She stated That NUPAC was illegally dissolved by Bob Klepac and it was not fair to all the new producers to see all the chaos. She does not want to hear of decertification because' it was not caused by her and that everything has been done wrong.Jack Gordy thanked the Cable Commission and everyone for their time and effort and understands why the new group was not certified. He also stated that he will call a meeting for the first-Tuesday in December to assemble all producers to approve by-laws. Susan Cable stated that the City will provide notification to all producers regarding the meeting date,time and location. Richard Pulido said they will expect the minutes, sign-in roster, and votes. Javier Flores said thanks to everyone for their time and would like to see smiles on faces the next time and will be available to help with whatever he can. Roland Garza said thanks to the Commission and the City. He also said that the meeting on November 8,2004,was one of the best he had ever attended and he is afraid the Commission will be imposing a requirement that they have to belong to the studio organization. He did not agree with the decision of the Commission at first,but after it was explained to him,he understood why the Commission made the decision they did. Jerome Bradford said that he had the names of 19. people who did not attend the November 8 meeting and who want a group separate from the studio. He said he is sorry for the way that Cruz has acted, but that is what they have to put up with all the time and he if she is unable to fulfill her duties because of an illness,then she should not take the job. Reverend Bob Reyna thanked Commissioners for giving him the opportunity to speak and stated that every time he has spoken with Ms. Colomo she is talking about her medications, but everyone else here takes medications also. He stated he was never allowed to use the studio or the cameras and when she walked out of the meeting, she called him a fat slob. He stated that he does not think she is the kind of person who.should be in power and does not need threats and intimidation from Mr. Bolden telling producers he is a member of the Purple Mafia. K.D. Logan said thanks for the time to speak and that, in thinking back over the years since the studio was moved from Time Warner,there have been problems and, if the studio and the PAUG organizations are together,there will continue to be problems. 6. COMMISSIONERS COMMENTS —Juan Garcia commented he was glad the meeting came out well.Norma Torres commented that she was happy to hear there are almost 70 producers and the time slots were filled. She said congratulations to those who have re-organized and expects them to follow the Rules and Procedures. Ms.Torres also wanted to clarify that the Commission has no authority over the studio and that the contract is between the organization and the City. Sylvia Dancer said thanks to everyone who stayed late and thanked Commissioners for all their input. Richard Pulido stated he was not happy with tabling the item,but there were too many new producers who needed the opportunity to view the by-laws and the Commission really had no choice. 7. ADJOURNMENT—Juan Garcia,Jr.moved to adjourn the meeting and Sylvia Dancer seconded the motion.All Commissioners approved. The meeting adjourned at 9:15 p.m.