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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Cable Communications Commission - 02/07/2005 MINUTES c, 6ev CABLE COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION February 7 2005 r, c' C c',1'4l cC ria PRESENT \c:\ - Chairman Richard Pulido,Norma Torres,Juan Garcia, Jr.,Adria Palacios, Sylvia Dancr„ ` 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 None Present Chairman Richard Pulido called the meeting to order at 6:10 p.m. and verified the necessary quorum. The minutes from November 18, 2004 meeting were reviewed and approved. Adria Palacios motioned to approve the minutes and Norma Torres seconded the motion. All Commissioners approved. 1. PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO RULES AND PROCEDURES PRESENTED TO CITY COUNCIL JANUARY 18, 2005 AND PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO SECTION 2 CITY ORDINANCE REGARDING DIVISION 17 CABLE COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION — Mr. Pulido asked the City to present background information to the Commissioners to inform them as to why the Rules and Procedures were amended. Mr. Martinez responded that the changes redefine the roles of the Commission and allows for the Commission to focus on other cable related issues. He stated that the PAUG issues were taking up a lot of the Commissioners time and the direction from Council was to improve the public access process. Ms. Torres said that in previous meetings much of the issues dealt with the studio and it seems like the council was not clear on that fact. She also stated the issues could have been resolved had they been brought to the Commission's attention. Juan Garcia asked who will be receiving the complaints from producers. Mr. Martinez responded the City would be responsible. Mr. Garcia asked if it was possible to ask the council to table until the Commissioners get to review. Mr. Pulido stated that it is obvious the Commissioners are unhappy about the changes and they have 60 days to review the changes with City and cable operators. Ms. Aguilar said the cable operators waived their 60 days. Juan Garcia motioned to ask City Council to allow more time for Commissioners to hold a special meeting to review the changes. Adria Palacios seconded. All Commissioners approved. 2. COMPLAINTS/PRODUCER VIOLATIONS— Tapes Not Submitted — Richard Pulido discussed that the first complaints were about producers who had not turned in tapes and stated he was concerned that about one third of producers did not turn in tapes for two consecutive weeks. Jack Gordy stated that this is not about tapes not being turned in on holidays, but these programs did not turn in tapes on the Friday of the week the program was to be aired. Norma Torres stated that she feels the Rules and Procedures need to be applied toward these producers. Lisa Aguilar recommended that they direct staff to send a notice to the producers informing them of the violation. Juan Garcia motioned that the Cable Communications Commission mail the draft letters to these producers. Norma Torres seconded the motion. All Commissioners approved. Profanity — Mr. Pulido explained he received complaints regarding the G-Spot program from citizens who felt offended and Time Warner pulled tape due to profanity in the songs. He asked SCANNED Ms. Aguilar about the guidelines. Ms. Aguilar explained that only that tape is pulled and the producer is sent a letter notifying them of their first violation. Juan Garcia stated he does not agree with this issue because what may be obscene to one person may not be obscene to another. Ms. Aguilar stated that the cable operator can pull any tape if they feel it is obscene or if there is profanity. Mr. Martinez stated that the Commission can view the tape if necessary. Mr. Pulido explained he notified the producer of the violation and the producer took responsibility for the tape. He stated the Commission should send the producer a letter and if he has a problem he can come back the Commission. Richard Pulido motioned to send the letter as drafted. Adria Palacios seconded the motion. Richard Pulido, Norma Torres, Adria Palacios, Sylvia Dancer approved. Juan Garcia disapproved. Indecent Exposure — Mr. Pulido explained he received a complaint regarding the Sik of Sin program from a citizen who felt offended because children were watching as a young lady squatted down and acted as if she was going to urinate. Mr. Pulido contacted the producer who admitted about what was aired and said it was meant to be a joke and he would clean up his act. Ms. Torres stated that she feels the same letter needs to be sent to this producer advising him of the violation. Norma Torres motioned to send letter as drafted. Adria Palacios seconded. Richard Pulido,Norma Torres, Adria Palacios, Sylvia Dancer approved. Juan Garcia disapproved. Program Content—Mr. Pulido reads some letters from George Iniquez and Cruz Colomo received regarding the program content of Taxpayer's Rights. Mr. Pulido stated he does not think any violations are present. Ms. Torres said there is no reference to what rule is being violated. Richard Pulido motioned that no action needs to be taken in reference to Mr. Iniquez's and Ms. Colomo's complaints. Sylvia Dancer seconded. All Commissioners approved. Contributions Request—Mr. Pulido reads complaint regarding the Coalition for the Advancement of Women program and states that apparently there is no documentation that says they are a non- profit organization. Mr. Torres asks if there is a specific rule pertaining to this issue. Ms. Aguilar responded that if you are a 501(c)(3) you have five minutes to ask for contributions. Richard Pulido motioned to send letter requesting documentation on their non-profit status. Norma Torres seconded the motion. All Commissioners approved. Program Identification — Mr. Pulido stated there are numerous complaints regarding program identification and thinks a workshop should be held for producers to inform them of the proper labeling procedures. Richard Pulido motioned to send out letters notifying producers of problem. Juan Garcia seconded the motion. All Commissioners approved. Complaints — Susan Cable clarified for the Commissioners that these are complaints received when the City notified the producers of the meeting to inform them they had a violation that would be discussed during the meeting. Mr. Pulido noted that no action is required. Copyrighted Material — Mr. Pulido asked Ms. Aguilar for guidance on this issue. Ms. Aguilar stated that the rules say producers can't use copyrighted material unless they have proper notifications, but needs to do more research to give the Commission advice and would need to see the material. Ms. Torres stated that it needs to be identified what was copyrighted. Juan Garcia motioned to table until more information is gathered. Sylvia Dancer seconded the motion. All Commissioners approved. Program Repeat — Mr. Pulido reviews the complaint regarding the program Coalition for the Advancement of Women and thinks a warning letter should be sent to the producer. Richard • Pulido motions to issue a letter and advise of deficiencies. Juan Garcia seconded the motion. All Commissioners approved. Ms. Aguilar stated that she wanted to make sure she understands what the objective Commission is. Mr. Pulido stated he would get with Ms. Cable regarding the letters. Time Warner Advertising—Mr. Pulido reviews the complaint that advertising is a violation of the franchise agreement. Ms. Torres stated the franchise agreement needs to be reviewed and the Commission needs more time to review. Ms. Aguilar said that this is an issue the City will be addressing with Time Warner. Richard Pulido motions to table the item until the next meeting. Sylvia Dancer seconded. All Commissioners approved. 3. APPLICATION FOR PAUG CERTIFICATION—Richard Pulido said at the last meeting this item was tabled to give producers more time meet and discuss. He asked if there was another group who would like to present an application to become a PAUG to the Commission. Mr. Pulido asked the Commissioners to address any questions they may have to Jack Gordy, the President of PAC 10. Mr. Gordy stated that on November 8, 2004 producers were sent a notice to attend a meeting at City Hall and that night they changed 6.04 to say the first annual election will be held in April 2006. Mr. Pulido asked about the second sign in sheet of December 7, 2004. Mr. Gordy responded that was the sign in sheet from the meeting the Commission directed the producers to hold and said that dues were also voted to be $10 every 6 months during that meeting. Mr. Pulido asked where the tape pick up and drop off will occur and if it will be permanent or temporary because a lot of complaints have been received about the current tape drop-off location and what kind of notification will be given to the producers. Mr. Gordy responded that he will be responsible for tape drop-off and pick-up and to notify producers they will put a note on the Ministry door, send out a notice and run a bulletin on Channel 10. Mr. Pulido told Mr. Gordy that some concerns have been raised saying he is too aggressive, demanding and authoritative and that causes reservations, but feels the Board of Directors will help control those concerns. Mr. Gordy responded that the Rules and Procedures will be followed and the Board of Directors will make any decisions regarding the PAUG. Also, Mr. Gordy explained that any producer may request a membership meeting to discuss the removal and re- election of any Board of Director. Norma Torres asked about their complaint process and if a complaint is submitted about his show, who would make the decision. Mr. Gordy responded that their complaint process comes directly from the Rules and Procedures and if a complaint is submitted about his show, the other Board of Directors would make the decision. Ms. Torres asked Lisa Aguilar if she noticed anything that is incorrect. Ms. Aguilar said she did not see any language that would notify producers of Section 1 complaints. Mr. Gordy responded that would be changed and the changes would be submitted to City Secretary's office. Ms. Aguilar pointed out to the Commission that if the 2❑d reading of the ordinance passes, there will not be a PAUG for Channel 10. Richard Pulido motioned to certify PAC10 as the Channel 10 PAUG. Sylvia Dancer seconded the motion. Richard Pulido, Juan Garcia, Adria Palacios, and Sylvia Dancer approved. Norma Torres disapproved the motion. 4. CONSIDERATION OF EDUCATIONAL CHANNEL — Norma Torres said she understood that there was to be a meeting between Time Warner and CCISD but that it had been postponed. However, when she spoke to CCISD they understood the City said no to the proposed educational channel. Susan Cable stated that Time Warner said Del Mar's channel did not meet the triggers when the non-local and repeat programs were counted. She also said that she talked with CCISD and discussed they need to submit a programming line-up to present to Time Warner that would meet the triggers of the franchise agreement. Ms. Torres stated she had talked with the Education Service Center and Texas A&M—Corpus Christi who both were interested in participating in the education channel. Ms. Cable suggested the Commission talk with CCISD and let them know that the Education Service Center and Texas A&M — Corpus Christi are interested in being a part of the new channel. 5. REPORT FROM CABLE OPERATORS—Cable Operators did not attend this meeting. 6. TECHNOLOGY IN THE NEWS—None presented due to time constraints. 7. STAFF UPDATE — Oscar Martinez stated that the Commission is aware of the ordinance changes and there is no additional update. 8. PUBLIC COMMENT—Jerome Bradford stated that he received a letter from Oscar verifying a complaint against Cruz Colomo for having someone in the studio and Time Warner said he was qualified to air his program. Jack Gordy thanked the Commission for all their work and time and stated that city staff knew about the complaints before the meeting and could have looked up any information they needed. He also stated that the City should work to make the job of the Commissioners easier. Ed Montez said that for a long time there were no problems and the same people are the ones who continue to raise the same problems. 9. COMMISSIONERS COMMENTS — Juan Garcia stated that he was glad the process is being streamlined and wants to look at the definition of obscene because there is no exact definition. He also mentioned that Grande needs to change their reference of Channel 18 as a religious channel and looks forward to moving the Commission forward. Norma Torres stated she does have a problem with the ordinance being passed and feels they have done some good things such as the KEDTV presentation held and thanked the producers who regularly attended the Commission meetings. She recommended that on a yearly basis a workshop be held to inform Commissioners of current events and if the new ordinance is passed she would like to hold a workshop. Also, she mentioned that the Buccaneer Parade is coming up soon and would like the parade to be broadcast on both Time Warner and Grande. Adria Palacios stated she did not think the Commission had enough time to view the ordinance changes and feels the Commission has addressed some important issues such as addressing the ongoing issues and certifying the new PAUG. Richard Pulido stated he is unhappy about the proposed ordinance changes and he was thinking about going to the Ethics Commission. He said he felt they certified a new PAUG and they should be given an opportunity to operate and even though the Council may approve the new ordinance, he doesn't think the complaints will go away. 10. ADJOURNMENT—Juan Garcia,Jr. moved to adjourn the meeting and Adria Palacios seconded the motion. All Commissioners approved. The meeting adjourned at 9:31 p.m.