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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Cable Communications Commission - 01/26/2009 RECEIVED MINUTES FEB 2 6 2009 CABLE COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION January 26,2009 CITY SECRETARY'S OFFICE PRESENT Chairperson Connie Gutierrez,Vice Chairperson Steve West, Commissioners Carolyn Moon,Leo Estrada and Latrice Sellers ABSENT City Staff Lisa Aguilar,Assistant City Attorney,Kim Womack and Andreina Keller,Public Information Office Connie Gutierrez called the meeting to order at 12:05pm and verified the necessary quorum. Ms. Moon pointed out a spelling error in the minutes from December 15, 2009. Ms. Moon motioned to approve minutes as amended. Steve West seconded the motion.All Commissioners approved. REVIEW AND POSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING VIOLATION APPEALS— a. "Homer Villarreal Jr." — Mr. Villarreal was contacted by phone by City staff because they had not received their certified letter. Mr. Villarreal stated that he was not going to fight the appeal, and was not going to be present at the meeting. Mr. Gordy confirmed that Mr. Villarreal had talked to him and also stated that he would not be turning in anymore material for the rest of the lottery, although he may sign up again in June. b. Roland Garza Address Update- Mr. Garza did not attend the meeting; however he did provide City staff with a secondary address which had yet to be verified. Mr. Garza asked that the address be withheld from public information due to the nature of comments that Mr. Garza has claimed to received; the City legal department is filing (as direction of the City Manager) a Public Information Act Request to the Attorney General to not release the provided address. Ms. Womack explained that there is a documented threat perception; the City staff is following protocols. Ultimately however it is unsure if they address will or will not be withheld at the present time as ultimately it is up the Attorney General. After some debate Ms.Moon moved that Mr. Garza be taken off air until he fills out an application with a verifiable residents address. Mr. Estrada seconded the motion. Ms. Moon voted aye, Mr. West abstained, Ms. Gutierrez voted aye, Mr.Estrada voted aye, and Ms. Sellers voted no.The motion passed. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING RULES AND PROCEDURES— A. Mr. Gordy wished to discuss the legal's opinion provided from the last meeting regarding Section B.2 of the Memorandum. Mr. Gordy felt that the computer generated ads counted as advertising. It was discussed that in the past that computer generated sign, such as the one Mr. Garza had on his show urging the watchers to tune into a radio station, did not count as advertising. However it was agreed upon that this was one of the items that needed further clarification and revision in the new rules and procedures. Ms. Aguilar offered to provide some proposed language to be provided at the next meeting. The item was tabled to the next meeting. B. Next on the agenda was to discuss possible times and dates to schedule the next subcommittee meeting. Proposed dates by City staff were Feb. 5 and Feb. 11. It was decided that staff will send a list of possible dates for the subcommittee meeting and a date will be decided then. SCANNED • .REVIEW AND POSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING CABLE OPERATOR COMPLAINTS. a. Ms. Triplett was discussed the audio difference between Channel 10 and Channel 18. She started by saying that more sophisticated equipment was once used for Channel 10, however because of the difference in technology between Time Warner and the produced shows there were complaints of hissing and'popping, or overall bad audio quality on channel 10. To rectify the situation, Time Warner switched channel 10's audio from stereo back to mono. Equipment believed to be compatible and allow for channel 10 be broadcast in stereo is expensive and not budgeted for by Time Warner. Mr. West asked if the original encoder was available as he believed that the problem was not with the equipment, but simply the material being provided. Mr. Triplett offered that she would find out about the status of the encoder. Mr. Gordy offered that these audio problems happened before the transition from video tapes to CD's and that now because everyone is only turning in CD's there should not be a problem. Mrs. Triplett told the commission that she would try to relocate the encoder that would allow for channel 10 to be broadcast in stereo and put it back in and allow it to run for awhile to see if the audio issues are resolved. Ms. Womack asked that the Public Information Office be informed when the change takes place; simply so that staff will be prepared in case there should be complaints. B. Ms. Moon asked if it was possible for there to be an alternate who could attend commission meetings and represent Time Warner on the days that Ms. Triplett is unable to attend. Ms. Triplett informed the Commission that unfortunately she would not be able to appoint such a role. Ms. Triplett also wanted to inform the commission that it seems as if the digital transition will be postponed to June, although it has not been officially decided yet. The Commission brought up possible consequences of error in broadcasting for Time Warner. Ms. Triplett brought it to the attention of the Commission that percentage wise, there are very few mistakes made considering the amount of programming being broadcasted. Time Warner does make the occasional mistake however they are corrected as quickly as possible and are taken very seriously. Also if a show is missed there is often an alternate time that it is shown to make up for the missed. REVIEW AND POSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING PUBLIC ACCESS COMPLANTS- There was nothing to discuss on this topic REVIEW AND POSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING MEDIA DELIVERY LOGS— The Commission agreed that all seemed to be fine with the media logs. CABLE OPERATOR REPORT— Ms.Triplett had nothing further to report to the Commission. PAUG UPDATES—. Channel 10: Mr. Gordy informed the Commission that the lottery went well and that three new producers had signed on and all verified their address. There will also need to be modification in regards to educational programming getting specific time slots allotted to them prior to the lottery. • Channel 18: Mr. Nesmith that everything was well and that the process of checking tapes before they air has been very effective for this channel. He suggested the channel 10 also check tapes before they turn them in simply so that Commission meetings do not last as long. REVIEW AND POSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING CHANNEL 10 LOTTERY Item already passed. Discussion and Possible action regarding Fund Raising Ms. Sellers had a question about job description of commissioners and if it was the task of a commissioner to fund raise. Ms. Womack explained that in the past when the PAUGS were responsible for maintaining their own equipment fund raising might be been something that commissioners engaged in, however with the franchise agreement that responsibility has been unnecessary. The future of the franchise agreement was discussed and the future of PAUG; which seems to be uncertain. DISCUSSION OF PAUGS AND NONPROFIT STATUS Ms. Sellers wanted to know that status of nonprofits for PAUG so that maybe PAUGS could seek grants ext. Ms. Sellers was curious is the PAUG as a whole instead of shows individually being nonprofit. Mr. Gordy expressed concern that PAUG being nonprofit would be abused and saw nothing to gain in being nonprofit. Ms. Moon expressed concern that PAUGS were not organized enough to handle the sheer amount of paper work; although if they wanted to go forward with achieving a nonprofit status that they have the ability to do so. DISCUSSION OF TIMES FOR FUTURE COMMISSION MEETINGS Staff had no problem with changing the times. It is a requirement that there are for 6pm meetings. So it was decided that the February 16 meeting will be at 6pm. Ms. Moon moved that they accept the new schedule as amended with the February meeting to be held at 6pm.All approved. STAFF UPDATES- Ms. Womack thanked commissioners for attending the Channel 10 lottery; and plans on making the April meeting as well. PUBLIC COMMENT— Mr. Gordy asked for a copy of the letter that Mr. Garza will be sent. COMMISSIONERS COMMENTS— Several of the commissioners including, Ms. Sellers, felt that business cards paid for by the tax payers were unnecessary. Ms. Moon moved that the decision of having business cards made be decided on an individual level. Mr. Estrada seconded. Commissioners who request cards were asked to meet with Ms.Womack after the meeting. • ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING Ms. Womack recommended further discussion or updates on the Mr. Garza address issue. Ms. Sellers requests a job description of cable commissioners. ADJOURNMENT OF MEETING —Ms. Moon moved that the meeting be adjourned. All approved and Ms. Gutierrez adjourned the meeting. The meeting adjourned at 1:15 p.m.