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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/09/1988 Ken Peterson, Chair James H. Childs Patricia Smith Staff:~ Charles Graviss AGENDA AUDITORIUM AND COMMUNITY SERVICES March 9, 1988, Wednesday 12:00 noon. City Manager's Conference Room ITEM #1 ~ CENTRAL PARK POOL - RESCINDING OF LEASE ITEM #2 PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS (PSA) (Cable Television Programming) - Trudy Thornton ITEM #3 ART ASSOCIATION AND ART FOUNDATION UPDATE - John Stinson MEMORANDUM February 3, 1988 TO: J. DALE HAWLEY, INTERIM cITY MANAGER FROM: TRUDY THORNTON, ADMINISTRATIVE ANALYST SUBJECT: CABLE TV PROGRAMMING On February 3, 1988, I talked with Larry Greenberg, General Manager of Warner Cable Communications, and Terry McNally, General Manager of Cox Cable, regarding the possibility of having a cable television program dealing with current City events. While a governmental channel is not required by either of the City's cable franchises, both Mr. Greenberg and Mr. McNally indicated that they would be willing to provide the channel as a public service (as long as expenses were not prohibitive). Warner has "reserved" channels for which one could be used. Cox~could pre-empt'its Channel 2 community billboard for'the programming needed. There are several significant issues'which would need to be addressed. Production and development is cost intensive. Taping a program and then feeding, it to the cable companies at a. later time is one option. Live transmissions, of course, are more expensive. Additional concerns include interconnecting Cox and Warner to broadcast the program at the same time, equipment costs, and personnel costs'and expertise. All of these costs would need to be paid for by the City. A live presentation before a television audience could run into hundreds of thousands of dollars, depending on what production techniques were used. As of March of 1987, Cox and Warner franchise fees earned the City $287,618. The costs mentioned above could easily use all of the fees earned as well as additional funds from .other sources. Another option might be to'discuss the issue with local television stations. It is conceivable that they might be willing to donate equipment or personnel for such an effort, which would greatly reduce the City's costs. This may or may not be a feasible option, given the constraints the local broadcasters are facing currently. Both Mr. Greenberg and Mr. McNally indicated they would be willing to discuss cable television programming for City events with you or Councilmembers, if so desired. Please let me know if you would like me to discuss concerns of City cable programming with the local broadcasters. TT.alb cc: Mary.Strenn MEMORANDUM January 26, 1988 TO: MARY L. STRENN, ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER FROM: TRUDY THORNTON, ADMINISTRATIVE ANALYST SUBJECT: CABLE FRANCHISING As you requested, I have prepared a report on cable franchising considerations for the City of Bakersfield. The following report deals with current franchise agreements with Cox Cable Television and Warner Amex Cable Television, overview of the Cable Act of 1984, and current legal considerations, as well as policy options available to cities. Cable Franchises The City of Bakersfield is currently served by two community antenna televisions systems, Cox Cable Bakersfield and Warner Communications, Inc. Cox Cable Bakersfield's agreement was transferred from Trans Video Corporation in October of 1986 and was aPproved'as a name change' due to an internal corporate reorganization. In February of 1986, the City approved Warner Communications, Inc. acquisition of American Express's 50% interest in Warner Amex Cable Communications, Inc. contingent upon the commitment of Warner Cable Communications, Inc. to several conditions being met upon transfer of ownership. Cox Cable Bakersfield has a 50-year franchise (starting in March of 1965). Renewal for Cox Cable would be in 2015. The terms and conditions of the franchise are subject to renegotiation in order to reflect technical and economic changes that occur during the life of the franchise. 'The franchise may be terminated by City Council notice and hearing (and in accordance with the 1984 Cable Act). Cox holds a non-exclusive franchise. The franchise refers only to the transmission of general broadcast programs and non-commercial or non-paid programs of a public service character and excludes other pay television, such as Spotlight, which is not regulated under the agreement with Cox. The City Council is authorized to establish minimum acceptable standards of signal quality. Cox pays to the City 3% of the total gross receipts received for cable television service. Total gross receipts does not include that amount received for special services provided (i.e., Spotlight). Warner Communications, Inc., has a non-exclusive franchise originally adopted in August of 1979, for an initial term of 18 years and with an option to renew for 17 additional years. This would take the City through most of 2014. Warner's franchise fee is 3% of all services Mary L. Strenn January 26, 1988 Page -2- provided by cable. The City may require that one channel is made available for public access and one primarily for educational use. However, the City must pass a regulation requiring the channels before Warner has an obligation to provide them. Further, the agreement imposes on Warner the obligation to extend cable service into areas not served but contiguous to their service area. No such requirement exists for Cox. It should be noted that'Warner originally was franchised with the County and became involved with the City after annexation efforts brought unincorporated areas into the City. Both franchise agreements provide that the City Council may adopt reasonable rules and regulations for the conduct of cable operation. Both franchises are non-exclusive. Other cable companies are not excluded from coming into the area. The Cable Act of 1984 The Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984 established national cable regulatory guidelines. Amongother considerations, it:. a. makes it very difficult for a city not to renew an existing contract. b. allows a city to require that cable companies provide reasonable facilities, equipment and channels for public, educational and governmental (PEG) use. Costs are exclusive of the franchise fee. c. prohibits a city of requiring on-going operational support for PEG from the cable operator. Original capital facilities can be required. d. allows franchise fees up to 5% of gross revenues (without exceptions). e. provides for deregulation of all fees. f. prohibits cities from controlling or influencing programming content. g. permits cities to establish and enforce consumer protection standards and construction schedules. Mary L. Strenn January 26, 1988 Page -3- With regard to cable franchise renewals, negotiations are essentially restricted to the establishment of the community's "future cable related needs and interests" and determining whether "needs"~are met in a "reasonable" fashion. Renewal term duration is not mentioned in the Act. Thus, length is left up to the needs of the individual city and cable operator to determine what is feasible. Franchise transfers are also not mentioned. Transfers may provide a city with avenues for upgrading service to cities or, at the very least, bringing service up to previously agreed upon levels. Of consideration is thepurchaser's ability to financially and technically operate the system..Transfers can involve the transfer of the existing franchise to a new provider without modification or can involve modifications desired by the purchaser. In the second case, much more flexibility can be granted to a city as there are strong financial incentives on both the purchaser's and seller's part to complete the transfer. ~ ' On a positive note, the.Cable Act permits a community to.require reasonable public/educational/governmental (PEG) access facilities and channels. As mentioned earlier, on-going operations must be borne by the user (i.e., the city). Costs involved could encompass public access as well, since public organizations might not have other funding sources. Thus, a functioning government and/or public access system would need to be funded in on-going budgetary cycles. This would involve a commitment of personnel~ time and money. A cable provider may not be willing to 'provide these "extras" unless there is ~. a commitment on the part of the city as'well as the added benefit of a renewal period which would make it more feasible in which to become involved. The Act allows cities to establish and enforce consumer protection standards. In certain "reasonable" situations, conditions can be imposed without the franchisees' permission. Consumer protection standards can be imposed during the granting of the franchise as well as in the renewal sequence. Recent Court Action Re~ardin~ Cable Franchisers Several court cases are in the works regarding cable franchising issues. The issues have centered on whether a city has a right to refuse to allow a cable company to come in to an area which already has cable service, whether refusing cable franchises is a first amendment issue, whether in certain instances cable companies form a natural'monopoly, etc. The court cases involving cable companies Mary L. Strenn January 26, 1988 Page -4- have been expensive for cities to litigate, and recent court decisions have given cable companies significant victories. Even parts of the Cable Franchising Act of 1984 have been held unconstitutional. Cable companies have rallied behind the cry of the First Amendment (freedom of speech or press) when dealing with city regulation on competition in a given area, franchise fees, requirements for access fees, and cable franchise modifications and renewal denials. The Supreme Court has recently decided that cable is protected under the First Amendment but also stated that this could be balanced against societal interests. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, however, did not clearly require a city (in this case, Sacramento) to give a cable franchise to a second company. This matter is still on appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The issue may be resolved in 1989. In the meantime, it is imperative that actions cities take regarding cable objectives are geared toward protecting 'the public welfare and cannot be construed as regulating constitutionally guaranteed rights. City of BakerSfield The Bakersfield community is currently serviced by two non-exclusive .cable franchise companies. The areas for these two providers do not overlap so Bakersfield is not troubled with "overbuild" considerations (where one cable company lays cable over another company's). "Overbuild" situations are more prone to develop in large, densely populated areas such as Los Angeles. The City also is not in a "natural monopoly" position as it has two companies. The percentage of units in Bakersfield which have cable is approximately 40%. This, according to John Gibb, Corporate Counsel for Continental Cablevision located in Stockton, California, would seem to preclude another company wishing to provide service in the area due to the need to have a high rate of return to compensate for the extensive capital investment needed to get a cable company going. He mentioned that currently laying cable costs approximately $30,000 a mile. There is a direct relation to costs. If prices are a concern (as with more than one cable provider), demand is elastic and return is not as assured. "Start up" costs are at times so high that three-fourths of the life of the franchise can elapse before capital investments are paid off. Rapid technological-change is another consideration. As demographics change, however, the situation regarding one, two or more cable companies in the Bakersfield area may change also. At the League of Cities meeting on cable franchising, all three speakers indicated that franchising, including renewal, revocation, and transfers, was a matter where cities should proceed cautiously. Because cable franchising involves public right of way issues, legal concerns (First Amendment, antitrust, natural monopoly, etc.) and Mary L. Strenn January 26, 1988 Page -5- consumer protection, it is advisable to plan ahead if possible for future objectives needed. A three to five year leadway would not be unrealistic when addressing upcoming franchise renewals. The individuals who deal with cable issues when a city is contemplating major changes should be very conversant with case law and current trends in cable franchising techniques in order to assist the City in avoiding the many pitfalls they face when addressing cable franchising. Court decisions currently being made and in the near future will have an immense impact on what liabilities cities face when dealing with , cable franchising. Cities in California have 'dealt with cable concerns in different'ways. Some California cities have received the 5% franchise maximum. Other cities.operate internal departments which provide the experience and expertise to provide governmental and public air time. Still'other cities own the cable companies which provide cable service to their constituents. I have attached an article on how nine California cities are dealing with various aspects of the cable franchise issue. TT.alb Attachment cc: Dale Hawley What's on C'ab ? How Nine California Cities Are IVleeting the Cable TV Programming Challenge By Evelwz Pine California cities that received chan- nels, equipment, and other re- sources as part of the cable fran- chising process are now taking a careful look at what those resources can do for them -- as well as what it costs to make those channels an effective part of munic- ipal priorities. In some cities, cable is becoming an established part of the way municipali- ties do business. City departments -- from the Police to Public Works, from the Library to the City Clerk -- are be- ginning to discover how this new tech- nology can benefit them. Models are emerging for cities of almost, any size and budget to use cable to enhance what they already do. So many California cities are begin- ning to activate their cable resources that this article can only scratch the sur- face. The Foundation for Community (Evel.vn Pine is the Director of Infor- mation Services for the Foundation For Community Service Cable Television, California;s cable television resource center.) 4 July 1987/Wextern City Service Cable Television, incooperation '~]~eo programmed twelve to fifteen with the League of California Cities and hours per week, Monday through Friday the Counties Supervisors Association of 6 to 9. The majority of Channel 53's California, has undertaken a statewide programming is from their extensive survey of city and. county cable use. tape library which includes "The Grand Those results should be available this Jury" by the City of Beverly. Hills and fall. In the meantime, this article high- "Earthquake Preparedness," from the lights how nine California_ cities are us- City of Torrance. Only fifteen percent of lng cable television: the channel's programming is produced · to recruitcitizen's to usc city services locally by the city's three-person munic- ~ to promote city programs ipal programming team. ~ to cover local elections The city and the League of Women · to cablecast meetings Voters produce a monthly half-hour pro- · to educate citizens gram called Government and You pro- Crew lrom Santa Ann's KCTY producing one ot lout * to enhance staff development riding basic education about how local local puO~ic inlorrnat~on pro§rams televised on cable ® tO share crucial information, government works. Although the city (~e~ow le~t). Volunteers Lisa Cohen and ~en James This article zooms in on who's doing produces the program, Voters League Sapozmck serve as co-hosts ot Hawtt~orne 'Foday, a the programming in each city, tile cost members serve as volunteer crew, write video calendar of events (below rLc4i~t, photo: Larry Bender). and benefits, and '4'ho to contact for ad- the script and line up on camera talent. dilional information. Yamada calls it "a great marriage of two - : .. , parties." Both the former Mayor and the i """ "'":i'-ht City Manager have been' guests. ~ A tri-city program of three Household Partnerships' in Cupertino Toxics Clean-up days co-sponsored by Cupertino, Los. Altos, and Mountain View led to another.programming part- "~l~e want to communicate as many nership. The cable programmers of the ways as we can with our citi- three cities worked together to create a zenry," explains Municipal Producer five-minute information piece to teach Kellyn Yamada. "The City Manager citizens how to safely dispose of house- hold toxics and to inform viewers about the special clean-up sites. Channel 53 also provides gavel-to- gavel coverage of the City Council and Planning Commission meetings, and vi- deotapes the Citizen of the Year Award and the Mayor's State of the City Ad- dress. Ask the Mayor, a live call-in talk show, also was cablecast. A series of short information spots about different city departments is planned. The City of Cupertino has been the recipient of a number of local programming 'Tino awards. : '~"":" When video programming is not being cablecast, a character generator lists the City Council Agenda and action items, public service announcements, · emergency phone numbers, parks and sees. the channel's potential and the City recreation class calendars, and the chan- Council give us input as to what they nel's program schedule.. '1 would like to see on the channel." Cupertino's Government Cable Tele- In the heart of Silicon Valley, Cuper- vision Department reports to the Com- tino has a population of 38,000 with munity Relations Director in the City about 9,000 households subscribing to' United Cable. The United system, fran- Manager's Office. Funded through the city's general fund, the channel's annual chised in 1982, currently provides 61 budget is between $80,000 to $90,000 channels with three set aside for public, for salaries,, equipment and mainte- ' municipal or educational access pro-. nance, and materials and supplies. The gramming. As part of the cable operator's Community Relations Department ac- channel realignment, the municipal tively promotes the channel through the channel, which began cablecasting in city's Cupertino Scene magazine. 1983, was shifted from channel'30 to 53 Contact: Kellyn Yamada, Producer, Channel 53, at the beginning of 1987.. City of Cupertino, (408) 725-2921 Municipal Channel 53 is currently (continued on next page) Testing an I-Net in Santa share op n ons and compare Involving Community Groups across the generation gap. in Pin01e The fifty-tbur channel cable system "~Jlideo can be as cost effective and also provides five local' channels includ- philosophy and it seems ob- .important to government commu- lng three for education. The municipal nications as computers are to informa- channel KCTY is programmed 450 hours ~,,$vious in a small community -- is tion processing," says John Risk, Cable per month with four hours of original that the city and the cable commission TV Manager for the City of Santa Ann. local programming per week. C-SPAN. cannot have the sole responsibility for Santa Ana is in thc third year of a Weather Channel. and CNN Headline generating programming aud covering three-year pilot project to test public News are.also cablecast on the govern- community events," states Joseph Mc- agency use of an institutional network, ment channel, neghini. Assistant to the City Manager or' Because the estimated annual cost for Municipal programs include gavel to the City of Pinole. "For a combined pub- operating the I-Net is $80,000 per year, gavel city'council meetings, Visions, an lic, educational and government channel Santa Aha. in partnership with the cable in-studio talk show featuring a City to work, local organizations must become operator, is developing a comprehensive Council member promoting city ser- program providers. Our main objective is use plan. vices, Mayor's Hotline, a live call-in to encourage the PTA, the high school, With a population of 260.000, Santa' show, SaJ~ andSound, a partnership be- the YrvlCA, the churches and individuals to program." Founded in 1903 outside of San Fran- cisco, Pinole has 15,100 residents. In 1982, Viacom Cablevision won a fif- teen-year cable franchise to serve the community. With 85 percent penetra- tion, cable now serves 4800 homes. Dur- ing renegotiations in 1984, the city received a combined public, educational and governmental channel -- Channel 31. Managed by Citizen's Commission appointed by City Council, the channel cablecasts twen!y hours of prog ram ming per month, between five to eight hours per week. The goal for September 1987 is to cablecast 30 to 40 hours of pro- gramming per month. "The most difficult aspect is to break down the image of technological com- plexity for people." Meneghini says, "We do an educational day in the library to teach people about Channel 31." The city recently hired a part-time cable co- ordinator to work sixteen hours per week programming the channel, training the community and setting up volunteer ..' ~..:.':~:':;~;?,.%.::c~.~.~.., production crews. The cable coordina- tor reports to the Assistant City Man- ager. Two other instructors also provide Ann has 21,000 cable subscribers. The tween police and fire departments, and video training for adults. Pinole High Group W System is now operated by KCTYUpdate which promotes city-sport- School studcnts can get credit foravideo ComCast Central Orange cluster. The sored events. The character generator lists . production class. franchise was signed in 1982, modified job announcements from the city, county The city's "portable studio" is in December 1984, and will run until and state plus Parks and Recreation housed in the audio visual room of the 1999. activity bulletins. Announcements are Public Safety Building. The city has two The Fire Department used the I-Net repeated in Spanish. l/2-inch portable cameras, a master con- to conduct state certification training in A survey by the ELRA group docu- trol for playback, a character generator emergency earthquake preparedness, mented that 73 percent of Santa Ann and an editing system. · The Departlnent saved $80,000 in hard cable subscribers are aware of the mu- "High schools, churches, PTA's and training costs, transportation and reg- nicipal channel. According to a city sur- citizens don'.t have the resources to pur- istration fees. Officers were trained in vey, 5l percent watched City Council .chase 3/4-inch equipment," Meneghini their stations and could record the train- meetings, explains. The city can cablecast 3/4-inch lng for replay. Santa Ana's cable efforts are funded tapes, however. Students and seniors participated via through programming and institutional The most prolific producers in Pinole videoconference as part of the pilot network grants from the cable operator currently are the PTAs who tape :school study. Santa. Ann Senior Center mem- and the city's franchise fees. plays as well as their own activities. . bers videoconferenced with high school Contact: John Risk, Cable Television Manager, "We received thirty letters in re- students from Mater Del High School to City el Santa Ann, {714} §47-§~20 sponse to one play." Meneghini relates. 6 July 1987/Western City "The Recreation Department also found fort is funded through the Hawthorne ~nty Planning Commission meet- they got more calls to register for classes Cable Useage Corporation by franchise trigs. The County also cablecasts hear- t'rom the message on the channel than fees, grants from the cable operator and ~!~~1~[] as a result of paid ads." interest from the settlement of a lawsuit Thc channel's budget is $11.000 per by the city against Group W. year out of the city's general fund. Via- Contact: Larry Bender, Cable TV Administrator, corn and the city have both purchased City o! Hawthorne, (213)g70-7243 equipment for the channel. Contact: Joseph Meneghini, Assistant to.the City Manager, City of Pinole, (415) 724-9000 Cablecasting Meetings in Santa Barbara Motivating Local Groups InHawthorne "ur str,a, tegy is ,o focus on meet- ~, ings,' Reginald Carter, Govern- Aspart' of the 1982 franchise agree- merit Access Coordinator tbr the City of ment, Group W Cable supplied Santa Barbara states. "Citizens really want to gee them." $650,000 in cablecasting equipment to local institutions in Hawthorne. The city The city of Santa Barbara has a pop- ings on Saturdays and Sundays. is now thced with the challenge of matt- elation of 85,000 and 98 percent of the Meetings are televised from three sites. rating those organizations to use the free households subscribe to Cox Cable. The The City Council chambers has three equipment to make cable programming. 1981 franchise runs for 15 years provid- cameras that can be run by remote. Hawthorne, "The City of Good lng thirty-four channels with three set "Because City Council meets during aside for public, educational and govern- the day, a lot of citizens sit down with Neighbors," has 64,000 citizens packed into 6.5 square miles. "A cable opera- merit programming. Shared by the City the evening re-broadcast as if it were the tot's dream," says Larry Bender, Cable and County of Santa Barbara, the gow evening news," Carter says. During a TV Administrator for the City of Haw- ernment channel -- channel 18 -- is Planning Commission meeting, the thorne. The new cable operator in Haw- programmed 50. hours per week. The channel asked viewers t.o call in their thorne is Paragon Communications, a channel has been cablecasting since opinions about key issues, and the chart- partnership between NYC and Houston 1983. riel received more than twenty calls. Industries. They currently have 11,000 Channel 18 presents live gavel-to- santa Barbara supplements its sched- subscribers. Paragon has negotiated a gavel Santa Barbara Cit~, Council meet- ule of meetings with two regular infer- scaled down facility from 120 channels trigs, Santa Barbara Planning Commis- mational shows: Know your City and to 60. According to the franchise, 25 sion meetings, the city's Environmental Recreation Report produced by the De- percent of the channels are available for Review Board meetings, plus the partment of Parks and Recreation. Your local use. Hawthorne is currently using County Board of Supervisors and the Water is a special documentary the city two. The city also has agreed to own and produced about Santa Barbara's water operate the institutional 'network. . resources. The city has undertaken a number of . The municipal cable operations are part activities to encourage local groups to of the City Administration Division. This make cable TV. A video production.co- year Council bought new Video cameras. ordinator is training agency staff in The 1987-88 budget is $53,000. There is video production. The Hawthorne a three-person municiPal programming Useage Cable Corporation, the non- staff. The city is working with the County profit corporation the city established to of Santa Barbara to develop a more effec- provide local programming, is awarding tire parmership in the shared use of the grants. The municipal channel's pro- government channel. gram lineup emphasizes programs about Contact: Reginald Carter, Government Access Coordinator, City of Santa Barbara, local groups. (805) 963-5311 Hawthorne Today is a bi-weekly show featuring the city's publi'c information officer spotlighting community organi- zations and municipal departments.' Access toCity Officials I~ol)c~l F. Kcnl~cdy Medical (?cnlcr, Hawthorne Rotary Club, Helping Hands ill Roseville and Neighborhood Watch all have been featured. Hawthorne Happenings is a ~ uring Ask City Hall, Roseville City twice-monthlyvideocalendarofupcom- 1,$ Council Members and city staff lng events and activities. Bender explains, have been greeted with questions about "We believe that if we include these everything from the site of a new re- groups in our programming, they'll begin Hawthorne Community Television's gional mail, a stop light at a busy inter- production team on location (left and to see the value of it and make cable a part above). Centinela Valley Union School section, and the city's automated refuse of their support system." students produce the Cougar ~ows. collection system. The monthly live, The city's men icipal programming el- {above right, photos: Larry Bender). (continued on next page) Wextern Citx'l. lrtl. x, /OR7 7 Cable Programming formation for Roseville citizens, staff training or public relations. The city (cotttinued) Yott and the Law is a pre-taped show programs 30 to 35 hours of locally pro- in which the police answer questions duced shows per week. call-in show. hosted by a City Council from a studio audience of high school With a population of 16,000, El Se- Member and the City Manager or a City students. The students' questions are gundo has 3400 cable subscribers. The Department Director, focuses on a new provided in advance so the Police De- Group W franchise, which will be taken city service or key local issue. They re- partment can research all the answers, over by ATC, expires in 199 I. The chan- ceive ten to fifteen calls pershow which, Topics have included vehicle safety, nels set aside for local use -- 25 and 27 lbr technical reasons, are not taken over drug and alcohol abuse, the block cap- -- are programmed with C-Span and the air but read off index cards, rain program and crime prevention tips. Lifetime during the day. According to Assistant City Manager "We'd like to include the Fire De- The El Segundo Police Department John Tarson, "The City Council sees the partment as well," Tarson .says, "The was one of the first city departments to real value of the show as a forum for ' Police Department sees the show as an take advantage of the channels, because people in the community to have access effective vehicle for public education." the department had its own video equip- to them. The questions reflect real citi- A student intern serves as technical merit. Rather than producing an on- zen concerns. If the host doesn't have the staff with assistance from two Westar going series, the Department uses cable answer right that minute, we take their technicians. According to Tarson, "Bas- to highlight special programs like their names and numbers and get back to ically, we do our programs at no cost." Canine Department, their drug aware- thegn." The city currently uses the public access ness "Project DARE," and fingerprint- Roseville, the largest city in Placer studio in the high school, but a city stu- lng program for kids. County, has a population of 30,.000 peo- die is in the works. "We reprogram an The fingerprinting demonstration was part ora Hometown Faire. The mu- nicipal crew documented the finger- printing as well as interviewing the officers in charge, El Segundo parents and the kids (who thought it was messy.) The Fire Department uses the chan- nel for training. A staged disaster drill using a high school drama class was cablecast to educate the public about dis- aster preparedness and to allow the De- partment to evaluate its performance. The Fire Department also has used the channel to show citizens new fire equip- ment and to demonstrate CPR and other life-saving techniques. The El Segundo Library does a reg- ular Storytime, which garners fan mail from both children and parents. A library tour written and hosted by a ref- erence specialist publicized little known library services such as thc genealogy department. The program was featured during National Library Week. The Water Department recently devel- oped two shows: one on water conserva- tion, the other a tour of the Hyperion Hawthorne Cable TV Producers Guild conducts a workshop on producing and directing for Water Treatment Plant. Hawthorne residents. Photo: Michael Johnson. The Channel also documented the re- cent Soviet Fitness test undertaken by El pie. Westar purchased the Roseville' amount of dollars equivalent to the fran- Segundo students, to compare their cable system from Storer Cable and now chise fee from the General Fund for our health and fitness with their counter- serves 7,000 households. The Westar cable operation." Tarson states, parts in the Soviet Union. franchise, signed in 1985, runs for ten Contact: John Tars0n, Assistant to the City A full-time Community Cable Super- years. The systems' 42-channel capacity Manager, City of Roseville, (916) 783-9151 visor trains city staff in television pro- will be Upgraded to 56 channels in eight duction. Four part-time staffers, four 'years. Two channels are set aside for Inv0Mng City Departments college interns, and a five-student high local use. Channel 8 combines public, school video class assist volunteer educational and religious access. Chart- in El Se§undo crews. ne/ Il provides governmental access. City cable activities are funded at Roseville's strategy in activating the The E! Segundo Police Department, $60,000 annually from the General government channel has been to con- ! Fire Department, Library and Water fund. The city is investigating additional centrate on local talk shows ~ like Ask Department are all using the El Segundo sources of funding for cable activities City Hall -- that provide practical in- municipal channels for public education, including studio rental, commercial 8 July 1987/}Vestern City video production services and "info- in two directions: on-going in-studio b~]~'f the City Council and the Director mercials." El Segundo hopes to make its municipal cable shows, and on-location, of News and Public Affairs for the City municipal channel self-supporting, high-quality documentary videos for College. Topics have included affirma- Contact: Wendy White, Community Cable other uses. Pasadena used both these tive action, housing, and the freeway Supervisor, City of El Segundo, (213) 322-4507 styles in its spring election coverage, system. Spotlight on City Hall is a fir- Falcon Cable provides Pasadena with teen-minute show in which a City Coun- Building a Studio in SanDer a sixty-six channel'cable system. Fifty- cii member talks with an expert about six channels are currently activated in- an 'important local issue. The channel eluding five local channels: three edu- also cablecasts gavel-to-gavel City "I f a city is serious about using cable cational, one public, and one municipal. Council Meetings. I as a way of reaching all its citizens, The March 10 elections were covered A number of documentaries also have it has to be willing to put the money up at the request of the City Clerk. The been produced including "A Portrait of front." explains SanDer City Council channel preproduced "roll-in" seg- a Community," about a little known and Community Access Board Member merits -- about campaign literature and Pasadena neighborhood, a five-minute Mike Quails. "This is not an activity the vote counting process -- to inter- piece on Pasadena's tradition of profes- that you can fund as you go along." The sperse with live coverage. The day of the signal planning expertise through the City of SanDer recently built a $480.000 election, the television team set up its Rose Bowl, and a special about the ten- cable production facility to ensure equipment in the conference center. A ovation of the City's Spanish colonial "quality and stability" in local pro- reporter and camera operator were de- City Hall. These shows eventually will gramming efforts, putized so they could cover the ballot be shown on cable., but were produced Sanger is a farming community, count close up. A City Council member to respond to specific city comnmnica- Fifty-five percent of its 14,500 citizens and a local broadcaster co-hosted the tion needs beyond cable. are Hispanic. election special. The four-camera coy- The Telecommunications Department The Group W franchise for a thirty- erage included interviews with the can- is part of the City Manager's Office. two channel system is in the process of didates, discussion of the election's Funded through the general fund, the being purchased. The one combination implications, and updates on balloting telecommunications budget is $240,000~ public, educational and government ac- results. Approximately $110,000 is directed to- cess channel is currently programmed Pasadena also produces ongoing wards video programming activities. The eight hours per week. Three ongoing shows for the municipal channel includ- balance is for regulation and planning. municipal shows form the cornerstone lng Pasadena Spectrum, a monthly, Contact: Victor taruccia, Telecommunications of Sangcr's local programming effort, hour-long call-in show hosted by a mem- Administrator, City 0! Pasadena, (1118) 405-4:~22. Outspeak. hosted by the local news- paper editor, focuses on local issues. ' ': , ":'.,: '.:.-.,,~---:~',;.?:.:..' .......... - · . Topics include downtown development ....:..~:. !: :,.~:~'~.. · -.: ..73 :'d" :: '<:... '.' and new businesses moving to Sanger. Sanger Report, a half hour of news and sports, is described as the city's version of 20/20 and the Nightly News. Ahora Su Comunidad is a version of Sanger Report in Spanish. Both Outspeak and Ahora Su Comunidad are rebroadcast over an in- dependent television station in Fresno. The channel also has been used by the Police Department to promote its "Learn to Say No" anti-th'ug campaign. Sangcr televised the Mayor's Report on the State of the City. Thanksgiving Services and the Christmas Parade. Now that the channel is up and run- ning, the City Council hopes the Sanger studio can become revenue-generating. Local businesses are beginning to un- derwrite programs and Sanger is charg- ing for commercial use of equipment and facilities. Contact: Rahn Pennington, Administrative Manager, Cable 51, City of Sanger, (209) 875-2587 Covering Ejections in Pasadena T he City of Pasadena has been devel- oping its video prOgramming capa- Teens get OJT as production crew members on Hawthorne Cable. Photo: Larry Bender. Western Cirri. hdv /OR7 9