05/13/1991 Meeting (2) - Laserfiche WebLink

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e Ms. Ehrman noted that she continues to receive comments from citizens who are concerned with lack of control over cable programming and said that she has encouraged citizens to communicate these concerns to TCI directly. Mr. MacDonald said he has also received citizen complaints with respect to programming and noted that he continues to be frustrated with the inability of local government to influence programming and rate setting. He stated that he has received approximately 100 signatures from citizens who are con- cerned with the loss of cable access to the San Francisco Giant games. Citi- zens have also expressed concern that the customer survey mechanism put out by TCI is ineffective. He is concerned with the length of the franchise and the near-compulsory extension. Mr. MacDonald said that the council should send the franchise proposal back to the Metropolitan Policy Committee (MPC) for further negotiation. Responding to a question from Mr. Boles, Mr. Kolb said that in provisions specified in the 1984 Cable Act, if the City chooses not to accept the nego- tiated contract, TCI would be permitted to operate under the existing fran- chise agreement with an automatic franchise extension. ' Mr. Boles said that because he believes that the proposed franchise agreement is superior to the existing agreement, he would be supporting the motion. He suggested that the council flag the issue of lack of local control over pro- gramming for the Intergovernmental Relations Department (IGR) to discuss during its next trip to Washington DC. 4It Ms. Bascom said that she shares Mr. MacDonald's concerns with respect to the proposed franchise agreement, but noted that until Federal legislation is changed, local government has little control over programming issues. e Mayor Miller pointed out that this is a non-exclusive franchise agreement. If it were cost-effective for another company to compete with TCI for local cable programming, they could do so. Mr. Nicholson said that he would be opposing the contract in objection to the City's lack of real control over the whole negotiation process. Mr. Green said that while he would like to see more culturally diverse pro- gramming, he feels that TCI has been responsive to community input; he would be voting in favor of the motion. Roll call vote; the motion carried unanimously, 7:0. Council Bill 4300 was read the second time by number only. Mr. Boles moved, seconded by Ms. Ehrman, that the bill be approved and given final passage. Roll call vote; in a 5:2 vote with councilors Boles, Ehrman, Green, Bascom, and MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 13, 1991 Page 2