03/08/1982 Meeting (2) - Laserfiche WebLink

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e quoted Mr. Starlin as having said that under the provlslons for public access in the proposed amendments, public access was doomed to fail, since without adequate staffing, the equipment purchased would not be used. Mr. Weiner felt that availability of 1981-plus funds for public access would improve this situation. Mr. Weiner was concerned that Carol Baker and other staff members of the Cable Commission were placed in the position of voting on policy and of voting on the recommendations and work of other staff members. He said cable television should be a key element in any local economic development plan and discussed the potentials of cable television for business communications and for video con- ferencing. He also felt that availability of leased access was important to the well-being of local small businesses. Mr. Weiner said he felt that councilors Obie and Smith should declare conflicts of interest and abstain from voting on this matter, since there will be competition for advertising dollars with telecommunications systems in which they have interests. He felt that the council had been trapped with no choice for action on this matter. He urged that the City of Eugene form a task force to study this issue. e Sharon Genasci, 980 East 19th Avenue, said that she is an independent film and video producer. She asked whether the failure of the council to take action on the amendments at this meeting would really hold up work on public access. She felt that it is important for all citizens to have access to television production, since viewing television is a dominant part of American life. She said that public access programming in Knoxville, Tennessee, includes live broadcast of all important City Council and County Commission meetings; ten percent religious programming; high school basketball games; and a local magazine-format news show. She said that the $50,000 per year allocated in the franchise amendments for operating expenses for the access center is totally inadequate. She said it was critical that adequate staff be available to work with community groups and to train them in the use of the center and equipment. She said that leased access would be a source of income for the center and that it is an important part of public access nationwide. Dave Sweet, 963 Jackson Street, said he is a member of the Earth of Love non-profit cable corporation but that he was speaking as a private citizen. He said he has attended meetings of the Public Access Advisory Committee and noted that the group had not had a quorum of members present at its last two meetings. He said that the councilors must protect the rights of the citizens of Eugene by providing for adequate public access. He said that the City of Skokie, Illinois, with a population of 64,000, had recently signed a franchise with Teleprompter that would provide subscribers with 90 channels at $6.95 per month. Mr. Sweet said that the studio that has been leased by Teleprompter for public access was inadequate and would not allow for any growth and suggested that the Lincoln School building be leased instead. He said that he would provide additional written testimony for the council. Bill Lioio, 2678 Sharon Way, said that he felt there is no need for public access, and he did not want to pay for it. He suggested that Teleprompter1s subscribers be polled to see if they are willing to support public access e MINUTES--Eugene City Council March 8, 1982 Page 6