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TC 06-04-97 Telecommunications Commission Regular Meeting June 4, 1997 MINUTES CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Chahman Ernest Tsui at 7:00 p.m. ROLL CALL Commissioners present: Bill Mannion, Ernest Tsui, Mike Winch Commissioners absent: Sal Algeri, L.T. Guttadauro Staff: Donna Krey, Laura Newman De Anza College: Ron Fish TCI: Dave Walton Guests: Linda G-rodt, Sandra Beard APPROVAL OF MAY 7, 1997 MINUTES Mike Wincn made a motion to approve the minutes as written; Biil Mannion seconded and the motion passed unanimously. COMMUNICATIONS Oral: Linda Grodt showed the commissioners her two first-place trophies, which she received at the recent BACE Awards. The awards were for Best Intro/PSA/Promo of a Show and Best Community Event. She said she has now won the Best Community Event four years in a row. She also distributed a copy of a congratulatory letter she received from Senator Tom Campbell. Orodt thanked Ron Fish for paying for her guest's dinner ticket. Written: There was none. NEW BUSINESS De Anza College: This item was taken out of order. Ron Fish told the commission that the access producers received four first-place awards at the BACE Awards ceremony. He said the web page for the Cupertino Community Television is undergoing repairs, and it is hoped to be finished by the next meeting. Fish infoimed the commissioners that his assistant, Bob, had been laid off until July 1. Bob is not a pemianent employee and may not work more than 180 days per year. Fish said he will work without a replacement until Bob can return to work. The June 5 producer meeting had to be cancelled due to lack of attendance. He will schedule another producer meeting end inform Winen of the date so it can be added to the project timeline. OLD BUSINESS Update on maintenance of access facility: Fish told the commission that the emergency lights are now functioning. The flooding problem in Studio B has not yet been resolved, but Plant Services has a plan to repair the problem. Fish said he met with Willie Pritchard and the flooding problem was discussed as well as a plan to fix it. The commissioners asked Fish to provide them with - a copy of the repair plan. If by the end of summer the problem is not resolved, the commissioners would discuss sending a letter to De Anza College strongly urging the repairs to be made. 1997 project timeline: Donna Krey told the commissioners she had spoken with Karen Bumett regarding the educational grants, and Bumett said the teachers return to school in August, and it would make sense for the applications to be sent out at the beginning of September. The end of November would be when the completed applications were due. Wincn said he will change the date from Sept. 15 to Nov. 30 on the timeline. -- Telecommunication liaison with other cities: Wincn told the coro_rnission that he had sent a copy of the De Anza Access Producer Agreement to Daphne Fuller at the city of Los Altos. He recently found out she had left her position and apparently did not forward a copy of the agreement to the access producer at Foothill College. He contacted Marilyn Acke~iiian, the access producer at Foothill College, and told her he would send her a copy of De Anza's agreement. She said she would provide a copy of Foothill's agreement to him as well. Ackerman also said the two agreements sounded very similar, which should help both facilities deal with certalu types of programming. Wincn said he had not had time to contact any other local cities and he will report back to thc commission at its next meeting. Production of videotapes: Public safety/cultural richness: Tsui said he talked to Chuck Pickett, the chairperson of the Public Safety Commission, who gave him three topics the commission was interested in pursuing. These are: neighborhood watch programs, disaster preparedness, and schools focused on crime prevention. Krey told the commissioners that Marie Moore would be a good in-house resource for the disaster preparedness video. Tsui said Pickett would ask the public safety commission if it wanted to produce any of the videos and report back to Tsui. Tsul also said he would like to attend the next producers' meeting to try and find producers for any or all of the videos. Tsui reported that he and L. T. Guttadauro met with Councilmember Michael Chang and Professor Marquita Byrd to discuss the cultural richness video. He said Byrd had some good ideas and as a result of the meeting, she submitted a grant application to help with the costs of producing the videos. Web Page Update: Krey informed the commissioners that Steve Toler, the city's Manager of Information Technology, has accepted a position with the City of Foster City. His last day at -- Cupertino is Friday, June 6. He has been busy hooking everyone up to the Interuet prior to his departure. The commission's web page will have to be put on hold until a replacement is hired. Special award for access producers: Krey asked the commissioners if they had any changes they wanted to make to the nomination form for the newly created Cupertino Outstanding Producer Award. Two minor corrections were suggested under the "Judging Criteria". Winch made a motion to accept the changes as presented; Mannion seconded and the motion passed unanimously. 'The commissioners would like the form corrected as soon as possible in order to have it ready for distribution at the next producers' meeting. NEW BUSINESS Consideration of grant requests: Sandra Beard described her grant request for $250 for an access show called "Inside Art." She said she came up with the idea as a way to educate the community about the arts. She has completed editing one show and is working on a second show, which she hopes to have available at the end of August. Wincn made a motion to approve the grant as submitted; Marmion seconded and the motion passed unanimously. Tsui explained that the grant request by Marquita Byrd came about following the meeting between Michael Chang, Guttadauro, Byrd and himself. Byrd would like to produce four shows on the subject of cultural richness. After some discussion, Maunion made a motion to approve the grant with a request for an interim report; Wincn seconded and the motion passed unanimously. Tsui said he and Guttadauro will report back to the commission on the progress of the videos. Discussion of obscene/indecent broadcasts: Mannion had requested this be placed on the agenda at the last meeting. He was unhappy about a particular show he saw on the access channel and felt the commission should do something about it. He asked Dave Walton of TCI what they did with certain types of programming. Walton told Marmion that the issue of obscene and indecent programming was very difficult to prove in court. He said that TCI will put these kinds of programs on after 10 p.m. and will also put a disclaimer at the beginning of the show. Krey told the commissioners that a similar problem had come up once before and the commission asked Fish to do the same thing. She cited a case in Los Gatos that went to court, where the access channel ultimately also did the same thing. TCI Educational Program: Guttadauro had found information about a new educational program that TCI was promoting and sent the information to the other commissioners. Tsui asked Walton if he could bring someone from TCI to a future meeting to explain this educational program, and Walton said he would be happy to do so. Consideration of cancellation of July meeting: Krey explained that thc commission usually cancels its July meeting because it falls so close to the 4th of July holiday. She also told them she would not be present at the July meeting, but they could hold it without her. Mannion made a motion to cancel the July meeting and hold the next regular meeting on August 6; Wincn seconded and the motion passed unanimously. TCI: Walton gave a brief update on the status of TCI's moving the administrative offices and field operations into a new building on 10~ Street in San Jose. He said the new facility is 13,000 sq~_~_a_re feet, a portion of which will be dedicated to regional training. Wincn passed on a compliment to Walton about a TCI employee who had been very helpful with technical knowledge. City of Cupertino: Krey infon-ed the commissioners that she had received a phone call from Kathi Noe of TCI who said the city of Cupertino would be receiving a letter responding to the city's inquiry about the Cupertino rebuild. The city had sent a letter to TCI requesting a timeline on April 21. To date, no response has been received. She will keep the commissioners infomied on this matter. Tsui said he will attend the June Mayor's breakfast. Wincn said he sent e-mail messages to the other commissioners following his attendance at the May Mayor's breakfast. ADJOURNMENT Wincn made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:45 p.m. to August 6, 1997; Mannion seconded and the motion passed unanimously. ATTEST: APPR~