TC 10-03-90Cable Telev~slon Advisory Oommi~e~
Regular Meeting
Cupertino City Hall
Oct. 3, 1990
Minutes
ROLL CALL
The meeting was called to order by Chairman Jane Chiavacci at 7 p.m.
Committee members present: Chiavacci, Dorothy Schmid, Walter Trefz Jr. and
Katherine Trujillo (arrived 7:15 p.m.).
Committee member absent: David Keller
Staff present: Donna Krey
Channel 30 staff present: Suzanne Orcutt
Guests present: Alan Bourke and Mike Wincn
APPROVAL OF MINUTES FOR MEETING OF SEPT. 5
Orcutt asked that the phrase "of partially subsidized" be inserted in the
last sentence of her report, after the word "discussion." Trefz made the
motion to approve the minutes as corrected; Schmid seconded and the motion
passed unanimously.
ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
Krey told the committee that the City Council appointed Trujillo to the
board and that 14 people applied for the open seat. She gave background
information on the new member, which included her expertise in the
telecommunications field.
Barney reported on a meeting Sept. 7 with United Cable
representatives, De Anza College officials and CTVAC member David Keller
regarding the equipment at De Anza. He said Wilcox agreed that certain
pieces of equipment needed to be either repaired or replaced and that the
former United Cable general manager initialed each page of the tripartite
agreement with the exception of one.
Barney said to date, none of the repairs had been made, and a few of
the pieces had specific dates attached to them, the latest being the end
of October. He said he would like to committee to go on record saying all
repairs and replacements should be done by united Cable no later than the
end of October.
The only item left to discuss relating to the tripartite agreement is
an increase proposed by De Anza in United Cable's funding. The college is
asking for payment to go from $40,000 annually to $45,000. Barney said
united's new general manager Daryl Henderson will offer a counter proposal
on Monday, Oct. 8.
Trefz said that if the committee agrees to go on record as Barney
suggested, a letter should be directed to United's district manager, Bill
Cullen, and not to the local office. Krey said the local office should be
copied. Chiavacci said that the committee also should strongly emphasize
to United officials the importance of having a representative at each
CTVAC meeting.
By consensus, the committee agreed to let Barney draft a letter to
Cullen.
Krey called attention to a letter in the CTVAC packet by V.M. Turesin
complaining about United's reorganization of its Plus Service and
inquiring about the city's franchise fee. She said she responded to the
franchise fee questions and will see that Henderson at United receives a
copy of the letter and ask him to respond as well.
STAFF REPORT
Krey told the committee that Heritage Cablevision, now carrying local
access channels, seems to be coming in very well for subscribers and that
several favorable comments on the new service have been received. She also
reported on a campaign for the government channel, called The city
Channel, which included press kits for the media.
REPORT FROM DARYL HENDERSON, UNITED CABLE
Henderson was not present, but his written report was delivered to the
committee and members briefly reviewed subscriber statistics, customer
complaints and technical explanations. Krey said she would ask Henderson
to continue providing customer complaint logs to the city. Chiavacci again
expressed concern over United's lack of representation at the meeting and
asked that an explanation of how complaints are logged and recorded be
placed on the November agenda.
REPORT FROM SUZANNE ORCUTT, ACCESS DIRECTOR
Orcutt said that De Anza would sponsor ~Tino Showcase on its own, since
Los Altos Access had decided not to participate in the event. She will
solicit support from local service groups. Orcutt also said producers are
not taking advantage of Saturday editing time and she talked about a
special "Senior Citizen Day" to be held at De Anza on Oct. 27, where The
Better Part will invite visitors to watch production of a program.
Orcutt also told the committee her first newsletter, complete with new
logo, will be out soon and that the logo design will be used on business
cards for access producers. She then handed out a financial report for the
first quarter, saying all numbers balanced and the access operation was
within its budget.
DISCUSSION OF CREWS AND VOLUNTEERS
This item relates to partially subsidized crew members, with De Anza
paying $20 and the city matching. Orcutt explained the difficulty some
producers have in getting together a crew and said presently about 20
percent of the producers are subsidized. She asked the committee to
re-evaluate the issue and decide whether or not the program should be
expanded or remain the same.
Chiavacci said the original idea was to subsidize producers who, in
the beginning, had trouble finding a crew and then, after they were more
familiar with the program, they should find volunteers. She suggested
committee members think about how to limit the outside funding, including
the idea of providing financial aid to one program only.
Trefz said the money should be spent to improve overall quality and
should not be given to anyone who asks. He also suggested that Channel 30
provide at least one open forum program, where people can come into the
studio and "sound off" on any topic. Orcutt agreed to consider the idea
and perhaps begin with inviting members of the Cupertino Goals Committee
to start it off.
Trujillo commented that producers should be told from the start what
their expectations of funding should be. The committee decided to refer
the item to the committee reviewing CTVAC guidelines, which is made up of
Orcutt, Chiavacci and Linda Grodt, a producer.
D~scusslon moved ~o ~he s~a~e o~ equ~pmen~ a~ ~he college an8
ehlavaccl a~ke8 Barney i£ ~here were any plan~ ~o move ~di~ e ~rom ou~ o~
the hallway. Barney said he researched the idea of providing a soundproof
room for editing, but the cost was $6,OO0. He said in two or three years,
the teleconferencing program would be moved out of the building.
Chiavacci commented that it was hard to attract quality producers when
editing facilities are not what they were two years ago. She agreed with
Orcutt and Barney about the importance of good, working equipment, but
stated that location of facility also was important. She then asked that
De Anza's editing facilities be on the next agenda for discussion.
DISCUSSION OF GRANT MONEY FOR PRODUCER CONFERENCES
Chiavacci said new members of the CTVAC should be encouraged to attend the
NFLCP conference, but that it probably wasn't financially prudent for all
members to travel to Washington D.C. She also said she would like to see
certain access producers attend using grant money.
Schmid said not many producers knew of the grant availability for the
conference and perhaps Orcutt could choose an outstanding producer to
attend the conference. Chiavacci suggested members think about an
appropriate amount of money and continue the item for November. She asked
Krey for input. Krey said she had concerns about the selection process and
she believed the committee should wait for a producer to make a proposal
and then evaluate it at the time. The committee agreed that Orcutt should
encourage producers to apply to the CTVAC.
REVIEW OF GRANT GUIDELINES
Chiavacci thanked Trefz for his work in revising the grant guidelines,
which were approved at the last meeting, with minor amendments.
CITIZEN PARTICIPATION IN ACCESS
Chiavacci commended Orcutt for seeking school participation in the access
program and noted that it is more difficult to find working people to
participate. Orcutt said the number of producers is fairly constant each
quarter--about 30 groups. Chiavacci suggested it might be time to do a
mailing to local clubs and organizations, inviting their participation.
Schmid said a notice in the Cupertino Scene would be helpful and Krey
agreed. Orcutt mentioned ~Tino Showcase and said that exposure could
increase interest. Chiavacci said it was important to remember that the
CTVAC goal this year is greater community participation in access.
ADJOURNMENT
Schmid moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:35 p.m.; Trefz seconded and the
motion passed unanimously.
ATTEST: APPROVED:
City Clerk