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CIty CouncIl Meeting 8/13/85
Santa MonIca, California
JUG 1 3 ISIs
TO: Mayor and CIty Council
FROM: City Staff
SUBJECT: Cable CommunIcations Work Plan
IntroductIon
On February 26, 1985 the Cable CommunIcations Task Force
presented the results of theIr two and one-half yeer study
efforts to the C~ty CouncIl.
At that tIme, City staff was
dIrected to evaluate the reco~mendatlons of the Task Force
(part~cularly in light of the newly adopted Cable Communications
POlICY Act of 1984) and return wIth a work prograw which
addressed both the future use of cable in the Ci ty of Sante.
Monica as ","ell as efforts thet would be needed to prepare for
renegotiation of the current ceble franchise vThich expires on
January 13, 1928.
On AprIl 26, 1985 the f~rst portIon of the staff's analYSIS was
presented by the CIty Attorney.
It Included a review of
constitutIonal and legIslative restrIct~ons WhICh may lwpact City
actIons In this area; end a legal analYSIS of the major
recommendations of the Ceble Task Force. With this information
as a baselIne, staff has continued their work in the last few
months to arrIve at the work progra~ wh~ch ~s summarized here~n.
The task before the City IS two-fold -- one relates to developing
a plan for expandIng the use of currently avaIlable publlC
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access, municIpa I and educatIonal channe Is; the other to
preparing for negotIations for franchise renewal. Although these
2ctivItIes are quite distinct, as they wlll proceed
simul taneously it is important that th€ decIsion-makIng context
over the next two years include conSIderatIon of each activity's
impact on the other.
Smrme ry
After consultation with numerous individuals Including members of
the Te.sk Force; the Ci ty Attorney; cab Ie communica tIons
administra tors in othe r c~ ties; Group W representetl ves; cable
consultants; and representatives of non-profIt organizations, the
fa llovllng r-/ork program IS proposed. It is designed to be in
complIance wIth the Cable CommunicatIons POlICY Act of 1984. The
obJective of this process is to:
Ensure a hIgh qualIty, state of the art cable
co~munications system with a diversIty of
features which meets the needs of the c~t~zens
of Santa I>1onica.
It IS intended that there be so~e overlap In the varIOUS tlmeline
components as several activitIes will represent an ongoing
commitment by the City. However, due to limited staff resources
lt is necessary to selectively direct staff attention to
particular Issues as the process moves along to insure
satisfactory results.
August 1985 - February 1986
Conduct technIcal studies regardlng economic feaSIbility
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of InteractIve and InstItutional network capab~lIty; and
interconnection.
Drrect efforts to enhance use of existing system capacIty
includIng ImplementatIon of JOInt-use character generator
at the College of Sante Monica and Increased use of
public access studIO ana cablecasting by non-profit
organizat~ons.
Calendar Year 1986
Conduct more formal ized needs assessment proce ss. With
completIon of the above-noted studIes the City should be
prepared to present a wore conCIse set of technical and
economic parameters for consIderatIon. The components of
the needs assessment process are descr 1. bed more fully
below but WIll be handled In such a way to insure that an
adequate record is provided under t~e terms of the Cable
Act.
Develop minimum standards for new franchise agreement.
Prepare new cable ordInance.
Recommend future admin1.strative organIzation for cable
efiorts.
January 1987
Subrl'i ttal by Group 11 of proposal for new Santa HonIca
franchIse.
January 1987 - January 1988
NegotiatIons for new franchise agreement or other action.
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Rationale for Reco~~endatlon
The Clty wants to be In the strongest possIble posltlon to
undertake the franchise renewal process. In order to accomplish
that, two thIngs must occur - more education must be provided on
specifIC technlcal end economic Issues; and more use must be made
of current cable capacity in order to document communIty Deeds.
The tIme frame set fortl1 allows those two things to be
accomplished.
In order to bUIld on the work of the Task Force and Insure the
most productIve outcome of the needs assessment process, the Clty
needs to develop a llst of prIoritIes for a cable communicatIons
system. By havIng technIcal and econorolc assessments done In the
next few months, the public can be presented wlth options within
parameters for thelr Input. While the Task Force provided broad
horizons of p08S1bll1 tIes beyond simply entertaInment
prograroming, the C~ty must decIde what is the most efflclent and
cost effective means to accompllsh certaln tasks, such a8
teleconferenclng and data transmlssion. CrIteria to evaluate
proposa 1 s shaul dine 1 ude reasonab leness, technIcal and economic
feasibility, com~unlty demand and Impact on rates.
In addIt~on to setting technIcal priorit~es for negotiatlons, it
is lwportant to distInguish between the three types of channels
beIng considered -- publlC access, ~unIcipal and educatlonal and
determine where 2nd what type of resources should be devoted to
each. Flnancing rea 11 tIe 8 and resource requirements to support
each of these areas need to be clarlfled. A future
adminlstratlve organlzatlon ~ust also be developed.
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Once
background
educational
Information
IS
completed,
a
formalIzed needs assessment and perforwance reVIew can be
undertaken and documented for use in negotlet~ons.
The needs
assessment is expected to consist of publlC hearings/workshops;
cont~nued contact with non-profIt and other publlC organizat~ons;
d~ScusSlon WIth buslness leaders;
and reVIEW of consuwer
sat~sfaction inforwatlon.
As part of this process it wi 11 be
crItIcal for Involved organIzations to realIstIcally assess their
commltffient and ability to contrIbute to Increased cable use.
In the meantIme, discussions with Group W wi 11 take place on a
regular baSIS to discuss operational issues as they arIse. In
addItion, there WIll be tIme for the uncertain regulatory
envi ronment to sort out to some degree as well as for possIble
reallzatlon of some of the more Imminent technologIcal changes
such as \Hder bandWIdth on a SIngle cable which enables more
channels to be carrIed.
Conclusion
ThIS paper IS Intended to gl ve a br lei overVIew of the issues
facing the City in the nExt few years in the area of cable
cOJI1f'lunicat~ons.
The opportunity to deal w~th some of these
issues in more depth WIll be offered at the August 13 City
CounCIl study session.
Prepared by: Lynne C. Barrette
ASSIstant City Manager
(cablewp)
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