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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/01/2005, C5 - APPROVAL OF GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR DEVELOPMENT OF A PUBLIC, EDUCATIONAL AND GOVERNMENT (PEG) ACCESS 4 J council MR°�°��- Qs acEnba Report �� G CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO FROM: Wendy George, ACAO Prepared By: Betsy Kiser, Principal Administrative Analyst SUBJECT: APPROVAL OF GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR DEVELOPMENT OF A PUBLIC, EDUCATIONAL AND GOVERNMENT (PEG) ACCESS CHANNELS OPERATING PLAN CAO RECOMMENDATION Approve guiding principles to allow for the development of a PEG Access Operating Plan and the subsequent release of PEG operating funds from Charter Communications, including: 1) The designation of SLO County Public Access Television, Inc. (Public Access Television) as the sole provider of public access programming (P portion) in the City of San Luis Obispo; 2) The designation of San Luis Coastal Unified School District (SLCUSD) as the sole provider of education access programming(E portion) in the City of San Luis Obispo; 3) The equal distribution of PEG Access Funds between the City of San Luis Obispo, Public,Access Television and SLCUSD to use solely for PEG access equipment and facilities. DISCUSSION BackPround In 1995, the City of San Luis Obispo entered into a 15-year franchise agreement with Charter Communications (previously .Sonic Cable Television) for the operation of a cable television system in the City. A key component of the agreement was a commitment by the cable company to provide Public, Education, and Government (PEG) Access to the cable system. (See Attachment 1 for a description of PEG Access.) This commitment included 1) the establishment of a PEG Fund to purchase capital equipment for a PEG access program equal to 1% of Charter's annual gross revenues (It should be noted that these funds cannot be used for operational purposes nor can they be used for anything other than PEG access); 2) wire and equip the City Council with live cable casting capabilities; 3) provide a cable link to San Luis High School; and 4)provide channel capacity to accommodate the City's projected PEG access needs. All commitments have been met to date, but before the City can actually collect the $600,000+ in PEG funds that have accumulated since 1995, it must have a Council certified PEG Access Operating Plan on file with Charter containing information specified in the franchise agreement. This report seeks Council approval on several guiding principles that, once determined, will allow staff to complete the operating plan, including agreements with the proposed public and education access management organizations, and ultimately access the funds for PEG use. Guiding Principles for PEG Access Operating Plan Page 2 PEG Access Operating Plan According to the franchise agreement, the City's PEG Access Operating Plan needs to contain the following information: (a) List of intended PEG users; (b) Planned type and level of programming for each user, (c) Capital equipment, facilities and estimated costs required to support the intended uses; (d) User commitments by Grantor(the City)or another PEG user to cover operating expenses for at least a three- (3) year period. The user commitments shall be approved by resolution of the City Council; (e) An evaluation by Grantor that the existing public facilities and equipment are inadequate to meet the needs of the operating program; and (fj A statement of the amount requested,and that the amount requested is less than or equal to the amount available in the PEG Fund. Guiding Principles for Developing a PEG Access Operating Plan Prior to developing a PEG Access Operating Plan, the City Council needs to provide direction on two key issues: 1) The PEG Access Management Model to be used; and 2) A fair and equitable division of PEG Access Funds. PEG Access Management Model. In researching the literature on PEG Access Operating Plans, staff found a number of management models in use throughout the country. As described in the attached document, the creation of a nonprofit corporation is broadly recognized and preferred as an advantageous approach to developing and facilitating public access, as well as educational and government access in the community. Many of the nonprofit corporations listed in the document provide access not only for public access but also for educational and government access. In April 1997, the Council actually approved a conceptual framework for PEG access based on the nonprofit corporation model described above. At the time, a nonprofit corporation was being established within the county, and the City was considering having this corporation manage all three portions of PEG access programming. Unfortunately, the nonprofit never formed and the concept never materialized. Therefore, while this model has worked well for other communities, staff is recommending a slightly different approach. Since the late-90's, the City of San Luis Obispo has successfully managed our government access channel (G portion - Channel 20). Equipment provided by Charter through the execution of the franchise agreement has enabled the City to provide live broadcasts and re-broadcasts of City Council and Planning Commission meetings, publicize classes, meetings and events on a City bulletin board, and air special videos pertinent to local governance. Each year; City staff becomes more and more knowledgeable, creative, and progressive with government access programming and, at this time,has no interest in relinquishing the management of the channel. C�;- - a� Guiding Principles for PEG Access Operating Plan Page 3 However, there is a local nonprofit corporation currently providing quality public access programming(P portion)to the residents of San Luis Obispo County. SLO County Public Access Television (Public Access Television), a 501(c)(3) corporation made up of local programmers, recently met with City staff and submitted a proposal to manage the public access channel within the City of San Luis Obispo. Broadcasting from donated facilities at Charter Communications, Public Access Television has successfully operated and programmed Channel 2 for many years, and at this time, is the only provider of public access programming. Although other non-profits could potentially organize for this purpose in the future, staff is recommending that the City enter into a sole source agreement with Public Access Television to manage the P portion of PEG access at this time. With regard to the E portion of PEG access, over the past year, staff held meetings with both the San Luis Obispo County Office of Education and SLCUSD to discuss management interests in education access programming. Currently, the County Office of Education operates and maintains education access programming for the County of San Luis Obispo and, in discussions, indicated a willingness to provide the E portion of PEG access for the City of San Luis Obispo also. After lengthy discussions and pursuant to the SLCUSD Board's approval at the September 7, 2004 school board meeting, SLCUSD clarified its intent to participate in the management of education access programming for families in the City of San Luis Obispo for a period of three years. Although the City Council could enter into an agreement with either or both the County Office of Education, SLCUSD, or another educational institution like Cuesta College, staff is recommending a sole source agreement with SLCUSD because of its specific focus on serving residents within the City of San Luis Obispo, who actually pay the PEG Access fees. Division ofPEG Access Funds As indicated above, the franchise agreement between the City and Charter Communications stipulates the establishment of a PEG Access Fund to purchase capital equipment and facilities for a PEG access program equal to 1% of Charter's gross revenues upon execution of the agreement. (Note: funds can be used only for equipment and facilities, not for operations.) This fund currently has $630,000 available for PEG access programming and will continue to accrue approximately $78,000 annually for the life of the franchise agreement. Although there are no stipulations in the franchise agreement as to how the funds should be split, staff is recommending an equal division of funds between the three organizations. Each portion of PEG access serves a legitimate and distinct need within the community and therefore should have equal access to the funds collected from the community to support it. Management details and itemized uses of the funds for each portion of PEG access will be specified in the PEG Operating Plan (and in individual agreements with the organizations), which will be brought to the Council in the near future. CONCURRENCES SLCUSD and Public Access Television have indicated their concurrence with the above recommendations. SLCUSD met with County Office of Education several months ago and the County is fully aware of the City's intent to enter into an agreement with SLCUSD for education access programming. 0 3 Guiding Principles for PEG Access Operating Plan Page 4 FISCAL IMPACT Once the PEG Access Operating Plan is developed and certified by the City Council and accompanying agreements executed, Charter will release the existing PEG funds to the City. This translates into an initial payment of approximately $212,300 to the City for the purchase of broadcasting equipment and facilities, and annual payments thereafter of$26,000. Charter will remit annual funds to the City quarterly along with their franchise fees. ALTERNATIVES 1. The City Council could choose to create a nonprofit corporation to provide all of PEG access programming as has been done in other cities. This is not recommended, primarily because two facets of the PEG access programming (P and G) are currently operating successfully and providing quality programming to the community. 2. The City Council could choose to divide the funds in a different manner. This is not recommended due to the equal importance and value of each facet of PEG access programming. ATTACHMENTS Access Basics by The Buske Group G:\stafNciser\cabletelevision\PEG Access\CAR Conceptual Approval of PEG Access Operation Plan 30105 ATTACHMENT ACCESS BASICS Q. What is access? A: Access can be subdivided into public access, educational access and government access. The term "PEG access" is called "public, educational, and government use" under the Cable Act. Public access consists of video programming and other electronic information produced, directed, and engineered by community volunteers. (For convenience, all types of information carried on PEG channels will be referred to as "programming," although PEG channels are used to carry video information, data, video text, and voice communications.) In the case of public access, the programming is developed or acquired by nonprofit community groups, neighborhood organizations, social service agencies, and individual citizens. It focuses on many aspects of community life, ranging from the services and activities of community organizations to the opinions and beliefs of individuals in the community. Educational access is developed or acquired by school or college employees, students, and school volunteers. It typically focuses on distance learning, school activities, and information that the school/college wants to get out to the community or share among schools. Government access is created or acquired by local government employees, elected officials, and volunteers. It typically focuses on information about services provided by local, State, and regional governments, issues faced by local governments, and public meeting coverage. Government access is also used for other purposes, such as providing training to City employees or exchanging information between City agencies and other institutions. The content of the material carried on PEG access is determined by the individuals, groups, or organizations that produce it. There is also "institutional" use or institutional access. Institutional use typically involved the transmission of information among public buildings, hospitals, educational institutions, and other similar institutions. The residential subscriber may not receive the transmission. This institutional use can be thought of as a subcategory of PEG access Access program content is controlled by the group, organization, institution, or individual that produces or provides a program. PEG '"access is typically noncommercial in that there are no commercial advertising spots and there are typically no so-called "infomercials" run on PEG access. Access channels sometimes do cant' PBS-style credit for underwriters. Programming on educational channels may include credit classes for a fee that must. be paid in order to obtain academic credit Prepared by: The Buske Group 1 - - MACHMEN i 1 ACCESS BASICS Q: Why do communities include access requirements in cable franchises? A: Both the. Cable Acts of 1984. and 1992 permit local govemments to include and enforce requirements for PEG access equipment, facilities, services, and support in a franchise. The Acts explain the purposes of access well: "Public access channels are often the video equivalent of the speaker's soap box or the electronic parallel to the printed leaflet. They provide groups and individuals who generally have not had access to the electronic media with the opportunity to become sources of information in the electronic marketplace of ideas." These federal laws also permit local government to require institutional networks that can be used by local community institutions Q: Is the goal to produce programming of a certain type? A: No. The goal is to create a sort of "electronic park" where everyone can be a provider as well as a recipient of information, and where everyone can participate in public debate electronically. Cable companies often argue that access channels do not get ratings the way an ESPN gets ratings. That misses the.point of the PEG channels. In some ways, PEG channels are meant to allow an electronic dialogue and exchange of information. There may be a limited number of people interested in any particular dialogue, but the availability of the channels means that there is an opportunity for voices to be heard. As a result, a very typical pattern for a well supported access channel is that relatively few people will be watching at any particular time, but that over a period of time, a large number of people will tune in to the channel. For example, access channels expand the ability of community residents to be more active participants in government and educational meetings by cablecasting City Council and school board meetings. One would not be surprised if the viewership level of any one particular meeting would be low when compared to many other television channels. But the fact that the program is carried means that, as particular issues become part of the agenda, viewers with an interest in that issue can view the public debate and participate in it. Over time, many subscribers will watch. Further, the availability of the channel means that those who could not participate "live" may be able to participate by watching a rebroadcast of a particular event. It also means that programmers can target programming to reach particular segments of the community that need help. For example, one of the problems confronted by social service agencies is outreach: a shelter for battered women may wish to produce an access program about their services, and finds this to be a more efficient way to reach the public than available alternatives. From a community's standpoint, the issue is not "will this attract the same number of viewers that watch HBO," but is instead "will this allow members of the community to work together more effectively." Prepared by: The Buske Group 2 C� - 6 - ATIACHMENT 1 ACCESS BASICS Q: Is access well established in many communities? A: Access has been in operation for 15-25 years in many communities across the country. Included are major cities and very small towns, like Austin, Texas; Chicago, Illinois;_ Malden, Massachusetts; Bloomington, Indiana; Gresham, Oregon; Sacramento, California, Portland, Oregon; Dayton, Ohio; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Anoka, Minnesota; and Burlington, Vermont. Access has existed since the early 1970's and much has been learned about how to operate and utilize PEG access channels. Q: What is the preferred management structure for aPEG access operation? A: The creation of a nonprofit corporation is broadly recognized as an advantageous approach to developing and facilitating public access as well as educational and government access in a community. These nonprofit access management corporations are created specifically to manage access channels, facilities; and equipment and to provide access services. They are tax-exempt and are identified as 501(c)(3) organizations under U.S. tax law and the Internal Revenue Service Code. Such corporations exist in hundreds of communities both large and small. Examples include: • Berkeley, California (PEG) • Davis, California (P) • Mountain View, California (PG) Napa, California (PEG) • Oceanside, California (PEG) • Palo Alto, California (P) • Petaluma, California (PEG) • Sacramento, California (P) • Santa Cruz, California (PEG) • Santa Rosa, California (PEG) • Tucson, Arizona (P) • Chicago, Illinois (PE) • Salina, Kansas (PEG) • Cambridge., Massachusetts (PEG) • Malden, Massachusetts (PEG) • Anoka, Minnesota (PG) • Minneapolis, Minnesota (PEG) • Missoula, Montana (PEG) • Reno, Nevada (PEG) • Lockport, New York (PEG) • Enid, Oklahoma (PEG) • Gresham, Oregon (PEG) • Portland, Oregon (PEG) Prepared by:The Buske Group 3 C�- 9 ATIACHMET 1 ACCESS BASICS Q: What are the advantages of the nonprofit corporation model? A: There are many advantages to the nonprofit corporation model for access management, including: Demonstrated track record of achievement in many communities. • Primary purpose of nonprofit is to assure the wide use of access resources. • Operations and programming efforts are more responsive to the community's needs. • Provides a,community-based approach to decision making. • Board of Directors of nonprofit is broad-based and representative of the community. • More accountability to the community. • Provides a degree of insulation between local government and cable company in area of program content and liability for program content. This insulation has proven to be extremely valuable to both the local government and cable company in many communities. • Allows government to have accountability function regarding public access rather than control over content of public access programs. • Because of the nonprofit status and the combined PEG approach there are more potential sources of funding for special activities and projects.. Many of the nonprofit access corporations listed on the previous page provide access services not only for public access but also for educational and government access. The advantages of this combined approach to PEG access management are fairly obvious. Some of them include (1) a more efficient use of available equipment, facilities, and operating dollars; (2) a desire to create a truly cooperative relationship between public, educational and government access; and (3) elimination of unnecessary layers of bureaucracy associated with multiple access management entities. This approach also assures the ability for each speaker whether a citizen, a community group, a school, or City government to maintain control of their program content and at the same time have all the benefits derived from collaborations with other groups and entities. Prepared by: The Buske Group 4 ATACHMEN i l ACCESS BASICS Q: How would a nonprofit access corporation relate to the City and the cable company? A: The nonprofit access corporation would operate access channels and facilities and provide services as specified in contracts with the City and the cable company. Q: What types of services would the access organization provide? A: 9. Operate Public, Educational, and Government Access Channel(s). Operate the access cable channels for PEG access programming with the primary purpose being to administer, coordinate, and assist those requesting access on a non-discriminatory basis. 2. Operate a Community Access Center. Provide a video production facility and equipment that shall be available for public use at such hours and times as are determined by the access corporation. Access to equipment and facilities shall be open to all those who receive training or who receive a certification from the access corporation identifying the user(s) as having satisfied training requirements. 3. Develop Operating Rules and Procedures. Develop rules and procedures for use and operation of the access equipment, facilities and channel(s) and file such rules and procedures with the City. 4. Training. Teach video production techniques to City residents and, when requested, City and school employees. Provide technical advice for the productions. 5. Playback/Cablecast. Provide for the playback/cablecasting of programs on the access channel(s). 6. Maintenance of Equipment. Provide regular maintenance and repair of all video equipment. 7. Promotion/Outreach. Actively promote the use and benefits of the access channel(s) and facilities to subscribers, the public, access users, community groups, local government, educational.institutions and the cable operator. 8. Volunteer Management Develop and manage a pool of volunteers who create community-based programs and assist others wishing assistance. While a wide range of community volunteers typically produces access programming, staff must provide the services listed above in order to assure that.an infrastructure is in place to support community producers. Prepared by: The Buske Group 5 Cs- -1 ACCESS BASICS Q: How would the access organization be funded? A: The funding for access falls into two broad categories, funding for equipment and facilities and funding for access services. Typically, the funding for equipment and facilities is provided by the cable company. Under the Cable Act local franchising authorities have the ability to require and enforce a requirement of funds for this purpose in the franchise agreement. The second type of funding required is funds for the provision of the access services listed earlier. Frequently, the two primary funding sources of he for access services are the cable company and the City (using of a portion of cable franchise fees received by City). Under the Cable Act a local franchising authority can enforce access services offerings. Due to idiosyncrasies in the Cable Act, the funds for access services that are provided by the cable company must be transferred through a separate agreement between the access corporation and the cable company. This approach preserves the separation between access services funds and franchise fees. Prepared by:The Buske Group 6 (2< - ) d