Twilight Zone

City Manager's Cable Advisory Committee (CAC) had a quorum last night. They met in room 310 at City Hall. The following is our experience. We ( WCCA TV ) were not first to arrive. Three committee members were there with the representative of the the city govt channel 12, who is also representing the city manager, along with a member representing the WPS Educational channel 11 . As soon as the fourth CAC member arrived the meeting was called into order. The chair passed out an agenda to all who asked for one. A reporter form the T&G also was present.
Their task seemed to be to continue old business, which included to follow up on an assignment they had given themselves two weeks ago, which was to contact PEG access centers which they had on a pre-assembled list, to poll them concerning: The number of distinct PEG entities, How many PEG channels, What percentage of gross revs they receive, How are the revs divided to each entity, Other sources for PEG funds, What level of Capital funds they received and how it is divided up. They also sought answers to how each respondent would define "local programming", if they establish goals, if there are any limitations or restrictions to use of funds, who the LO is and how many subscribers they have.

In other words all the questions that we addressed and we believe CAC also addressed, or should have been addressed during the ascertainment / community assessment period that took place between 2004 and 2007. The franchise expired in Jan. 2007 and the city signed a renewed cable franchise, with a much shorter term, in Spring of 2008. WCCA's Public Access agreement, normally co-terminus with the cable franchise, is yet to be negotiated.

Yes, it did get a little testy.

Read More "Good Faith" fun and frolics