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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes-01-27-83-Adjourned Regular MeetingMINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DOWNEY ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING JANUARY 27, 1983 JOINT MEETING WITH COMMUNITY ACCESS CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE The City Council of the City of Downey held an adjourned regular meeting at 5:15 p.m., January 27, 1983, in the West Conference Room of the Downey City Hall Council Chamber, Mayor James T. Quinn presiding. PRESENT: Council Members: James T. Quinn Mayor Robert G. Cormack Mayor Pro Tem Theodore H. Jackman Randall R. Barb Bob Davila Committee Members: John Kennedy Chairman Dale Hardeman Bruce (Rick) Lively Paul Lambros Gene Boutault John Myland (Alternate) ALSO PRESENT: Ronald E. Cano, Assistant to City Manager Don Wagner, Manager of Housing & Human Services Robert L. Shand, City Clerk -Treasurer Mr. Cano reviewed the background concerning formation of the Community Access Citizens Advisory Committee and the functions of the Committee toward formulating a cable television franchise, on which the City has entered into an agreement with California Cablesystems. The Cable TV consortium established between the cities of Santa Fe Springs, Bell Gardens, Lynwood, Paramount and Downey has become a sounding board for staff to discuss rate program changes, monitoring construction of the system, and monitoring the franchise ordinance. Mr. Cano then discussed provisions of the financial agreement established under the franchise ordinance. He commented on the Committee's consideration and decision of establishing a non- profit corporation. Staff has presented to the City Council Articles of Incorporation, Bylaws, and corporate structure, which were subsequently approved. Mr. Cano outlined the functions of the Corporation to oversee community access pro- gramming, local program development for cable television, promote the arts, receive contributions and make distributions to qualified non-profit organizations, and any other purpose beneficial to the public. He pointed out the Articles have not been filed as yet, and once they are, the Board of Directors has 60 days to submit to the City Council the policies and procedures carrying out the objectives of the non-profit corporation. The Committee is recommending the Articles be filed when it is anticipated the 60-day time requirement can be met. A previous report was submitted to the Council outlining four options that could be pursued. The option recommended by the Committee is to work with the limited assistance of a consultant to negotiate with California Cablesystems for providing specific access services and any other services beneficial to the City. The Committee members discussed the study conducted and criteria used in selecting the recommended option. Also, a discussion was held on the number of community access channels availa- ble and how they can be utilized. Mr. Cano explained the duties of the Committee have not yet been established, and it is up to the City Council, as Board of Directors of the Corporation, to outline the duties and authority of the Committee. Also, other committees can be established by the Board of Directors. Councilman Jackman feels the Committee should be making recommendations on what it would be accomplishing. Councilman Barb would like the Administrative Director to work with the Committee but indicated the initiative should come from the Committee. The Council should only take action, if necessary, on the Committee's recommendations. Council Minutes 1/27/83 (adj.) _1_ /ia a It was mentioned that one of the areas needing clarification was the defini- tion of "any other purposes beneficial to the public." The intent of the Council was requested with regard to non-profit organizations and the rules and regulations governing requests for use of cable TV grant funds. It was also suggested that criteria be established for sponsoring the non-profit organizations. Mr. Hardeman reminded the Council that if it limits the grant funds strictly for cable purposes, it will impact its ability to use some of the funds for City business. A request of the Committee was made for an amount of money not to exceed $10,000 for consulting services. It was moved by Councilman Barb, seconded by Mayor Quinn, and passed by unanimous vote to authorize an amount of not to exceed $10,000 for consulting ser- vices. It was noted the amount would come from the General Fund Unappropriated balance, to be reimbursed at a later time through the Community Access Corporation. Questions were raised on how non-profit organizations will be selected for programming. During discussion, it was noted the organizations selected for receiving grant funds should be predicated on need and be prepared to demonstrate that need. A question was raised of whether the school systems can be considered in the overall program when establishing the rules and regulations. It was indicated that school systems also serve the community and should be included. The meeting was adjourned at 6:21 p.m. C Iiri - Robert L. Shand, City Clerk -Treasurer James T. Quinn, Mayor Council Minutes 1/27/83 (adj.) -2-