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HomeMy WebLinkAbout190-08 RESOLUTIONRESOLUTION NO. 190-08 A RESOLUTION ADOPTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS BOARD AND APPROVING CHANGES TO THE CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE GOVERNMENT CHANNEL POLICY. BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS - Section 1. That the City Council of the City of Fayetteville, Arkansas hereby adopts the recommendations of the Telecommunications Board and approves changes to the City of Fayetteville Government Channel Policy. ‘..``FRKITR AS''., ec> EU• FAYETTEVILLE ; '9S.9�KANSPG•J�,' tiN N By'lNA_ 4 9r ^ ^ " SONDRA E. SMITH, City Clerk/Treasurer PASSED and APPROVED this 7th day of October, 2008. APPROVED: By: D N COODY, ayor ATTEST: EXHIBIT 'A' POLICY ON THE USE AND PROGRAMMING OF THE GOVERNMENT CHANNEL OF FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS INTRODUCTION The City of Fayetteville Government Channel, in accordance with resolution 94-91, is intended to give Fayetteville citizens information about City government services, programs, and activities and their relationships within the community and help create an open and participatory local government. The channel is administered by the City's Cable Administrator under guidelines established by and interpreted by the Telecommunications Board. I. TELECOMMUNICATIONS BOARD The Fayetteville Telecommunications Board was created under Ordinance 4504, Chapter 33, which authorizes the board "to facilitate the creation of policies regarding cable cast material selection, time guidelines for cablecast material, viewer and facility user complaint feedback practices, and other such policies regarding the use and administration" of the Government Channel. The purpose of this policy is to establish (a) the criteria for which Governmental entities and related organizations are eligible to have programming on the channel and (b) allow the Government Channel staff to operate without determining the programming content. POLICIES II. PRIORITY OF COVERAGE/CABLE CASTING AND ELIGIBILITY FOR USE A. FIRST LEVEL OF PRIORITY 1. CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE GOVERNMENTAL MEETINGS First level priority will be given to televising City of Fayetteville Governmental meetings, regardless of the format in which conducted. City of Fayetteville Governmental meetings are defined as meetings of the governing bodies created by the City of Fayetteville, which meet FOIA criteria including all committees, subcommittees, boards, commissions, task forces, and other such bodies dealing with City of Fayetteville business. B. SECOND LEVEL OF PRIORITY 1. CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE GOVERNMENTAL INFORMATIONAL PROGRAMS Second level priority for use of the Government channel will be given to nonpartisan informational programs about City services, activities and events. C. THIRD LEVEL OF PRIORITY 1. MEETINGS OF OTHER GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES THAT MEET FOIA CRITERIA Third level priority for use of the Government channel will be given for any meeting that meets FOIA criteria and deals with government business that directly impacts the citizens of Fayetteville. Such meetings include, but are not limited to, those of Washington County, regional, state and federal agencies, Boston Mountain solid waste District, and Fayetteville Public Schools. 2. INFORMATIONAL PROGRAMS OF OTHER GOVERNMENT AGENCIES Third level priority for use of the Government Channel will also be given for non- partisan informational programs about government services or activities that may be provided by other governmental entities, such as, but not limited to, Washington County, regional, state, federal agencies and Tri -county Solid Waste. 3. PROGRAMS OF CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE CONTRACTORS AND GRANTEES Third level priority will also be given to outside agencies or groups with whom the City of Fayetteville contracts, grants money or has an agreement to provide city services or activities. In such cases, the program shall be nonpartisan in nature. 4. MODERATED PUBLIC FORUMS Third level priority will also be given to two types of moderated public forums• candidate forums and ballot issue forums. Candidates that have legally filed for an elective office which can be voted upon by Fayetteville citizens and advocates/opponents of any referendum or initiative that can be voted upon by Fayetteville citizens will be eligible to appear only in a moderated public forum venue. All such candidates or sides of an issue are to be given an equal opportunity to appear in public moderated forums. A moderated public forum will not be cancelled just because one candidate or side of a ballot issue refuses to appear to debate. The City, through the Cable Administration Division, may conduct one candidate forum for each contested office before each election. The City, through the Cable Administration Division, may conduct one ballot issue forum before each election. No candidate forums will be held before the last filing deadline. All election forums and debates will be moderated by a non-partisan group (such as, but not limited to, the League of Women Voters) and will be overseen by the Telecom Board or its designees, responsible for considering the issue representation with regard to participants, and format. D. BULLETIN BOARD MESSAGES Last priority will go to the "Government Channel Bulletin Board " The bulletin board will provide printed information about both City and community events and services when other programs are not being cablecast. It may also be used to inform residents of other *free' community events and activities. COVERAGE REQUESTS A. City of Fayetteville meetings will be covered at the request of a City of Fayetteville government elected official, a City of Fayetteville department head, a City of Fayetteville division head, or a committee chair. Other governmental agency meetings may be covered at the request of representatives of that agency. B. Registered voters who live within the city limits of Fayetteville may request that the Government Channel cover any meeting held by the City of Fayetteville or other governmental agencies provided that the meeting affects the citizens of Fayetteville and meets FOIA criteria. C. All requested meetings will be televised provided the resources are available and there exists no conflict with a request to cover a meeting with higher priority as outlined by this document. The Cable Administrator has discretion over issues of resources and priority. EDITING AND OTHER CONTENT POLICIES A. Except when (1) the intent is to use brief excerpts as part of a larger program or (2) when technical difficulties interfere, the public portions of any City Council meeting or other public meetings receiving coverage on the channel, including moderated public forums, will be cablecast in their entirety, without editing or subjective comment. All other programming is subject to editing by the Cable Administration as long as such editing does not alter the factual content or overall intent of the material being cablecast. B. No promotion, endorsement or advertising for any private business, commercial service or product or any profit-making activity, will be allowed on the Government Access Channel. However, brief audio and video credit may be given at the end of a program where special materials or assistance has been donated by a commercial or charitable enterprise. C. Programming of forums produced by outside agencies or declared candidates for any public office and persons advocating any cause, viewpoint or proposed policy of a particular nature will not be eligible for cable casting on the Government Access Channel. D. When questions arise as to the admissibility of material or language in this regard, the Cable Administrator will make a decision on whether it is to be cablecast APPEALS OF COVERAGE OR PROCEDURAL ISSUES A. Any appeals to the decisions made by the cable administrator regarding coverage, priority or procedures should be submitted to the Telecom Board. B. An appeal of a Telecom Board decision must be sponsored by an alderman filing a written appeal in the City Clerk's office within ten business days of the Telecom Board decision. Susan Thomas Submitted By City of Fayetteville Staff Review Form City Council Agenda Items or Contracts 10/7/2008 City Council Meeting Date Public Information Division Action Required: (o17 80 (arillvie Cnz\ ebbl General Government Department Resolution approving changes to the Fayetteville Government Channel policy as recommended by the Telecom Board. $ Cost of this request Account Number Project Number Budgeted Item Category / Project Budget Funds Used to Date Remaining Balance Budget Adjustment Attached Program Category / Project Name Program / Project Category Name Fund Name /1614- Department ector Finance and Internal Service Director Mayor Comments: 9/18/2008 Date Date - D8 Date Date Previous Ordinance or Resolution # Original Contract Date: Original Contract Number: /,qh/ted >b Get: t; moa /a/7/o8 Witterille City Council Memo TO: Mayor Coody and City Council FROM: Susan B. Thomas, Public Information and Policy Advisor 591 1 DATE: September 18, 2008 SUBJECT: Fayetteville Government Channel Policy Per the City Council's request, the Telecom Board has recommended changes to the Fayetteville Government Channel policy. You should have received these changes and a brief letter describing the changes via email on September 1, 2008. I have attached the letter and policy changes here for your convenience. I believe the recommendations provide a thoughtful and effective compromise to the debate over issue debates/forums on the government channel. This recommendation removes discretion from Government Channel employees and places it in the hands of elected and appointed officials to be used only in situations of official and sanctioned City of Fayetteville meetings. If an issue reaches the agenda of any City meeting, the Government Channel will be there to film the meeting — Just as we always are — and playback the meeting on the channel — just as we always do. While there are still details to work out on the exact language of the policy and the Telecom Board continues to work on these changes, I think it is fair to conclude that in the future the Government Channel will only producecandidate and ballot issue debates and that we will do so with the assistance of a non-partisan group such as the League of Women Voters. The Government Channel will continue to cover any and all City of Fayetteville government meetings regardless of meeting format. RESOLUTION NO. A RESOLUTION ADOPTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE TELECOMUNICATIONS BOARD AND APPROVING CHANGES TO THE CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE GOVERNMENT CHANNEL POLICY. BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS - Section 1. That the City Council of the City of Fayetteville, Arkansas hereby adopts the recommendations of the Telecomunications Board and approves changes to the City of Fayetteville Government Channel Policy. PASSED and APPROVED this 7th day of October, 2008. APPROVED: ATTEST: DAN COODY, Mayor SONDRA E. SMITH, City Clerk/Treasurer September 18, 2008 To Mayor Dan Coody, Fayetteville City Council, City Attorney Kit Williams, Dr. Susan Thomas: The Telecommunications Board finalized the recommendation with regard to the Govemment Channel Policy and Issues Forums in our August meeting. I have attached a marked up version of the policy; however, I am also including a description of the intended changes — as presented to the Telecommunications Board in June. No further changes were approved in the August meeting. Summary of Recommended Changes: 1. Issue forums that were previously allowed by .the policy are limited to ballot issues and candidate debates. No other issue forums are to be produced by the cable administration and aired on the govemment channel. 2. A committee should be formed to help oversee the production of the moderated ballot issue and candidate debates: a. Review candidates to ensure all sides are represented b. Review moderator selection to ensure that selected moderator is non-partisan. c. Review content to ensure that topics and questions are presented without bias toward any of the represented sides. d. Review format to ensure that the venue and configuration (seating, microphone placement, etc.) is such that each side has ample opportunity to express and communicate their point of view. 3. Specifically states that all government meetings are eligible to be televised, regardless of format. a. Allows government meetings to be conducted in any format (round table, open for public comment, panel of experts, etc.) and still be shown on the govemment channel. The primary difference between a forum -style meeting and an issue forum is that the meeting must be organized and hosted entirely by the individual, committee, or government entity that calls the meeting. The cable administration plays no part in the production, balance, or participation of the meeting. The cable administration only tapes the meetings. Thank you for your patience while we considered all sides of this issue. Sincerely, Shelli Bell Chair Telecommunications Board RESOLUTION NO. 2746 A RESOLUTION APPROVING REVISIONS TO THE FAYETTEVILLE GOVERNMENT CHANINEL USE AND PROGRAMMING POLICY. BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE ARKANSAS: EXIIIBIT'A' POLICY ON THE USE AND PROGRAMMING OF TIIE GOVERNMENT ACCESS CHANNEL FAYETTEVILLE, ARKA}{SAS INTRODUCTION The City of Fayetteville Government Access Channel, in accordance with resolution 94 91, is intended to give Fayetteville citizens information about City govemment services, programs, and activities and their relationships within the community and help create an open and participatory local government. The channel is administered by the City's Cable Administrator under guidelines established by and interpreted by the Telecommunications Board. I. TELECOMMUMCATIONS BOARD The Fayetteville Telecommunications Board was created under Ordinance 4504, Chapter 33, which authorizes the board "to facilitate the creation of policies regarding cable cast material selection, time guidelines for cablecast material, viewer and facility user complaint feedback practices, and other such policies regarding the use and administration" of the Govemment Channel. The purpose of this policy is to establish (a) the criteria for which Governmental entities and related organizations are eligible to have programming on the channel and (b) allow the Government Channel staff to operate without determining the programming content. POLICIES II. PRIORITY OF COVERAGE/CABLE CASTING AND ELIGIBILIITY FOR USE A. FIRST LEVEL OF PRIORITY 1. CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE GOVERNMENTAL MEETINGS First level priority will be given to televising City of Fayetteville Govemmental meetings, regardless of the format in which conducted. City of Fayetteville Govemmental meetings are defined as meetings of the governing bodies created by the City of Fayetteville, which meet FOIA criteria including all committees, subcommittees, boards, commissions, task forces, and other such bodies dealing with City of Fayetteville business. B. SECOND LEVEL OF PRIORITY 1. CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE GOVERNMENTAL INFORMATIONAL PROGRAMS Second level priority for use of the Govemment channel will be given to nonpartisan informational programs about City services, activities and events. C. THIRD LEVEL OF PRIORITY 1. MEETINGS OF OTHER GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES THAT MEET FOIA CRITERIA Third level priority for use of the Govemment channel will be given for any meeting that meets FOIA criteria and deals with government business that directly impacts the citizens of Fayetteville. Such meetings include, but are not limited to, those of Washington County, regional, state and federal agencies, Boston Mountain solid waste District, and Fayetteville Public Schools. 2. INFORMATIONAL PROGRAMS OF OTHER GOVERNMENT AGENCIES Third level priority for use of the Government Channel will also be given for non-partisan informational programs about govemment services or activities that may be provided by other governmental entities, such as, but not limited to, Washington County, regional, state, federal agencies and Tri -county Solid Waste. 3. PROGRAMS OF CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE CONTRACTORS AND GRANTEES Third level priority will also be given to outside agencies or groups with whom the City of Fayetteville contracts, grants money or has an agreement to provide city services or activities. In such cases, the program shall be nonpartisan in nature. 4. LIMITED MODERATED PUBLIC FORUMS Third level priority will also be given to two types of limited -moderated public forums: candidate forums and ballot issue forums. Declared candidates for any public office, and persons advocating any cause, viewpoint or proposed policy that will be decided by ballot voteof a portio-ular-nature, will be eligible to appear only in a limited -moderated public forum venue. All candidates or sides of an issue are given an equal opportunity to appear in pubic moderated forums. If it becomes apparent that only one side of a moderated forum is willing to participate, the Cable Administrator may make a decision to conduct the forum with only one side participating. The City, through the Cable Administration Division, may conduct one candidate forum for each contested office before each election. The City, through the Cable Administration Division, may conduct one ballot issue forum before each election. No candidate forums will be held before the last filing deadline. All election forums and debates will be moderated by a non-partisan group (such as. but not limited to, the League of Women Voters) and will be overseen by a public forum committee, responsible for considering the issue representation with regard to participants, content and format. D. BULLETIN BOARD MESSAGES Last priority will go to the "Government Channel Bulletin Board." The bulletin board will provide printed information about both City and community events and services when other programs are not being cablecast. It may also be used to inform residents of other *free" community events and activities. COVERAGE REQUESTS A. City of Fayetteville meetings will be covered at the request of a City of Fayetteville government elected official, a City of Fayetteville department head, a City of Fayetteville division head, or a committee chair. Other govemmental agency meetings may be covered at the request of representatives of that agency. B. Registered voters who live within the city limits of Fayetteville may request that the Government Channel cover any meeting held by the City of Fayetteville or other governmental agencies provided that the meeting affects the citizens of Fayetteville and meets FOIA criteria. C. All requested meetings will be televised provided the resources are available and there exists no conflict with a request to cover a meeting with higher priority as outlined by this document. The Cable Administrator has discretion over issues of resources and priority. EDITING AND OTHER CONTENT POLICIES A. Except when (1) the intent is to use brief excerpts as part of a larger program or (2) when technical difficulties interfere, the public portions of any City Council meeting or other public meetings receiving coverage on the channel, including limited -moderated public forums, will be cablecast in their entirety, without editing or subjective comment. All other programming is subject to editing by the Cable Administration as long as such editing does not alter the factual content or overall intent of the material being cablecast. B. No promotion, endorsement or advertising for any private business, commercial service or product or any profit-making activity, will be allowed on the Government Access Channel. However, brief audio and video credit may be given at the end of a program where special materials or assistance has been donated by a commercial or charitable enterprise. C. Programming of forums produced by outside agencies of declared candidates for any public office and persons advocating any cause, viewpoint or proposed policy of a particular nature will not be eligible for cable casting on the Govemment Access Channel. D. When questions arise as to the admissibility of material or language in this regard, the Cable Administrator will make a decision on whether it is to be cablecast APPEALS OF COVERAGE OR PROCEDURAL ISSUES A, Any appeals to the decisions made by the cable administrator regarding coverage, priority or procedures should be submitted to the Telecom Board. B. An appeal of a Telecom Board decision must be sponsored by an alderman filing a written appeal in the City Clerk's office within ten days of the Telecom Board decision C. Programming of forums produced by outside agencies of declared candidates for any public office and persons advocating any cause, viewpoint or proposed policy of a particular nature will not be eligible for cable casting on the Govemment Access Channel. D. When questions arise as to the admissibility of material or language in this regard, the Cable Administrator will make a decision on whether it is to be cablecast. FAYETTEVILLE THE CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS KIT WILLIAMS, CITY ATTORNEY DAVID WHITAKER, ASST. CITY ATTORNEY DEPARTMENTAL CORRESPONDENCE aAAda OA+. GC 7(3c/og LEGAL DEPARTMENT TO: Dan Coody, Mayor City Council Susan Thomas SheIli Bell, Telecommunications Board Chair FROM: Kit Williams, City Attorney qc_ DATE: September 30, 2008 RE: Fayetteville Government Channel Policy We need to give a big thanks to Shelli Bell and her Telecom Board for its hard work reviewing the policy for the Government Channel and their recommendation for reasonable changes. From a legal and constitutional point of view, i believe that the suggested changes to current policy adopted by Resolution NO. 2746 are worthwhile and fair. i do recommend some stylistic changes to paragraph C.4. to clarify exactly what. the candidate forums and ballot issue forums are and how they should be handled. 1 have attached a slightly modified version of the policy as the Exhibit A for the Resolution for your consideration. My first change would in C.4. Moderated Public Forums. Rather than "Declared candidates for any public office (anyone could declare their candidacy for any office at any time), 1 recommend we limit these to real candidates who have already legally filed to run for office: "Candidates that have legally filed for an elective office which can be voted upon by Fayetteville citizens ... This would limit such debates on our local government channel to those who have legally filed to seek an elective office which a Fayetteville citizen could vote for. This would be a long list: all City of Fayetteville elective offices; all Fayetteville School Board positions; some or all Farmington and Springdale School Board positions; all Quorum Court members whose district includes any of Fayetteville: all County -wide elective offices (County Judge County Clerk, etc.);., any State Representative or Senate position whose district includes a portion of Fayetteville; Third Congressional District and United States Senate candidates; all state- wide elective offices; and candidates for President and Vice President. - My second proposed change is a rewrite of the ballot initiative language for improved clarity only. I recommend that the following be used to replace the current second sentence of C.4. "Candidates that have legally filed for an elective office which can be voted upon by Fayetteville citizens and advocates/opponents of any referendum or initiative that can be voted upon by Fayetteville citizens will be eligible to appear only in a moderated public forum venue." My third proposed change is to remove the old language providing that the Cable Administrator would decide whether or not to cancel a debate (moderated public forum) if one candidate or the advocate/opponent of a ballot issue would not appear One side's refusal to appear to debate should not prevent the other side from participating in the moderated forum (which would, in effect, squelch the other side's freedom of speech). Thus, 1 have rewritten this language to ensure a debate cannot be canceled because one side refuses to participate. I have also corrected some typos in the Editing and Other Content section, paragraph C. where it now reads: "outside agencies of declared candidates", but was probably meant to read: "outside agencies or declared candidates. ' I also deleted C. and D. from the Appeals sections that were just inadvertent copies of the paragraphs in the previous section. With these minor drafting changes, I believe the recommendations from the Telecommunications Board clanfy and improve the Government Channel's Use and Programming Policy. EXHIBIT `A' POLICY ON THE USE AND PROGRAMMING OF THE GOVERNMENT CHANNEL OF FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS INTRODUCTION The City of Fayetteville Government Channel, in accordance with resolution 94-91, is intended to give Fayetteville citizens information about City government services, programs, and activities and their relationships within the community and help create an open and participatory local government. The channel is administered by the City's Cable Administrator under guidelines established by and interpreted by the Telecommunications Board. I. TELECOMMUNICATIONS BOARD The Fayetteville Telecommunications Board was created under Ordinance 4504, Chapter 33, which authorizes the board "to facilitate the creation of policies regarding cable cast material selection, time guidelines for cablecast material, viewer and facility user complaint feedback practices, and other such policies regarding the use and administration" of the Government Channel. The purpose of this policy is to establish (a) the criteria for which Governmental entities and related organizations are eligible to have programming on the channel and (b) allow the Government Channel staff to operate without determining the programming content. POLICIES 1I. PRIORITY OF COVERAGE/CABLE CASTING AND ELIGIBILITY FOR USE A. FIRST LEVEL OF PRIORITY 1. CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE GOVERNMENTAL MEETINGS First level priority will be given to televising City of Fayetteville Governmental meetings, regardless of the format in which conducted. City of Fayetteville Governmental meetings are defined as meetings of the governing bodies created by the City of Fayetteville, which meet FOIA criteria including all committees, subcommittees, boards, commissions, task forces, and other such bodies dealing with City of Fayetteville business. B. SECOND LEVEL OF PRIORITY 1. CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE GOVERNMENTAL INFORMATIONAL PROGRAMS Second level priority for use of the Government channel will be given to nonpartisan informational programs about City services, activities and events. C. THIRD LEVEL OF PRIORITY 1. MEETINGS OF OTHER GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES THAT MEET FOIA CRITERIA Third level priority for use of the Government channel will be given for any meeting that meets FOIA criteria and deals with government business that directly impacts the citizens of Fayetteville. Such meetings include, but are not limited to, those of Washington County, regional, state and federal agencies, Boston Mountain solid waste District, and Fayetteville Public Schools. 2. INFORMATIONAL PROGRAMS OF OTHER GOVERNMENT AGENCIES Third level priority for use of the Government Channel will also be given for non- partisan informational programs about government services or activities that may be provided by other governmental entities, such as, but not limited to, Washington County, regional, state, federal agencies and Tri -county Solid Waste. 3. PROGRAMS OF CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE CONTRACTORS AND GRANTEES Third level priority will also be given to outside agencies or groups with whom the City of Fayetteville contracts, grants money or has an agreement to provide city services or activities. In such cases, the program shall be nonpartisan in nature. 4. MODERATED PUBLIC FORUMS Third level priority will also be given to two types of moderated public forums: candidate forums and ballot issue forums. Candidates that have legally filed for an elective office which can be voted upon by Fayetteville citizens and advocates/opponents of any referendum or initiative that can be voted upon by Fayetteville citizens will be eligible to appear only in a moderated public forum venue. All such candidates or sides of an issue are to be given an equal opportunity to appear in public moderated forums. A moderated public forum will not be cancelled just because one candidate or side of a ballot issue refuses to appear to debate. The City, through the Cable Administration Division, may conduct one candidate forum for each contested office before each election. The City, through the Cable Administration Division, may conduct one ballot issue forum before each election. No candidate forums will be held before the last filing deadline. All election forums and debates will be moderated by a non-partisan group (such as, but not limited to, the League of Women Voters) and will be overseen by a public forum committee, responsible for considering the issue representation with regard to participants, and format. D. BULLETIN BOARD MESSAGES Last priority will go to the "Government Channel Bulletin Board." The bulletin board will provide printed information about both City and community events and services when other P1 programs are not being cablecast. It may also be used to inform residents of other *free" community events and activities. COVERAGE REQUESTS A. City of Fayetteville meetings will be covered at the request of a City of Fayetteville government elected official, a City of Fayetteville department head, a City of Fayetteville division head, or a committee chair. Other governmental agency meetings may be covered at the request of representatives of that agency. B. Registered voters who live within the city limits of Fayetteville may request that the Government Channel cover any meeting held by the City of Fayetteville or other governmental agencies provided that the meeting affects the citizens of Fayetteville and meets FOIA criteria. C. All requested meetings will be televised provided the resources are available and there exists no conflict with a request to cover a meeting with higher priority as outlined by this document. The Cable Administrator has discretion over issues of resources and priority. EDITING AND OTHER CONTENT POLICIES A. Except when (1) the intent is to use brief excerpts as part of a larger program or (2) when technical difficulties interfere, the public portions of any City Council meeting or other public meetings receiving coverage on the channel including moderated public forums, will be cablecast in their entirety, without editing or subjective comment. All other programming is subject to editing by the Cable Administration as long as such editing does not alter the factual content or overall intent of the material being cablecast. B. No promotion, endorsement or advertising for any private business, commercial service or product or any profit-making activity, will be allowed on the Government Access Channel. However, brief audio and video credit may be given at the end of a program where special materials or assistance has been donated by a commercial or charitable enterprise. C. Programming of forums produced by outside agencies or declared candidates for any public office and persons advocating any cause, viewpoint or proposed policy of a particular nature will not be eligible for cable casting on the Government Access Channel. D. When questions arise as to the admissibility of material or language in this regard, the Cable Administrator will make a decision on whether it is to be cablecast APPEALS OF COVERAGE OR PROCEDURAL ISSUES A. Any appeals to the decisions made by the cable administrator regarding coverage, priority or procedures should be submitted to the Telecom Board. B. An appeal of a Telecom Board decision must be sponsored by an alderman filing a written appeal in the City Clerk's office within ten business days of the Telecom Board decision. 10.14.08) Clarice Pearman - Res. 190-08 Page 1 From: To: Date: Subject: Attachments: Clarice Pearman Thomas, Susan 10.14.08 4:26 PM Res. 190-08 190-08 Government Channel Policy pdf CC: Audit Susan: Attached is a copy of the above resolution passed by the City Coundl regarding the Government Channel Policy. Please let me know if there is anything else needed for this item. If you have any questions please call don't hesitate to call me Have a good day. Thanks. Clarice