HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 11134
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ORDINANCE NO.
AN ORDINANCE REPEALING ARTICLE II "CiTI&ENS' CABLE
BOARD", OF CHAPTER 8 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF FORT
WORTH, TEXAS (1986), AND ADOPTING A NEW ARTICLE II OF
CHAPTER 8, ENTITLED "COMMUNITY PROGRAMMING ADVISORY
COMMITTEE"; PRESCRIBING THE COMPOSITION AND DUTIES OF
THE COMMITTEE; PROVIDING THAT THIS ORDINANCE SHALL BE
CUMULATIVE; PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; AND
PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE'DATE.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CfiTY OF FORT
WORTH, TEXAS:
SECTION 1.
That Article II, "Citizens' Cable Board", of Chapter 8 of
the Code of the City of Fort Worth, Texas (1986), is hereby
repealed.
SECTION 2.
That Chapter 8 of the Code of the City of Fort Worth, Texas
(1986), is amended by adopting a new Article II, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE II.
Community Programming Advisory Committee
Sec. 8-21. Creation; Members; Dissolution.
(a) 'The city council shall appoint a conununity
programming advisory committee comprised of citizens of
the city who subscribe to a cable television service
holding a franchise from the City of Fort Worth.
Preference for membership will be given to persons who
have produced programming. The committee shall consist
of nine (9) members, who shall serve in places numbered
1 through 9. In the manner prescribed by Section 2.83
of Chapter 2 ~of the Code of the City of Fort Worth,
members shall serve two-year terms. No member shall
serve more than three (3) consecutive two-year terms..
(b) Within a reasonable time after the
appointment of the members, an organizational meeting
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shall be held and officers shall be elected.
(c) The committee will adopt rules of procedure
by which it will conduct its meetings, such rules to be
subject to the approval of the city council.
(d) The committee will automatically dissolve at
the end of six (6) years from the adoption of this
ordinance, unless the city council takes affirmative
action to extend the existence of the committee beyond
the six (6) year period.
Sec. 8-22. Purpose; Duties; Responsibilities.
(a) The community programming advisory committee
will advise the city council and staff of the cable
communication office of the city concerning issues
related to the programming broadcast on cable
television channels reserved for community programming,
which currently consist of Channels 44 and 45 of the
Sammons of Fort Worth, Inc., cable system, or any such
community programming channels which may exist in the
future.
(b) The responsibilities of the committee will be
as follows:
(1) Review and recommend a plan for
community programming and community
participation on any community programming
channel, including suggesting programming and
management alternatives;
(2) On an annual basis, evaluate the
progress of the community programming plan
and recommend to the staff of the cable
communication office modifications to the
plan;
(3) Develop a community outreach plan
for the purpose of encouraging a broad
spectrum of the citizenry of Fort Worth to
participate in and to produce community
programing, and evaluate the outreach plan
on an annual basis;
(4) Serve as the planning committee for
a public meeting to be held annually, for the
purpose of reviewing the achievements of
community programming and citizen producers;
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(5) Provide budgetary guidance
regarding community programming channels to
the staff of the cable communication office;
(6) Review the proposed annual budget
of the cable communication office as it
relates to community programming and report
its comments to the City Manager prior to the
time final budget recommendations are made to
the city council.
Sec. 8-23. Meetings, Agenda.
(a) The community programming advisory committee
will meet quarterly.
(b) A quorum of the committee shall consist of
six members unless there are vacancies, in which event
the quorum shall be reduced by the number of vacancies
existing.
(c) Approval of all items before the committee
shall require an affirmative vote of no less than five
members.
(d} All meetings of the committee shall be
public, except as authorized by law.
(e) The agenda for each meeting will be prepared
by the staff of the cable communication office and
reviewed by the chair of the committee in advance of
any meeting date.. The chair will establish the final
agenda for each meeting, after any necessary
consultation with other committee members.
SECTION 3.
This ordinance shall be cumulative of all provisions of
ordinances and of the Code of the City of Fort Worth, Texas
(1986), as amended, except where the provisions of this ordinance
are in direct conflict with the provisions of such ordinances and
such Code, in which event conflicting provisions of such
ordinances and such Code are hereby repealed.
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SECTION 4.
It is hereby declared to be the intention of the city
council that the sections, paragraphs, sentences, clauses and
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phrases of this ordinance are severable, and, if any phrase,
clause, sentence, paragraph or section of this ordinance shall be
declared unconstitutional by the valid judgment or decree of any
court of competent jurisdiction, such unconstitutionality shall
not affect any of the remaining phrases, clauses, sentences,
paragraphs and sections of this ordinance, since the same would
have been enacted by the city council without the incorporation
in this ordinance of any such unconstitutional phrase, clause,
sentence, paragraph or section.
SECTION 5
This ordinance shall take effect and be in full force and
effect from and after its passage, and it is so ordained.
AP ROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY:
DFPutY City Attorney .
Date• ?- 116' Q~.
ADOPTED : / '~~ ~`
EFFECTIVE'
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siASTcR F7L'c L
ACCOUNTIiia~2 Cam, of Fort Worth, Texas
i AANSMJN fRT10N'PUBLIC .WORXSd
HlA!~A if AG MINIS~a or and C;ounci~~ Cannmunicati~~n
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"' DATE R FEREN E UMBER L NAME P E
~~^, J 07/21/92 G-9740 02REPEAL 1 of 2
~v
~ C ~ SUBJECT ORDINANCE REPEALING ARTICLE II "CITIZENS CABLE BOARD", OF CHAPTER 8 OF
THE CITY CODE, AND CREATING THE "COMMUNITY PROGRAMMING ADVISORY
COMMITTEE"
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the City Council adopt the attached ordinance repealing Article
II "Citizens Cable Board", of Chapter 8 of the Code of the City of Fort Worth and
adopting anew Article II of the Chapter 8 creating the "Community Programming Advisory
Committee."
DISCUSSION:
On September 15, 1981, the City of Fort Worth awarded a cable television franchise to
Sammons of Fort Worth, Inc., and created a "Citizens Cable Board" by the adoption of
Ordinance 8414 which is codified as Article II of Chapter 8 of the City Code. In 1981,
cities had broad regulatory powers over cable franchises. The 1981 franchise agreement
required Sammons to meet specific construction, technical and programming commitments.
The ordinance creating the Cable Board charged the board with 18 responsibilities that
dealt with regulatory compliance, construction performance and programming. Three
amendments were made to the ordinance through 1983, but the Board's general
responsibilities as prescribed in the City Code did not change. Congress passed the
Cable Act of 1984 which deregulated the cable industry. As a result, many of the
regulatory responsibilities assigned by Council to the Cable Board were eliminated by
the federal law. In 1988, the City Council Cable Committee negotiated an amendment
to the Sammons franchise which relieved Sammons from some of its original commitments.
The 1988 amendment also eliminated some of the remaining responsibilities of the Cable
Board.
The amended franchise between the City and Sammons relieved Sammons of its obligation
to construct a "dual cable" system, a system in downtown and an institutional network
until a need exists. The amended franchise also transferred the community programming
functions to the City and required Sammons to pay the city $1 million for a cable
studio which the City would construct and operate. Sammons agreed to provide the City
five channels on its system for community programming and to pay a $1 per month per
subscriber to support the community programming effort which the City Cable Office
would assume. In return, the Sammons franchise was extended for an additional 10
years, to August 11, 2006. The City Cable Office is required to produce 210 hours of
original, non-repeat programming per quarter on two channels, Municipal Channel 05 and
Community Channel 45 No minimum programming requirements have been placed on the two
education channels, one programmed by the Fort Worth School District and one by Tarrant
County Junior College. The fifth channel, the Open Channel, shows programs provided
by citizens. The City is meeting its community programming commitment with funds
generated solely from the subscriber fee--approximately $600,000 00 annually. The five
percent franchise fee paid by Sammons, an estimated $950,000.00 in 1991-92, is used for
General Fund purposes.
The responsibilities of the Cable Board as prescribed in the City Code, however, have
~~~~ Printed on recycled paper
City of Fat~t worth, Texas
Mayor and Council C'cn;~munication
DATE
07/21/92 R FEREN E NUM ER
G-9740 AME
02REPEAL PA E
2 of 2
SUBJECT ORDINANCE REPEALING ARTICLE II "CITIZENS CABLE BOARD", OF CHAPTER 8 OF
THE CITY CODE
E "
, AND CREATING TH
COMMUNITY PROGRAMMING ADVISORY
COMMITTEE"
never been amended to reflect the changes which occurred in 1984 and 1988. The Cable
Board, the City Council and the City staff have all recognized the need to clarify the
proper role for a community programming advisory committee. In December 1991, the
Council Boards and Commissions Committee began addressing the Cable Board issue.
The Committee concluded its study in June with the recommendation that the Cable Board
be eliminated and that a "Community Programming Advisory Committee" be created to
advise the City concerning programming on Channels 45 and 44. The responsibilities
will be to:
Review and recommend community programming and community participation plan
including suggesting programming and management alternatives.
Annually evaluate the community program plan implementation and recommend
modifications to the plan.
Develop a citizens participation outreach plan, and evaluate the plan on an annual
basis.
Serve as the planning committee for an annual community programming showcase which
will review the achievements of community programming and citizen producers.
Provide budgetary guidance to staff and Council as related to Channels 45 and 44.
Review the Cable Office's proposed annual budget and report its comments to the
Clty COUC1C11.
The proposed ordinance further provides that the Community Programming Advisory
Committee will be composed of nine members who will be appointed by City Council. Each
member must be a cable subscriber with preference given to persons who have produced
programming. The Committee will meet quarterly. Staff will develop a proposed agenda
for the meetings to be finalized by the Committee chair. The Committee will
automatically dissolve after six years, unless Council action extends its existence.
BT a *Amended Section 8-22, b5 and 6, page 3~-
Submitted for City Manager's FUND ACCOUNT CENTER AMOUNT CITY SECRETARY
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