PEG Access in Fresno - Alert!

The County of Fresno will address the issue of the Cable Franchise Agreement with Comcast on Tuesday, March 28 at the Board of Supervisors meeting (Hall of Records Building in Courthouse Park). The item is on the morning agenda, which starts at 9 AM.

There are two possible outcomes on the meeting on Tuesday. 1. The board can adopt the proposed franchise agreement which the General Services Department has negotiated with Comcast. 2. The board can agree to extend the current agreement with Comcast for another three months.

The franchise agreement that is being proposed is problematic for many reasons. It does not provide adequate funding for Public, Education, and Government (PEG) access, it does not specifically designate the implementation of a Public Access channel, and it does not address the need for a Community Media Center (CMC). While other communities are negotiating generous franchise agreements with their cable providers (Humboldt County for example) the County of Fresno is on the verge of giving Comcast a sweetheart deal.

Please attend the Board of Supervisor meeting on Tuesday, March 28. The BOS meets on the 3rd floor of the Hall of Records Building, which is located in Courthouse Park. The meeting starts at 9 AM and there will be an opportunity for public input. We need to tell the board that we want a franchise agreement that specifically designates and implements a public access channel. We must ask why the residents of Humboldt County will receive over $750,000 in PEG and CMC support and Fresno County is agreeing to only $150,000 - which they plan to use primarily for the Government channel. Fresno County allows the cable provider to “pass through” this expense on the cable subscribers bill. The Humboldt County franchise agreement does not allow the cable company to set up a line item on the customers bill to recover the cost of the grant. There are many other troubling issues with the Fresno County Franchise agreement. We need as many community members as possible to come to this meeting and speak out against the proposed agreement and send the county negotiator back to talk with Comcast until they come up with a better deal for county residents.

I will send out more information about this meeting and the proposed franchise agreement soon. We are still analyzing the proposed agreement, which we just received on Thursday. You can see the proposed franchise agreement by going to: http://www.co.fresno.ca.us/0110a/Questys_Agenda/PublishedMeetings.htm going to the March 28 agenda on the left, and then clicking on the 5th item (the cable franchise agreement) and then opening the document on the right. If you would like a copy of the Humboldt agreement (that was just completed earlier this month) let me know and I will email you a copy.

See you on Tuesday!