Fighting City Hall

Complete contact info for mayor, council & key staff

Citizens committee gets rolling,
appoints working groups

Jan. 15, 2003 — The City of Reno's Citizens Cable Compliance Committee held its second monthly meeting at Reno City Hall. Like the inaugural in December, this one was not cablecast but future meetings will be on Sierra Nevada Community Access Television (SNCAT). Watch this website and the Barbwire column in the Sunday Sparks Tribune for news.

At the Dec. 11, 2002, meeting, the committee elected officers, naming Andrew Barbano as chair, Karol Gorman as vice-chair and Kate Marshall as recording secretary. Jackie Inman, Barbara Stone, Noel Thornsberry and Peter Padilla round out the panel.

On January 15, 2003, the panel heard from Liz Teixeira, Assistant to the City Manager of Carson City, regarding the role and responsibilities of the capital city's cable oversite committee. She advised the committee to stay focused on its objectives by keeping in mind our limitations under the law. Fred Fichman, Executive Director of The Media Center which runs Sierra Nevada Community Access Television (SNCAT), updated us on his operations.

Marsha Berkbigler, Charter Communications Director of Governmental Relations, provided an update about ongoing upgrades and construction of the area cable system. She also answered a wide-ranging set of questions from the committee and city staff and received several consumer complaints which the public had given to committee members. She said that she would personally handle all issues brought to her by the panel and committed to attend our future meetings. (A more detailed record of the committee's questions and her responses may be accessed in the official minutes. Also see Letters/FAQs.)

Mr. Thornsberry asked Ms. Berkbigler to present a complete package of Charter sales packages, billing and operational policies at the February meeting. She said she would do so. The February meeting was cancelled by city staff, circumventing the exclusive authority of the chair. Ms. Berkbigler failed to submit the documents in March and continued her refusal into the summer when the material was finally provided. Ms. Inman resigned from the panel, frustrated at Charter's stonewalling on consumer complaints and intimidating of her former Charter co-workers. At its June 11 meeting, the Reno City Council agendized appointments of replacements for Ms. Inman and Mr. Padilla, who resigned in May for business reasons. Business demands caused Mrs. Marshall to resign in June. All are missed.

UPDATE — Floyd Dean and Chuck Lanham were appointed to replace Ms. Inman and Mr. Padilla. On Oct. 8, the city council appointed Richard Barton, Ph.D., to replace Ms. Marshall. Dr. Barton declined for personal reasons on Oct. 16, 2003. John Barber was appointed in February, 2004.

AUGUST 20, 2003 — The Reno City Council unanimously enacted a new master cable ordinance which will be the underlying law driving cable provider franchise renewal. (MORE)

AUGUST 28, 2003, CCCC MEETING — Click on the previous link to read more about it. (Click here to read Reno News & Review coverage of the meeting.)

2003 MEETINGS — The committee scheduled its regular monthly meetings on the fourth Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m. in the council chambers at Reno City Hall. We convened early on Sept. 25 at 4:00 p.m., but reverted to 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 23.

The November and December 2003 meetings were scheduled on third Tuesdays (Nov. 18 and Dec. 16) because Thanksgiving and Christmas fell on fourth Thursdays — days when we'd rather watch cable TV than discuss it. For agendas and recent minutes, go to the City of Reno's Citizens Cable Compliance Committee city website page.

NOVEMBER CANCELLATION — The Nov. 18, 2003, Reno Citizens Cable Compliance Committee meeting was canceled due to the illness of one member, time conflicts of others, and the fact that we were a member short for several months.

DECEMBER '03 MEETING — We carried the November agenda forward to Dec. 16. Click here to access the November/December agenda.

At the Dec. 16, 2003, meeting, Andrew Barbano was re-elected to a second one-year term as chair of the CCCC. Floyd Dean was named vice-chair and Karol Gorman moved from vice-chair to recording secretary.

[UPDATE 2-25-2004 — The Reno City Council appointed John Barber to the committee which will now be at full strength just in time for franchise renewal hearings. Any Reno resident wishing to serve in case of a future vacancy may contact City Clerk Lynnette Jones at (775) 334-2030 for an application, or apply via the city's website. ]

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Be well. Raise hell.

Andrew Barbano

Franchise Roulette
Reno plays it wrong, as usual

Council reviews one-year franchise extension
Citizens committee ponders new involvement
Sept. 24 & 25, 2003

Committee and consumers criticize city staff
Ask to monitor negotiations

     UPDATE: On Wednesday, October 22, 2003, the Reno City Council agendized two recommendations forwarded from the Sept. 25 CCCC meeting: the placement of a CCCC member as an observer in negotiation of a new Charter franchise agreement and permanent inclusion of purview over cable TV in the city manager's job description. The council rejected the first proposal 7-0 and amended the second to apply to the city's director of community relations. [[FOLLOWUP 3-30-2004 — Ruffled chickens came home to roost as the CCCC was pushed to review, receive public input and make recommendations to the council in just 14 days. When the final product was finally revealed, citizens committee concerns about the secret negotiations were proven justified. It foreshadowed the railroad job to come. See 2004 News.]]

The Right Way: San Jose vs. Comcast

     A 244-page legal brief filed by the nation's largest and most powerful cable company in its recent suit against the City of San Jose, California, reveals its profound indifference to the public good.
     San Jose's conditions for continuing its cable franchise include expanded public interest programming, community network access to the Internet, fiber-optic lines to serve the city, and compliance with living wage, non-discrimination and other social justice laws. Comcast in its brief rejects each of these requirements as a violation of its First Amendment rights.
     You can learn more about this case and what action to take at the Center for Digital Democracy website.

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