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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 03072000 - D.2 TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS FROM: Phil Batchelor, County Administrator DATE: February 18, 2800 'xrr SUBJECT: Election Coverage In CCTV "Operating Policy and Procedures". t• SPECIFIC REQUESTS} OR RECOMMENDATION(S): CONSIDER whether to change existing CCTV "Operating Policy and Procedures" regarding election coverage. FINANCIAL IMPACT: Increase in contractor's hours to monitor playback of election results for additional elections (i.e. school boards). BA CKGROUNDIREASON(S„FOR RECOMMENDATION(S3: CCTV's current "Operating Policy and Procedures" for election coverage (See attached) has been to air only election results of countywide interest in accordance with CCTV's mission and Program Review criteria (Section C). During the November elections, some viewers expressed their concerns to Supervisor Uilkema that all election results were not aired. Staff agreed to bring this concern back to the Board for their direction. CCTV airs countywide in eighteen of the County's nineteen cities and the unincorporated areas. Funding for the channel comes from franchise fees for the unincorporated residents only. The agreement to air only countywide issues was based on the need to inform citizens about countywide issues and services that were not getting sufficient coverage in local media. Also, citizens in a 1988 telephone survey requested this type of programming. This year there are four elections: the primary in March, Acalanes School Board in April, Mt. Diablo School Board in June and the general elections in November. Normally CCTV would just air election results from races covering large portio of the County. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: .i YES SIGNATURE: RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR_,.RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE APPROVE OTHER SIGNATURE(S): ACTION OF BOARD ONS a2yuy APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED—OTHER X IT IS BY THE BOARD ORDERED that Contra Costa Television (CCTV) is DIRECTED to air election results when races that cover larg portions of the County are included. (1*e. this year March and November; and CCTV is DIRECTED that with regard to forums that CCTV tapes in partnership with the League of Women Voters to keep its current policy. VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A UNANIMOUS(ABSENT i TRUE AND CORRECT COPY OF AN AYES: NOES: ACTION TAKEN AND ENTERED ABSENT: ABSTAIN; ON MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. ATTESTED March 7, 2000 PHIL BATCHELOR,CLERIC OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND NTY ADMI i TOR cc:CAO Gable TV Admfnstrator B � DEPUTY 4V- OPTIONS NS F R POLICY 1. Keep current CCTV Policy. 2. Air election results when races that cover large portions of the County are included. (i. e. this year March and November). 3. Air all election results. Currently election results can be seen on some local access stations and on the Web. Airing all election results would require additional staff time/costs to monitor equipment, which runs the information on air. Staff recommends keeping the current CCTV policy. Next, the League of Women Voters and the Contra Costa Times have asked CCTV to review its policy on "Election Coverage" (Section G) with regards to the forums that CCTV tapes in partnership with them. Currently policy indicates that "all candidatestsides are invited to participate". This differs from the League of Women Voters policy. There policy is: "for the General Election, candidates participating in forums should meet a 5%threshold, i. e., they or their party must have received 5% of the vote in the last primary, or the party's registration in the district must be at least 5% of the registered voters." OPTIONS FOR POLICY 1. Keep current policy. 2. Revise policy for General Elections to be consistent with League of Women Voters. The question is should all candidates be heard in all elections or should the focus in General Elections be just the primary contenders for the election. CCTV does air forums that are usually no more than one hour and the more candidates the shorter time available for each one to speak. This is a concern. However, the Elections Department does provide printed material that includes all candidates to inform the voter and CCTV staff recommends that forums aired on CCTV do the same. Therefore, staff recommends keeping the current CCTV policy. 31 CONTRA COSTA TELEVISION (CCTV) OPERATING POLICY AND PROCEDURES MISSION : Contra Costa Television (CCTV), A Governmental/Educational Access channel, is a public service of the Board of Supervisors committed to producing and televising quality programing on issues of county wide interest or concern. A. PURPOSE OF ACCESS AND ELIGIBILITY 1. Government Access is intended to make cable available for use by local governments. Access is made available upon requests submitted in accordance with the established criteria and procedure herein, to: a. Local government bodies and agencies (other than educational) located in Contra Costa County for use in connection with official government activities. b. State and Federal government bodies and agencies (other than educational) for use in connection with their official government activities that affect the interests of the citizens of Contra Costa County. C. Officials and representatives of the above for use in their official government activities. This includes State and Federal legislators who represent the districts in Contra Costa County. However, use of government access for political advertising or to promote or oppose a candidate for public office is not permissible Government Access use. 2. Education Access is intended for use by local public educational institutions for transmission of instructional programming and other educational purposes. Access is made available, upon request submitted in accordance with the criteria and procedures herein, to: a. Educational institutions and authorities located in Contra Costa County. b. State educational authorities and agencies. C. Officials and representatives of the above. The purpose of the use must be transmission of public instructional programming or further other educational purposes. 1 B. GOVERNMENTAL / EDUCATIONAL ACCESS REQUESTS 1. Request for use of CCTV airing time, facilities or equipment Requests must be made in writing by an eligible applicant to the Executive Director of CCTV. Program requests should be made on Dorm A (attached). 2. Char a for use of airing time, facilities or equipment CCTV will not charge eligible applicants for the use of channel time, facilities or equipment when the applicant is producing a program for airing on the Governmental/Educational Access channel. C. PROGRAM REVIEW 1. Review Criteria: Programs submitted from eligible applicants for airing on CCTV will be evaluated to determine if the proposed program is: a. of countywide interest, b. of a governmental or educational nature, C. of broadcast quality, and d. within acceptable community standards and mores. D. PROGRAM CONTENT 1. Content Criteria - Program content will be reviewed for the following: a. The program shall contain no obscene or indecent matter; b. The program shall contain no libelous or slanderous matter; C. The program shall contain no matter, the use of which is subject to copyright, except where the applicant demonstrates compliance with applicable laws; d. Except as provided in "f" below the program shall contain no commercial matter. "Commercial matter" shall include: (l) any advertising material designed to promote the sale of any products or services, including advertising by or behalf of candidates for public office; (ii) any audio or visual reference to any business enterprises, service or product for which any economic consideration was received by anyone in exchange for the display, announcement and/or reference to such business, enterprise, product or service, or(iii) any material used or designed for use to solicit funds, support or other property of value, directly or indirectly, for any business or enterprise for commercial purposes, or for any political party or candidate for office; and e. The program shall contain no advertisement of or information concerning any lottery, gift enterprise, or similar scheme offering prizes drawn or awarded by means of any such lottery, gift enterprise or scheme, whether said list contains any part or all of such prizes. 2 �5. f. It is recognized that grants and/or other types of support may be made available to individuals, groups or entities for the purpose of underwriting the cost of production. In such instances, a standard "patron's acknowledgment" may be placed at the end of the subject presentation (e.g., "This program was made possible by a contribution from the XYZ Corporation"). E. USE OF PRODUCTION FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT 1. Scheduling Use of the Production Facility and/or Equipment Following approval by the Executive Director of CCTV of a request to use the facility or equipment, and subject to availability, the Production Manager will be responsible for scheduling the use of the facility and equipment on a first- come, first-serve basis. Users will be required to sign the appropriate form(s). (See Form "B" and "C" attached.) 2. Responsibility for the Facility and or Equipment The individual or group using the facility will bear all costs for repairing any damage done to them facility during their use. The individual or group checking out the equipment will bear all costs of the equipment must be repaired or replaced due to damage, theft or abuse. CCTV may refuse to allow use of the facility or equipment to individuals or groups who have misused the facility or equipment. Failed to return equipment on time, or in any way abused the privilege. 3. Rental of Facility: In the event, groups other than governmental or educational request use of the facility to produce programming or an eligible governmental or educational group requests use of the facility to produce a program which can not be aired on CCTV, either group will be subject to procedures detailed in the County Administrative Bulletin entitled "County Services" No.3.1 dated 10/9/74 including any subsequent amendments thereto. These groups will be required to pay the appropriate rental fees and sign the "Temporary Permit to Use County Facility" Form. ( See attached.) F. CCTV SERVICES 1. Tape Duplication - One to three copies of a tape can be duplicated by CCN. (See "Rate Card." 2. Production Services: CCN is available to provide production services on an "as available " basis. A production agreement will be drafted and signed by both parties and reviewed by County Counsel. A reasonable rate, sufficient to cover County costs and overhead will be charged. 3 G. ELECTION COVERAGE Within an election cycle, 45 days immediately before a primary election or 60 days immediately before a general election on which a candidate/issue may appear, only independent, inclusive events which cover or affect a large portion of the County may be aired where. 1. all candidates/sides are invited to participate; 2. An independent moderator leads the program; 3. Questions are not pre-screened unless the event is covered live; (For live coverage, indecent or obscene questions cannot be aired.) and 4. The event is open to the public with occasional restrictions due to limited space. H. APPEALS PROCESS 1. Written Appeal. In the event an applicant wishes to appeal the decision of CCTV"s Executive Director to deny the request can be made within ten days after the initial request has been denied to the County Administrator with a copy to CCTV's Executive Director. If the County Administrator denies the appeal, a written appeal for review of the request can be made within ten days after such subsequent denial to the Board of Supervisors with a copy to the County Administrator and CCTV's Executive Director. 4