11-16-2005
4:25 p.m. PST
TO: The Hon. Mayor
and Council
FROM: Andrew Barbano,
Recording Secretary
Citizens
Cable Compliance Committee
Mr. Mayor and Councilmembers:
I viewed on
SNCAT the conversation between Councilmember Aiazzi and Mayor
Cashell earlier today when the subject of the reappointments of
CCCC Chair Chuck Lanham and myself came before the council. Mr.
Aiazzi again raised the question of the committee's elimination,
an issue we thought settled
earlier this year when the council, including Mr. Aiazzi,
supported the committee's continuation.
We have not been idle.
You have apparently not been informed of the result of extensive
research led by former member Noel Thornsberry. (We regretfully
accepted his resignation at our Oct. 7 meeting as he announced
his relocation to Iowa.)
At that meeting, your
committee found Charter in substantial noncompliance with its
new 15-year franchise. A copy of the committee's findings is attached.
At our Oct. 7 meeting,
we were informed that Charter had promised a complete response
by Oct. 11. City staff did not invite Charter representatives
to our Oct. 7 meeting because "this meeting does not concern Charter."
(The preceding is a verbatim quote.)
My Oct. 7 minutes reflect
that community relations director Steven Wright informed us that
a copy of his Oct. 4 demand letter to
Charter, as well as the draft of our Oct.
7 finding of noncompliance, had already been forwarded to
the council.
Committee member Joe
Dowden reports that he has only today received a copy of Charter's
belated response. None of the other committee members have received
documents for review in order that we might better advise the
council and staff.
The committee's process
of due diligence has identified substantial areas of noncompliance
and recommended remedies in city administration to reverse a return
to the status quo ante.
You may recall that
a pattern of institutional drift and noncompliance was well documented
in the $54,000 report compiled by Dr. Robert Sepe, the city's
cable consultant. You will find the executive summary at http://www.barbanomedia.com/docs03/chartsepexec.html
I am sure we will
all look forward to presenting our findings when Councilman Aiazzi
agendizes the second consideration of the committee's elimination.*
If you receive this in time, I would personally appreciate your
inclusion of this memo in the minutes of today's council meeting.
Very truly yours,
Andrew
Barbano
Outgoing Recording Secretary
ec and attachments:
as above
* UPDATE: The council will consider both the
committee's findings of Charter non-compliance and the elimination
of the committee at its meeting of Dec. 1, 2005. Click
here for more information.
Judgment
Day is Dec. 1, 2005, at Reno City Hall
Call, write, fax, e-mail — Make your opinion heard
Click here for complete contact
info
Citizens
Cable Compliance Committee
MEMORANDUM
DATE: October 7, 2005
TO: Mayor and Council
FROM: Citizens Cable Compliance Committee
SUBJECT: The CCCC’s Annual Report on Community Antenna Television
(CATV) Company Compliance
This first annual CCCC report, as per its bylaws,
concerns the status of compliance by Charter Communications, Inc.,
(Charter) with both the Reno Municipal Cable Ordinance (RMCO)
and with its franchise agreement with the City of Reno. These
two regulating documents specify how Charter is to provide much
of its service to the citizens of Reno. It is presented in three
sections: Findings, Actions Taken and Recommendations.
I. FINDINGS:
A. Charter has been
found to be, in the opinion of the CCCC, in non-compliance with
numerous sections of the two regulating documents.
B.
Data, associated with various sections of the regulating documents
is required from Charter. Presently, in several instances, the
City receives not only Reno data, but data from what appears
to be a variety of other locations as well. Without specificity,
it is difficult, if not impossible to determine, for reporting
purposes, Charter’s level of compliance.
C. There needs to
be a more comprehensive process by the City for the receipt,
verification, and review of cable compliance reports, annual
franchise payments, and other required data, technical as well
as administrative.
D. Due to a lack
resources, there has been limited, on-going compliance oversight
or enforcement of either of the regulating documents. On-going
oversight of the CATV franchise is necessary, as with any other
franchise agreement, to ensure that the City and its citizens
are receiving the quality of service called for.
E. It has also been
noted that there is no single point of city responsibility for
all of the City’s franchises.
II. ACTIONS TAKEN:
A. The CCCC understands
that the City is taking steps pursuant to RMCO 5.90.1026 to
notify Charter of its potential non-compliance with the RMCO
and the franchise agreement.
B. Pursuant to CCCC
recommendations, City staff is developing a “City Cable Compliance
Data Tracking Form” (Attachment), the consistent use of which
will ensure that required reports and/or moneys are received
when due and that sections of the regulating documents without
a reporting requirement are also complied with. When fully implemented,
this process will prove invaluable for ensuring that the Citizens
of Reno are continuously provided quality cable television service.
III. RECOMMENDATIONS:
The CCCC recommends that the Council consider the following actions
to ensure continued compliance with the regulating documents:
A. Enforcement and
administration of all city franchises should be centralized.
This will maximize the City’s franchise compliance administration
by placing responsibility and accountability for compliance
under one knowledgeable department head.
B. The centralized
franchise department to be staffed with personnel knowledgeable
in the various franchises’ subject matter and to be adequately
funded to fulfill its mission, goals and objectives;
C. The City to develop
and implement a uniform process to manage the cable process
via the use of the “City Cable Compliance Data Tracking Form.”
D. The centralized
franchise department staff to conduct quarterly compliance status
briefings to the CCCC.
E. The centralized
franchise department staff to assist the CCCC with the preparation
of future annual reports to the Council.
In closing, the present
members of the CCCC take their by-laws charge of reporting to
the Council on the City’s sole CATV company’s level of compliance,
very seriously. We appreciate, as citizens, the fact that you,
the members of the Reno City Council, made the determination to
allow the CCCC to continue in its original form.
We, the CCCC members
sincerely hope that the trust the Council has placed in this committee
to fulfill the charge of our by-laws has been justified.
For your support,
we the CCCC members thank you, and the citizens of Reno thank
you.
Respectfully,
Chuck
Lanham, Chairperson
John
Barber, Vice-Chairperson
Andrew Barbano, Rec. Secretary
Floyd
Dean, Member
Donald
J. Dowden, Member
Barbara
Stone, Member
N. E. Thornsberry, Member
BREAKING
NEWS: Citizen
cable panel survives second extermination attempt of 2005
Reno Gazette-Journal 12-2-2005
The
story of the first attempt
Back
to Unofficial Citizens Cable Compliance Committee Home Page
Proposed
Compliance Data Tracking Form
On
Dec. 1, 2005, the council will consider both the committee's findings
of Charter non-compliance and the elimination of the committee.
Click here for more information.
GUEST
EDITORIAL: Citizens still need cable TV committee
by Donald J. "Joe" Dowden, member
Reno
Gazette-Journal 11-30-2005
The
unedited "director's cut" of Joe Dowden's guest editorial
Judgment
Day is Dec. 1, 2005, at Reno City Hall
Call, write, fax, e-mail — Make your opinion heard
Click here for complete contact
info
Back
to top of this page
City staff
demand letter to Charter Communications
October 4, 2005
CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS
Attn: Ms. Marsha Berkbigler,
VP Franchising
9335 Prototype Drive
Reno, NV 89511
RE: Charter Communications’ Compliance with Master Cable
Ordinance (MCO)
Dear Ms. Berkbigler:
Pursuant to Reno Municipal Code (MCO) 5.90.1026, the City Manager
shall precede the issuance of a notice of violation of the Ordinance
with a reasonable period of time for the Cable Operator to remedy
the situation. The City Manager shall grant the Cable Operator
no less than five (5) and no more than thirty (30) days to cure
the violation before issuing a notice of violation. This letter
is intended as a formal notification of possible noncompliance
and request to cure pursuant to MCO 5.90.1026:
MCO 5.90.890 (Communications with Regulatory Agencies) –
We have not received any quarterly filings listing regular, special
and non-routine communications and their descriptions filed with
regulatory agencies. Within the next 30 days (no later than November
4, 2005), please provide copies of the quarterly filings for the
following periods of time:
MCO 5.90.1011 (c) (Telephones) – Quarterly reports for the
last three quarters indicate that the “average speed of answer”
is not at the ninety percent (90%) level required. Within the
next 30 days (no later than November 4, 2005), please provide
proof that the average speed of answer meets or exceeds the 90%
level required.
MCO 5.90.1011 (d) (Facsimile Machine) – Billing statements
do not include facsimile number or hours of operation. Within
the next 30 days (no later than November 4, 2005), please provide
proof that all future billing statements will include the information
as required by this section.
MCO 5.90.1011 (e) (Electronic Mail) – Billing statements
do not include E-mail addresses or hours of operation. Within
the next 30 days (no later than November 4, 2005), please provide
proof that all future billing statements will include the information
as required by this section.
MCO 5.90.1011 (g) (Tracking of Service and Repair Requests) –
In the next 30 days (no later than November 4, 2005), please indicate
how Charter intends to comply with this requirement.
MCO 5.90.1018 (a) (Notices and Information Required to be Provided
by the Cable Operator to Customers) – There may be deficiencies
in the 2005 Customer Notification brochure. Please provide proof
of compliance with this section. Within the next 30 days (no later
than November 4, 2005), please provide proof that all future notices
will include the information as required by this section.
MCO 5.90.1030 (3) (Accounting Standards) – We have not received
“an unqualified certification of a certified public accountant
attesting to the accuracy of the quarterly franchise fee payment
paid” for 2004. Please provide a copy of the required certification
within the next 30 days (no later than November 4, 2005).
MCO 5.90.1041 (Reports) – The annual report of activities
appears to be deficient in several areas:
(1)
Certified corporate revenue report – This does not appear
to be present in the 2004 report.
(3) List of officers holding
5% or more of the corporate stock – Not provided
(6) Number of Homes passed –
Number does not reflect “homes passed” for City
of Reno only.
(8) Number of Premium Service
Subscribers – Not reported but required in MCO.
(9) Number of Interactive Subscribers
– Not reported but required in MCO.
(20) Status of Emergency Power
Supply – Report indicates three-hours of emergency back-up
but MCO requires four hours. |
Please provide this
information to the City within the next 30 days (no later than
November 4, 2005), so as to make the annual report of activities
complete and compliant with this section.
In addition to above-noted possible compliance issues, the City
is requesting the following be provided by Charter Communications
as required by the Master Cable Ordinance:
MCO 5.90.1012 (c) (Customer Satisfaction Follow-up) – A copy
of the results of most recent customer satisfaction surveys.
MCO 5.90.1017 (b) (Telecommunications Device for the Deaf or Hearing
Impaired (TDD) Services Required) – Proof of compliance with
the section including the type of equipment, telephone number,
and procedures used at the call center.
MCO 5.90.1022 (a) (Cable Operator Shall Maintain and Make Available
Accurate Records of Customer Complaints) – We are requesting
these reports be filed with the City monthly.
MCO 5.90.1022 (c) (Complaint
Procedures) – Please provide the City a copy of the updated
complaint procedures for Charter Communications as required in
this section.
MCO 5.90.1041 (a) (17) – Please provide the City with maps
indicating existing location and headend equipment, trunk and
distribution lines. This may be marked as “confidential and
proprietary information”.
MCO 5.90.1041 (a) (19) – Please provide a current “report
on operations” relative to the system within the City of
Reno.
MCO 5.90.1041 (b) (1) – Please provide the City with a draft
of the proposed opinion report identifying subscriber satisfaction/dissatisfaction
with cable services offered by Charter Communications.
MCO 5.90.1041 (b) (2) – Please provide a copy of the most
recent annual plant survey report as required in this section.
Please be advised that when reporting data and/or information
as required by the Master Cable Ordinance or the franchise agreement,
the City requires that this information be specific to the City
of Reno and the cable operations within the City’s legal
boundaries.
Combined data with the surrounding communities or other areas
is not acceptable.
Also, please be advised, failure to comply with this request to
cure may result in the issuance and adjudication of one or more
notices of violation pursuant to MCO 5.90.1026(b).
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or would
like to meet to discuss these issues.
Sincerely,
Steven
M. Wright
Director of Community Relations
Cc: VP Franchising, Corporate Headquarters, St. Louis, MO
Jonathan Shipman, Deputy
City Attorney, City of Reno
City Clerk’s Office,
City of Reno
On
Dec. 1, 2005, the Reno City Council will consider both the committee's
findings of Charter non-compliance and the elimination of the
committee. Click
here for more information.
BREAKING
NEWS: Citizen
cable panel survives second extermination attempt of 2005
Reno Gazette-Journal 12-2-2005
The
story of the first attempt
Back
to Unofficial Citizens Cable Compliance Committee Home Page
GUEST
EDITORIAL: Citizens still need cable TV committee
by Donald J. "Joe" Dowden, member
Reno
Gazette-Journal 11-30-2005
The
unedited "director's cut" of Joe Dowden's guest editorial
Judgment
Day is Dec. 1, 2005, at Reno City Hall
Call, write, fax, e-mail — Make your opinion heard
Click here for complete contact
info
Proposed
Compliance Data Tracking Form
Back
to the top of this page
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