ACM West report

Public Policy update from San Buenaventura –

October 28, 2007 (Ventura, CA) - The Alliance for Community Media – Western region conference just concluded a very successful gathering with some excellent networking and information exchanged regarding State video franchising and the latest “next generation” developments in digital media and broadband access. The full conference program is online at http://acmwest.org – and I expect that conference materials will be posted there before long

After a thoughtful greeting from the City Manager about the importance of media localism, the opening plenary kicked off “DIVCA Day” with expert panels deconstructing California’s new video franchise law. ACM national leaders were joined by SCAN NATOA conducting sessions with industry representatives from AT&T and Verizon, along with key staff from the California Public Utilities Commission. Participants were also encouraged to attend SCAN NATOA workshops being planned for November 1st (SoCal) and November 15th (NorCal) to focus on DIVCA implementation issues for Cities and Counties in California for more info on those check out http://scannatoa.org.

Here attached is an important overview of DIVCA (.ppt) from the perspective of local governments and PEG access providers in California – thanks to Sue Buske for her leadership and generosity. And another presentation from Mary Jo Borak at CPUC – providing overview from the Division of Ratepayer Advocacy, which functions as consumer advocate in State video franchise regulation.

Astute observers will note that DIVCA restricts certain important remedies for local communities with regard to PEG issues to the courts – so the immediate response if (when) State franchise holders violate DIVCA’s PEG protections, must be public interest litigation. Don’t expect to hear much more about that in open discussions – or these blogs… But if the CPUC gets involved, there could be public hearings and a public record developed.

ACM members were also reminded that FCC hearings are being planned this week – Halloween in DC. That’s a hearing on Localism – and there will be a national call to action for those who are not able to attend in person. And the “final” hearing on media ownership rules is planned for the first week of November – date uncertain – in Seattle WA. Stay tuned!