| City Controller Wendy Greuel |
Los Angeles City Council Members |
| Eric Garcetti, President |
Wendy Greuel, President Pro Tempore |
| Jan Perry, Asst. President Pro Tempore |
Ed Reyes-1st District |
| Dennis Zine – 3rd District |
Tom LaBonge-4th District |
| Jack Weiss-5th District |
Tony Cardenas-6th District |
| Richard Alarcon-7th District |
Bernard Parks-8th District |
| Herb Wesson-10th District |
Bill Rosendahl-11th District |
| Greig Smith-12th District |
Jose Huizar-14th District |
| Janice Hahn-15th District |
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Dear Mayor and Council Members:
Your immediate and official attention is needed to support the comprehensive proposal submitted to you by the Public Television Industry Corporation (PTIC). A copy of the complete proposal to restore four public access studio facilities and channels has been delivered to your office a few days ago and I am writing to urge your support for this proposal.
The City of L.A. faces a financial crisis that makes communication to the diverse population very important and that is why I support the PTIC proposal for the following use of the four proposed studios over the next four years. Starting with one each year, the independent public channels as proposed will meet community needs of Los Angeles, as follows:
- Focus on government and community issues.
- Religious and spiritual programming that reflects the diversity and includes all entities.
- An arts channel that will embody arts, music and film.
- Sports and education.
Under the new State Cable legislation (DIVCA), a one percent Public-Educational-Government (PEG) fee will come from cable operator franchise fees paid to the City annually,and is estimated to be approximately $5,000,000 per year. These PEG funds are designated for capital costs, which is the largest portion of costs set forth in the PTIC proposal. The city needs to approve these PEG funds for capital improvements and equipment required to run the four proposed studios we would ask for that support.
Over the past twenty years the cable companies, in cooperation with our City government, provided public access channels and studios. These facilities and services are vital “public assets”. We would not think of permitting large-scale development without accompanying parks and other infrastructure to serve urban public needs. How can we have Citywide cable systems and education and government cable television channels and facilities but no such facilities set aside for the public to use? This would be a step backward in sound municipal planning.
I urge you to act swiftly to restore the public channels and production facilities at the time when we need them the most.
Sincerely,
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