Tampa Hillsborough County Cable Advisory Committee

Policy & Procedures Subcommittee

Meeting Minutes

September 1, 2004

I. Call to Order

Lynnette Judge called to order the meeting of the Tampa Hillsborough County Cable Advisory Committee, Policy and Procedures Subcommittee at 6:40pm on September 1, 2004 in the Planning Commission Meeting Room.

After reciting the Pledge of Alliance and observing a moment of silence, the meeting commenced.

II. Roll call

Lynnette Judge, Chair, conducted roll call. The following members were present:

  • Toyin Aina
  • Eva Christensen, Secretary
  • Sandy Frye
  • Ron Kindle, Community Producer Representative
  • Jodi Ray

III. Review of Proposed Changes to TBCN Policy & Procedures Manual

Lynette Judge asked Louise Thompson to review the changes approved by the TBCN Board.

Changes include:

  1. Removal of the 501(C) (3) designation in conjunction with non-profit organizations; Justification for the change is that BCN participants have found the term confusing and limiting to neighborhood groups who do not have the official designation.
  1. Increasing the number of projects to two in response to producers requesting to do more than one. For example, if a producer has reserved a truck 30 days in advance, it is considered “project” thus prohibiting a producer from working on another project in the interim

Ron Kindle asked that the verbiage be changed to read “two projects per video platform”; Greg Vawter asked for clarification on the meaning of “in production”; Gary Mitchell asked that a special events clause be added to the wording; In response to Eva Christensen’s question, Gary indicated special events are collaborative programs all producers are invited to participate in, such as the Holiday Extravaganza, and as such should not count as a project.

  1. Inclusion of Certificate of Mailing as an alternative means of communicating to Producer Candidates. It is less expensive than contacting each individual candidate by way of certified mail.
  1. Clarification that producer credits must appear in the last 2 minutes of a show. Consistency with credit placement assists with auditing.
  1. Considerable expansion to the “Safe Working Environment” section of the Policy & Procedures manual.

IV. Public Comment

Significant concern was raised over the section on “disrespect”; both members of the subcommittee and the public indicated the definition of disrespect is open to subjective interpretation; what is disrespectful to one individual may not be disrespectful to another.

Gary Mitchell expressed concern over the interpretation of the word; Mike Bagley commented on the same; Bill Quenan felt the word “disrespect” should be completely eliminated.

Jodi Ray felt the intent of the passage is clear, however the statement itself is vague. She recommended including a phrase about behavior interfering with the work environment. Eva Christensen also suggested the use of alternate language.

Follow up discussion ensued on the policies regarding how issues are reported. Lynette Judge felt the word “incites” better expressed the intent of the policy. Concern was also expressed over the policy that failure to report issues was in and of itself a violation. After Louise Thompson provided examples of disruptive behavior (i.e. incidents in which UT police were called to the scene) the subcommittee understood a “failure to report” violation was specific to other major violations.

Jean Batronie expressed her feeling that the whole document needed to be rewritten.

Bill Quenan commented on the evening’s venue; he expressed the opinion that it would be a more collaborative process to review changes if such subcommittee meetings were held in a conference room to promote more of a ‘brainstorming’ session or workshop type of environment.

Lynette indicated the subcommittee would consider such an arrangement in the future.

V. Conclusion

The Policy & Procedures subcommittee, supported all changes presented, however asked Louise Thompson, the TBCN Board and its legal counsel to consider the following:

  • With regard to increasing the number of projects, include a caveat specifically excluding truck reservations counting as a ‘project’
  • Either eliminate the passage on “disrespect” or expand the verbiage to specify “disrespectful” behavior as that which is disruptive or interrupts the normal course of business.
  • Remove the word “encourages”.
  • Clarify whether or not the individual reporting disruptive or disrespectful behavior must be identified at any point within the course of an investigation into the complaint.
  • Make a distinction between reporting minor and major violations.

Lynette Judge adjourned the meeting at 8:20pm

Minutes submitted by: Eva Christensen, Secretary