May 18, 2016 Minutes

MINUTES

Regular Meeting of May 18, 2016

10200 Slater Avenue
Fountain Valley, CA 92708

1.   Call to Order: Chair Tri Ta called the meeting to order at 9:02 a.m.

2.  Roll Call:  

Chair Tri Ta                           Westminster         Present                  Director Michael Vo                           Fountain Valley                   Absent

Director Margie Rice           Westminster         Present                  Director Cheryl Brothers                  Fountain Valley                   Present

Director Dave Shawver      Stanton                  Present                  Director Mike Posey                          Huntington Beach              Present

Director Carol Warren        Stanton                  Present                 Vice Chair Barbara Delgleize            Huntington Beach              Present

PCTA staff members present                                                           Also present

Michelle Molko                 Attorney                                                   Julie Roman                                        City of Stanton

John M. Borack                 General Manager                                   Diana Dobbert                                     City of Westminster

Louis Rocha                      Video Production Manager                   Tim Davis                                             City of Fountain Valley

Christine M. Gilbert         Administrative Assistant

3.  Public Comments: None.

4.  Consent Calendar: Director Rice motioned to approve the consent calendar; seconded by Director Shawver, the motion passed unanimously as to those present. Director Brothers was not present for the vote.

5. Reports:
A.  Report of Board Members: Director Shawver mentioned he would like to discuss Verizon’s transition to Frontier Communications, but would wait until the discussion came up   later.

B.  Report of Administration: General Manager Borack summarized the report, which included channel, rate change and programming notifications from the video service providers; recent press coverage including “Fountain Valley and Huntington Beach Launch Community Paramedic Pilot Program” on the PCTA, Fountain Valley City Hall, and City of Huntington Beach PIO Facebook pages, “Fountain Valley High School’s ‘Every 15 Minutes’ Airing on FVTV” distributed 4/15/16,  “Fountain Valley Finance Program Now Airing” in the Orange County Register, “Local Channel Airs Footage of Spring Festival” in the Westminster Journal, and “Huntington Beach Jr. Lifeguard Documentary Airing on HBTV-3” distributed on 4/29/16; a LAIF performance report; a thank you letter from the City of Fountain Valley; an update on the 2014-2015 fiscal year audit; an update on the status of Westminster City Council Chambers equipment installation; a quarterly Franchise Fees graph by city; a brief report on the category of ‘Miscellaneous Business Expenses’ in PCTA’s budget; the descriptions of current PEG and Administrative expenditure details; an updated customer complaint log; a look at bulletin board slides requested by the Board; PCTA garnering nominations in four categories at the SCAN-NATOA STAR Awards; the upcoming National NATOA conference, scheduled for September 19-22 in Austin, TX; the attendance of PCTA staff at an e-NATOA seminar entitled “Political Programming in an Election Year”; and details on a new PCTA production entitled “Fuel Up Fitness” which has begun airing in all four member cities, as well as the City of Cerritos. Video Production Manager Rocha presented the production status report.

At the presentation of the Complaint Log, a discussion began regarding Verizon’s transition to Frontier, as PCTA has received a multitude of complaints against Frontier. General Manager Borack shared some information about Frontier’s strategy. Director Delgleize asked if there is anyone to whom PCTA and those it serves can complain; Attorney Molko said consumers can complain directly to the CPUC, as the State is ultimately the authority that approved the statewide franchises. Director Delgleize inquired if there is a local representative of the CPUC, to which Attorney Molko advised complaints to the CPUC are made online via their website. Director Shawver shared that in dealing with Frontier personally, it took nearly one month for his services to be set up properly. It was discussed that in the City of Long Beach, CA, four out of six council members were affected personally by the Frontier transition, and a representative from Frontier attended the Long Beach City Council meeting to address their concerns. Director Delgleize would like the CPUC contact information so she may follow up with Frontier on behalf of the City of Huntington Beach and its citizens; staff will email this information to all Board members. General Manager Borack shared an article from the LA Times that discussed the myriad of issues that have occurred during the Verizon/Frontier transition. Attorney Molko again advised that the PUC has a Consumer Affairs Branch which takes complaints both online and over the phone, to which PCTA and member cities may refer upset customers. Director Delgleize would like to have the Mayor of Huntington Beach send the CPUC a letter on behalf of the City regarding issues caused by the Verizon/Frontier transition. Director Shawver directed PCTA staff to refer those with complaints to file a complaint with the CPUC as well.

After the presentation of the production report, Director Shawver shared that he attended a Best and Bravest/Medal of Valor ceremony, during which two videos were shown that would be great to show on PCTA’s channels. Stanton liaison Julie Roman said she had the contacts for those videos and would get them to PCTA right away. Director Delgleize mentioned an air show coming up in Huntington Beach in October; a Production Request will be sent from Huntington Beach’s liaison for coverage.

C.  Report of the PCTA Attorney: Attorney Molko reported on Charter’s purchase of Time Warner Cable, saying it had been approved by the FCC and the CPUC, and the only approval possibly pending would be the Department of Justice. The FCC put out a ruling on the merger with conditions, which did mention PCTA’s letter and PEG, but did not require any conditions for PEG. General Manager Borack requested of Attorney Molko a copy of the portions of the documents which mentioned PCTA. Attorney Molko also mentioned that she would be speaking at the upcoming SCAN conference.

6.   New Business:

A. Consideration of Draft FY 2016-2017 PCTA Budget: General Manager Borack presented drafts of the PEG and Administrative Budgets for PCTA Fiscal Year 2016-17, noting some changes that were made. Director Brothers shared that she knows many agencies change auditors every few years, since new eyes often find new things, and asked how long PCTA has been using the current auditor. General Manager Borack said PCTA has used its current auditor, White Nelson Diehl Evans, for several years now, but usually a different individual conducts the audit each year. The topic would be considered for next year’s audit. Director Shawver asked how the accountant was doing, and General Manager Borack said she was doing a good job and for a very reasonable price. General Manager Borack mentioned he would do performance reviews for PCTA staff to present at the next meeting, at which time the Board might consider a pay increase, which is already built in to the draft budget. Director Posey asked about the line item for Recording Media on the PEG Budget; Video Production Manager Rocha explained that the discs used by PCTA are reusable, and there has been no need to budget for additional media. Director Shawver complimented General Manager Borack on following the direction of the Board regarding the presentation of the budget and line item details in order for the agency to remain transparent. Director Brothers appreciated the transparent presentation of PCTA’s budget as well, noting that JPAs will be asked for more information by LAFCO in the future. Director Shawver asked if the budget is posted anywhere for the general public to view, and General Manager Borack said PCTA could place it on the PCTA website. He also mentioned that a copy of the PCTA audit was requested by the County of Orange for the first time, to which Director Brothers replied that the county is being required to do more reports as well. Director Brothers moved to adopt the budgets; seconded by Director Delgleize, the motion passed unanimously as to those present.

7.   Old Business: None.

8.   Chair Ta ADJOURNED the meeting to 9:00 A.M. Wednesday, June 15, 2016 at Fountain Valley City Hall, Conference Room 1.

Respectfully submitted,

John M. Borack