Cable Television Advisory
Committee
District of
Columbia law established the Cable Television Advisory Committee (the
"Advisory Committee") to assist and advise the District's
Office of Cable Television (OCT) and the City Council regarding development,
regulation, and design of the cable television systems serving District
residents. The Advisory Committee meets quarterly. Attendees at the
meetings vary, but usually include (i) Advisory Committee members,
(ii) OCT staff, (iii) representatives of the District's cable television
providers, and (iv) interested citizens. The topics discussed at each
meeting vary widely; recent topics of discussion have included the
renewed Comcast cable television franchise agreement (which became
effective October 21, 2002), OCT's negotiation of a long-term agreement
with Starpower Communications, introduction of advanced cable services
such as high-speed Internet via cable modem, cable TV programming
issues, and the District's recently-enacted customer service regulations,
just to reveal a small spectrum of the issues that are examined.
The Advisory Committee consists of
thirteen members, and the composition is set by District law (see
Section 301(b) of the Cable Television Reform Amendment Act of 2002,
effective October 3, 2002 (D.C. Law 14-412; D.C. Official Code 34-1253.01(b)):
| 1 |
Two representatives
from the D.C. Council (one member designated by the Chairman
and one member designated by the Chairperson of the Council
Committee overseeing OCT (currently, the Committee on Public Services and Consumer Affairs)); |
| 2 |
One representative
from the Consortium of Universities; |
| 3 |
One representative
of the District of Columbia Department of Transportation; |
| 4 |
One representative
from the Office of the Assistant City Administrator for Economic
Development; |
| 5 |
One member of the
District of Columbia Public School Board, selected by the President
of the School Board; |
| 6 |
One registered engineer
with appropriate cable television expertise; |
| 7 |
One District resident
with expert knowledge of the telecommunications industry; |
| 8 |
One resident senior
citizen; |
| 9 |
One member of the
Board of Directors of the Public Access Corporation; |
| 10 |
Two District residents
with appropriate technological expertise; and |
| 11 |
One representative
from any of the Advisory Neighborhood Commissions in the District. |
The Advisory
Committee meets quarterly, with meetings generally held on the second
Tuesday of the month. The meetings are generally held at OCT's headquarters,
3007 Tilden Street, NW, Pod P, Washington, DC 20008. OCT is located
in the Intelsat building at Tilden Street and Connecticut Avenue
with entry via the Tilden Street Intelsat entrance. OCT is accessible
via mass transit (the Van Ness/UDC Metro station on Metro's Red
line is within walking distance.) The public is invited to attend
meetings: please contact Vannice Edmunds, Paralegal Specialist of
the Office of Cable Television via email at vannice.edmunds@dc.gov
or by telephone at 202-671-0066 if you are interested in attending
a meeting.
Present members
of the Committee are listed below:
| Member
Name |
Representative
Group |
| Charles Verrill,
Jr. (Chairperson) |
D.C. resident
with cable television knowledge (appointed by the Mayor)
|
| Jeffrey S. Hops |
City Council
(designated by Chairman of Council) |
| Jourdinia Brown |
Advisory Neighborhood
Commissioner (appointed by the Mayor) |
| Stanley Wellborn |
D.C. resident
with expert knowledge of telecommunications industry (appointed
by the Mayor) |
| John Christie |
Engineer with
technical knowledge of cable television
(appointed by the Mayor)
|
| Causton Toney |
Office of the
Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development
(appointed by the Mayor)
|
| Lars Etzkorn |
District of
Columbia Department of Transportation (appointed by the
Mayor) |
| Sally Weinbrom-Kram |
Consortium of
Universities |
| Peggy Cooper
Cafritz |
D.C. Public
School Board of Education |
Kojo Nnamdi
(Nantz Rickard, representative) |
Public Access
Corporation |
| Don Smith |
DC resident
with cable television knowledge (appointed by the Mayor)
|
| Vacant Position |
City Council
(designated by Chairperson of Committee on Economic Development) |
| Kwame Holman
|
DC resident
and senior citizen (appointed by the Mayor) |
|
Questions or concerns regarding the
Cable Television Advisory Committee may be forwarded to the selected
Cable Television Advisory Committee member listed above or to Vannice
Edmunds, Paralegal Specialist, of the Office of Cable Television
via e-mail at vannice.edmunds@dc.gov
or via telephone at 202-671-0066.
|
|
