Future of TV for Council Meetings Dims

The televised weekly meetings of the City Council could become the latest victim of the city’s budget crunch, now that the council has pulled the plug on its cable network.

Last week, the council axed the Community Communications Network, which videotapes the council meetings every Tuesday and televises them on Channel 36 on Mondays and Wednesdays. All seven jobs in the department are being eliminated.

The layoffs, which are due to take effect Feb. 9, are among the latest in a budget crisis that has already cost about 85 city employees their jobs.

City officials, however, are being asked to consider a proposal from some employees in the department to become private contractors for the purpose of continuing cable coverage of City Council meetings, said John D. Johnson, special assistant to City Manager Howard Caldwell. The manager’s staff, Johnson said, is evaluating the proposal. The council has not yet seen it, he said.

City Council broadcasts began in 1983, according to Sumire Gant , director of the network and public affairs department. The network also covered city events and produced special news talk shows, some in Spanish. It also made promotional films for the city. However, with the elimination of the department, those services will disappear, Gant said.

An inventory of the department’s equipment, which includes a mobile van, has already been made, Johnson said. If the city does decide to contract with its former employees, the contract would include use of the equipment, he said. The city is only considering a short-term contract that would run until the end of the fiscal year on June 30, Johnson said.

Gant said she could not put a dollar value on the equipment. Councilman Maxcy D. Filer said it was salable if the council wanted to put it on the market. However, Councilwoman Jane D. Robbins said: “I’m sure we will go on using it as we have been doing. We’re just having a little (budget) shortfall.”

The budget for the cable network and public affairs department was about $605,000 this year, Johnson said.