FULLERTON : Answers Wanted on Rising Cable TV Fees

Cable television fees have risen nearly 18% since last June, and the City Council wants to know why.

The council has invited Comcast Cablevision to its 4 p.m. meeting today and will demand an explanation for two fee increases in the last six months.

The council has no control over cable rates, since the passage of a 1985 federal law deregulating cable television.

From the time of deregulation, rates in Fullerton have gone up 302%, according to city staff calculations. The basic rate today is $27.97, up from $23.77 last June, the staff said.

After a rate increase in 1985, the city sued Group W Cable in federal and state court. The city lost.

City staff members say they have received numerous complaints from residents about cable fee increases.

The council may ask today for public testimony about the increases.

In other business, the council is to consider whether too many political signs are allowed in the city.

In last November’s election, 13 people competed for three council seats, which led to a large number of campaign signs. Councilman A.B. (Buck) Catlin, in a letter to the city, said: “The citizens were subjected to an unbelievably long and tiresome overexposure to political signs this past election.”

Catlin asked why the city does not remove political signs from walls and telephone poles as it does with business signs.

Political signs are given no leniency in the municipal code. However, the city has only removed them if they create a hazard or prompt complaints, according to a staff report.