HomeMy WebLinkAbout6.2 PenaltiesCableViolations
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C I T Y C L E R K'
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AGENDA STATEMENT
CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: (April 1 , 1997)
SUBJECT:
Public Hearing: 2nd Reading of Ordinance Establishing Penalties for Cable
e;..- TV Violations (prepared By: Paul Rankin, Assistant City Manager)
EXIllBITS ATTACHED:
1.
2.
Draft Ordinance
California Government Code Section 53088.2
RECOMMENDATION: 1)
/~,~l
4)
5)
Open the Public Hearing
Receive Staff Report and Public Testimony
Close the Public Hearing
Deliberate
Waive the reading and ADOPT the Ordinance
FINANCIAL STATEMENT:
City will have the authority to impose monetary penalties in the
event of a violation by a cable television service provider. The
amount of the penalties are offset by any penalty levied under the
Franchise Agreement.
,:.-eDESCRIPTION: At the City Council Meeting on March 18, 1997, the City Council
conducted a public hearing and introduced the Ordinance attached as Exhibit 1.
In 1992, the State Legislature adopted the Video Customer Service Act, which is incorporated in the
Government Code beginning with Section 53088. The Act established service standards under State Law
including: duties of video providers; disclosure of customer information; dispute resolution procedures;
and the authority to schedule penalties. Under the law there are specific requirements affecting video
providers, which are defmed to include cable television providers. Section 53088.2(q) allows a City to
adopt a specified schedule of penalties which shall be assessed in the event that provisions of the act are
violated. If the City does not adopt the schedule of penalties, the ability to have meaningful enforcement
may be weakened.
The proposed ordinance would apply to all cable providers/franchises operated pursuant to the Dublin
Municipal Code. Although TCI is currently the only provider of these services, their franchise agreement
is IlQ1 an exclusive right to be the sole operator. As new technology is introduced and other firms evaluate
the provision of these types of services, there could be other operators in the future. The proposed
ordinance provides that it would become effective 30 days following its adoption. Therefore, any
assessment of penalties pursuant to this ordinance could not be imposed until such time as the measure is
effective.
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:_.,_ COPIES TO: Tom Baker, TCl General Manager
ITEM NO.
6.2
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The penalty schedule proposed as part of the ordinance follows the specific language contained in Section
53088.2(q). The schedule may not exceed $200 for each day of a material breach and a cumulative
amount of $600 per occurrence, provided that it is the fIrst time the violation occurred. The current
franchise agreement allows for penalties related to violations of the franchise agreement, to be assessed at
$100 per day or violation. Adoption of the schedule pursuant to state law requires reduction of penalties
levied under State Law by the amount, which may have been assessed under the franchise agreement.
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The schedule of penalties in accordance with State Law is allowed to escalate on subsequent violations, to
a maximum of$I,OOO for each day of each material breach, not to exceed a cumulative amount of $3,000
per occurrence. Again, the amount of the total penalties must be offset by any penalties levied pursuant to
a Franchise Agreement.
Section 10.1 of the current Franchise Agreement between the City of Dublin and Tele-Vue Systems (d/b/a
- TCI-Tri-Valley), states that the Franchise is to be regulated in accordance with applicable laws. The
enactment by the State Legislature of the Video Customer Service Act, is a law directly applicable to the
services provided by TCI.
The adoption of the penalty schedule shall be applicable to the specific duties of the video provider as
spelled out in section 53088.2 (a) - (n). This establishes standards for items including: a requirement for
prompt repairs; providing customers with an annual notice of the programming offered, prices, and
installation policies; toll-free customer service telephone numbers shall be provided; provision of
accurate and understandable bills; response criteria for an outage; written notice regarding increasing rates
or deleting channels; timing for the payment of bills by subscribers; refund of time limits on closed
accounts; and notice to subscribers of the ability to prohibit the disclosure of subscriber data if the fIrm
markets customer information.
At the meeting on'March 18, 1997, the ordinance was introduced referencing subsections (a) -iJU in
Government Code Section 53088.2. The appropriate reference should be subsections (a) -,(u). The
ordinance proposed for adoption as Exhibit 1 contains this minor correction and it is in full compliance
with State Law.
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Staff recommends that the City Council conduct a public hearing, waive the reading, and adopt the
ordinance, which will become effective in 30 days.
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ORDINANCE NO. - 97
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AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF DUBLIN
III III III III III III III III III
ESTABLISHING PENALTIES
FOR BREACH OF VIDEO PROVIDER SERVICES
The City Council of the City of Dublin does ordain as follows:
Section 1. Section 3.20.795 entitled VIDEO PROVIDER SERVICE PENALTIES is added to the Dublin
Municipal Code to read as follows:
The following penalties are hereby established for material breach of video provider services specified in
subdivision (a) to (n) of Section 53088.2 of the Government Code of the State ofCalifomia:
A. Two hundred dollars ($200) for each day of material breach, not to exceed six hundred
dollars ($600) for each occurrence.
B. 'Where a material breach has occurred, the city has provided notice and a penalty pursuant
to subsection A hereof, and a subsequent material breach of the same nature occurs within
12 months, the penalty shall be four hundred dollars ($400) for each day of material breach,
not to exceed twelve hundred dollars ($1200) for each occurrence.
c.
Where the city has provided notice and penalties pursuant to subsections A and B hereof
and a third or subsequent material breach of the same nature occurs within 12 months the
penalty shall be one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each day of material breach, not to
exceed three thousand dollars ($3,000) for each occurrence.
D. Penalties assessed pursuant to this section shall be reduced dollar for dollar to the extent of
any penalties imposed upon the Grantee for the same customer service failure under the franchise.
Section 2. This Ordinance shall take effect and be in force 30 days following its adoption. The City Clerk
of the City of Dublin shall cause this Ordinance to be posted in at least three (3) public places in the City of
Dublin in accordance with Section 36933 of the Government Code of the State ofCalifomia.
PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED by the City Council of the City of Dublin this _ day of_,
1997, by the following vote:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSTAlN:
ABSENT:
Mayor
ATTEST:
City Clerk
J:\WPD\MNRSW\114\ORD\CABLETV.128 JFC:EHS:rja
K2/G/4.1-97/ord-tr.doc
CALIFoRNIA GOVERNlViENT CODE EXCERPT
Video Customer Service Act
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~ 53088.2
GOVERNMENT CODE
ill2 The legislative body of the c~ty, county, or city and county, may, by ordinance, provide a schedule of
penalties for the material breach by a video provider of subdivisions (a) to (n),l inclusive. No monetary
penalties shall be assessed for a material breach where the breach is out of the reasonable control of the
video provider. Further, no monetary penalties may be imposed prior to the effective date of this
section. .AJ.1Y schedule of monetary penalties adopted purnuant to this section shall in no event exceed
two hundred dollars ($200) for each day of each material breach, not to exceed six hundred dollars ($600)
for each OCCWTence of material breach. However, where a material breach of any of subdivisions (a) to
(n),l inclusive, has occurred and the city, county, or city and county has provided notice and a fine or
penalty has been assessed, in a subsequent material breach of the same nature occurring within 12
months, the penalties may be increased by the city, county, or city and .county to a maximum of four
hundred dollars ($400) for each day of each material breach, not to exceed twelve hundred dollars ($1,200)
. for each occurrence of the material breach. Where a third or further material breach of the same nature
occurs within those same 12 months, and the city, county, or city and county has provided notice and a
fine or penalty has been assessed, the penalties may be increased to a maximwn of one thousand dollars
($1,000) for each day of each material breach, not to exceed three thousand dollars ($3,000) for each
occurrence of the material breach. With respect to video providers subject to a franchise or license, any
monetary penalties assessed under this section shall be reduced dollar for dollar to the .extent any
liquidated damage or penalty provision of a current cable television ordinance, franchise contract, or
license agreement imposes a monetary obligation upon a video provider for the same customer service
failures, and no other monetary damages may be assessed. However, this section shall in no way affect
the right of franchising authorities concerning assessment or renewal of a cable television franchise under
the prQvisions of the Cable .Communications Policy Act of 1984.2
. (1') If the legislative body of a city, county, or city and county adopts a schedule of monetary penalties
pursuant to subdivision (0),3 the following procedures shall be followed:
(1) The city, county, or city and county shall give the video provider written notice of any alleged
material breaches of the conswner service standards of this division and allow the video provider at least
30 days from receipt of the notice to remedy the specified breach.
(2) A material breach for the purposes of assessing penalties shall be deemed to have occurred for each
day, following the expiration of the period specified in paragraph (1), that any material breach has not
been remedied by the video provider, irrespective of the number of customers affected.
(s) Notwithstanding subdivision (m),4 or any other provision of law, this section shall not preclude a
party affected by this section from utilizing any judicial remedy available to that party without regard to
this section. Actions taken by a local legislative body, including a franchising authority, pursuant to this
section shall not be binding upon a court of law. For this purpose a court of law may conduct de novo
review of any i!>sues presented.
(t) If any provision of this act or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid,
that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of the act which can be given effect without
the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this act are severable.
(u) 'fllls section shall become operative on September 1, 1993.
(Added by Stats.1992, c. 1198 (A.B.2388), 9 1, operative Sept. 1, 1993. Amended by St,(G:199~c. 384
(S.B.1941), S 1.) C7
1 So in enrolled bill. See subdivisions (a). to (p).
247 U.S.C.A ~ 521 et seq.
3 So in enrolled bill. See subdivision (q).
4 So in enrolled bill. See subdivision (0).