ࡱ> 574M 'bjbj== WW' ltttt  &x&z&z&z&z&z&z&( **z&z&& x&x&2$ $x& ڒt($x&&0&$+(+x&Payback Time for the Town Bully Cox cable, the $10 billion telecommunications bully, has just kicked more silicon in our City's face. The Cox franchise brought to the Council Agenda session tonight (Tuesday) is boilerplate originated by Cox in Fort Smith and now handed down for use in Fayetteville. After years of negotiations, Cox's stonewalling and bullyboy tactics have paid off well for them with ever-higher cable rates, while yielding an embarrassing zero gain for the City. Thus, it's easy to agree with the recent Times' editorial complaint that " the extent to which city leaders were forced to bend over backwards to create even this agreement is ridiculous." However, City CAO Earnest has now submitted a City Council resolution that bends even further -- containing none of the key recommendations or amendments that the Telecom Board conditionally approved in its 3-to-2 vote on September 30. The amended contract is "plagiarized" (Earnest's words at the June Board meeting) from the Ft. Smith franchise and his patchwork resolution simply dismisses previous negotiations and disregards Telecom Board actions. This latest bypass of the Telecommunications Board stiff-arms each of us, because we all own a chunk of the City's rights-of-way that we rent to Cox. (However, Cox passes the rent along to subscribers as our monthly fees.) Clearly, we're all entitled to fair market value in return for use of our rights-of-way that have skyrocketed in value along with modern digital technology and our City's growth. Although Cox's subscriber rates have doubled since the negotiations began, we will receive no additional compensation from Cox. Setting aside the dollar value, however, the City's more crucial obligation to us is that we retain a clear legal right to electronic public forums and news sources that are free of bias and monopoly control. Our nation's media are now owned by a handful of conglomerate, near-monopolies like Cox, which are becoming even more powerful with their near-daily mergers. And as importantly, by law, we each own a portion of the nation's airwaves, which we also "rent" to Cox via the franchise. Today, Cox and other telecom services have fiber-optic lines and wireless services that carry television, plus the Internet, World Wide Web, telephone and data. And, under the 1989 contract, we have received payments in kind through our federally-mandated use of the local PEG channels -- government, education, and public access (CAT) -- as well as substantial cash payments and services provided by the cable provider. Such negotiation terms are common throughout the nation, but are not included in Cox's new contract. Fortunately, the City recently discovered $40,000 set aside in the 1989 City franchise, which is to be reimbursed by the cable provider to cover costs of lawyers, consultants, and studies required for renewal negotiations. If we don't use it, we lose it. So why not keep the stronger older contract and use the bully's own money to get a fair return in the negotiations and a win for our community? Jim Bemis ( #3q!'CJOJPJQJ^JB*CJOJQJ^JaJphCJOJQJ^JaJPJ^J 0J6] !"#qr  !"&'$a$'/ =!"#$% iD@D Normal$CJOJQJ^J_HaJmH sH tH <A@< Default Paragraph Font"W@" Strong5\F^F Normal (Web)dd[$\$ OJPJQJ.U@. Hyperlink >*B*ph<Z@"< Plain TextCJOJQJ^JaJ' !"#qr    ! 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