Res 15-07
RESOLUTION NO. 15-07
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF DELRAY
BEACH, FLORIDA, EXPRESSING OPPOSITION TO HOUSE BILL 529 KNOWN
AS THE "CONSUMER CHOICE ACT OF 2007" (H529), URGING FLORIDA
LEGISLATIVE REPRESENTATIVES TO REFRAIN FROM ANY FORM OF
SUPPORT OR CO-SPONSORSHIP OF H529 AND TO VOTE IN OPPOSITION TO
H529, REQUESTING GOVERNOR CRIST TO ADVISE THE HOUSE AND
SENATE LEADERSHIP THAT HE DOES NOT SUPPORT H529 IN ADVANCE
OF THE OPENING OF THE 2007 REGULAR SESSION, AND DIRECTING THAT
THIS RESOLUTION BE FORWARDED TO FLORIDA GOVERNOR CRIST, THE
PALM BEACH COUNTY LEGISLATIVE DELEGATION, THE MAYOR OF EACH
MUNICIPALITY IN PALM BEACH COUNTY, THE LEADERSHIP OF THE
PALM BEACH COUNTY LEAGUE OF CITIES, THE LEADERSHIP OF THE
FLORIDA LEAGUE OF CITIES, AND EACH MEMBER OF THE PALM BEACH
COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS; PROVIDING AN
EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, on January 23, 2007, Florida House Representative Anthony Traviesa introduced the Consumer
Choice Act of 2007 (H529); and
WHEREAS, the City Commission of the City of Delray Beach, Florida, opposes the passage of H529 because:
. The bill prohibits municipalities and counties from negotiating terms and conditions from cable and video
service providers wishing to do business within the local governments' jurisdiction in the future;
. The bill ddetes authorization for municipalities and counties to award cable service franchises and restrictions
that require cable service companies not to operate without such franchise;
. The bill designates the Florida Department of State as the authorizing authority for state-wide franchising of
cable and video service providers, but prohibits the Department from imposing build out, construction, and
deployment requirements on cable and video certificate holders;
. The bill requires the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to receive all customer servtce
complaints thereby diminating citizen ability to seek remedy of complaints via their local government;
. The bill establishes requirements and limitations on municipalities and couoties rdatiog to access to public right-
of-way;
. The bill prohibits municipalities and counties form imposing any additional requirements on cable and video
certificate holders;
. The bill would deprive municipalities and counties of the authority to establish and maintain government owned
and operated networks, known as institutional networks, that may be utilized by first responders and other
government officials in the day-to-day management of local government business;
1'''
/~
. The bill would potentially reduce the amount of capacity which may be required by local governments to meet
their public, educational, and government "PEG" access needs, while stripping local government of the ability to
obtain capital support for the use of PEG capacity with the result that the communities' cable related needs and
interests may not be met;
. The bill would deprive local citizens of the ability to address the local issues, locally, by removing to the state all
customer service issues;
. The bill would ultimatdy preempt all local authority over the provision of cable and video services within the
community, including the ability of the local government to provide appropriate oversight to entities conducting
business within their jurisdiction and in the local public rights-of-way;
WHEREAS, for these reasons, the City Commission finds that it should oppose H529 and urges the Florida
Governor Crist, the Palm Beach County Legislative Ddegation, the Mayor of each municipality in Palm Beach County,
the leadership of the Palm Beach County League of Cities, the leadership of the Florida League of Cities, and each
member of the Palm Beach County Board of Couoty Commissioners to oppose H529; and
WHEREAS, the City Commission finds that this Resolution should be forwarded to Florida Governor Crist,
the Palm Beach County Legislative Delegation, the Mayor of each municipality in Palm Beach Couoty, the leadership of
the Palm Beach County League of Cities, the leadership of the Florida League of Cities, and each member of the Palm
Beach County Board of County Commissioners to oppose H529.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF DELRAY
BEACH, FLORIDA, THAT:
Section I. For the reasons stated above, the City Commission of the City of Delray Beach, Florida, declares
its opposition to H529 and urges the Florida Governor Crist, the Palm Beach County Legislative Delegation, the Mayor
of each municipality in Palm Beach County, the leadership of the Palm Beach Couoty League of Cities, the leadership of
the Florida League of Cities, and each member of the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners to oppose
H529.
Section II. The City Commission requests Governor Crist to strongly consider advising the leadership of
the House and Senate prior to the opening of the 2007 Regular Session that he does not support H529.
Section III. The City Commission hereby directs that this Resolution be forwarded immediatdy to urges the
Florida Governor Crist, the Palm Beach County Legislative Delegation, the Mayor of each municipality in Palm Beach
County, the leadership of the Palm Beach County League of Cities, the leadership of the Florida League of Cities, and
each member of the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners.
2
RES. NO. 15-07
\
Section IV. This Resolution shall become effective immediately upon its passage.
Passed and adopted 00 this the ~daY of ~ ~ ~ . ) ,2007.
8~~R~
ATTEST:
~~~.~-^l
City Clerk
3
RES. NO. 15-07
MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT:
MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSIONERS
CITY MANAGER ~
AGENDA ITEM # 9; w.. REGULAR MEETING OF FEBRUARY 20, 2007
RESOLUTION NO. 15-07
TO:
FROM:
DATE:
FEBRUARY 16, 2007
The attached e-mail from the City Attorney and Ida Feld outlines how House Bill 529 would
adversely affect municipalities and their residents. Recendy we received a resolution from the Town
of Gulfstream in opposition to this Bill.
We have prepared a similar Resolution, No. 15-07, declaring opposition to House Bill 529 known as
the "Consumer Choice Act of 2007", and urging the Governor and the Palm Beach County
Legislative Delegation to oppose the bill.
Recommend approval of Resolution No. 15-07 declaring opposition to House Bill 529 known as the
"Consumer Choice Act of 2007", and urging the Governor and the Palm Beach County Legislative
Delegation to oppose the bill.
S:\City Oerk\AGENDA COVER MEMOS\City Manager Memos\city manager's memo Res No 15-07 House Bill 52902.20.07.doc
Page 1 of2
Harden, David
From: Ruby, Susan
Sent: Friday, January 26,20078:36 AM
To: Harden, David; bbmontague@aol.com; Fred Fetzer (FBFetzer@bellsouth.net); Jeff Perlman
(Delcommish@hotmail.com); Jon levinson Oonlev@bellsouth.net); Rita Ellis
(rita@climatecontrolservices.com)
Cc: Kathleen Daley (kdaley2000@aol.com)
Subject: FW: State of Florida HB 529
Please take note of this pending bill and the detrimental effects it may have for Cities.
Susan .J\.. 'Ruby
City Attorney
200 N. W. 1st Ave.
Delray Beach, FI. 33444
Telephone: 561-243-7091
Facsimile: 561-278-4755
[Y.by@c.i,de.IIgy=.b~_ac.hjL!J$
From: Weaver, Jo
Sent: Friday, January 26,20078:08 AM
To: Ruby, Susan; Shutt, Brian
Subject: FW: State of Florida HB 529
This came in through the City's website email.
Jo Weaver
From: I1a L. Feld [mailto:IFeld@broadlaw.com]
Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2007 3:33 PM
Subject: State of Florida HB 529
MEMORANDUM
To: Local Government Clients and Interested Communities
From: Ila L. Feld, Esq.
Date: January 25,2007
Re: State of Florida HB 529
OnJanuary 23,2007, Representative Traviesa filed HB 529.The proposed bill eliminates local
government'sauthority to require franchises, licenses or any other form of agreement fromany provider of
communication or telecommunications services, including but notlimited to cable and video service providers,
using the public right ofway.
With respect to cable and video service providers, any provider seekingto provide service in the state after
Julyl, 2007, is required to obtain a certificate from the state. Such certificates shall be issued within15 days of
2/16/2007
Page 2 of2
submission of a completed application or in the event that no actionis taken shall be deemed approved after 30
days.Providers operating under existing franchises may not obtain astate certificate until after the expiration of
the existing franchiseunless(a) another cable or video service provider is providing service within the franchise
area pursuant to astate issued certificate,(b) theprovider serves less that 40% of total subscribers in the franchise
area,or( c) the provider does not provide service to thelargest number of cable subscribers in the franchise area
as of July 1,2007.In such cases, the providermay terminate the existing franchise and obtain a state certificate.
Under the state certification scheme established by the proposed bill,local governments would be prohibited
from imposing requirements including butnot limited to fees, taxes, charges, build out requirements,
capacityrequirements, upgrades, reports, records, maps transfer of ownership orcontro1.The state would
requirecompliance with FCC customer service standards until there are two or moreproviders at which point
there would be no standards imposed. Local governmentsare required to accept customer complaints untilJuly 1,
2009, at which time the responsibility willshift to the DepartmentofAgriculture.
The most significant loss to local governments may be with respect topublic, education and government access
channels. Certificate holders are only required todesignate a sufficient amount of capacity to allow provision of a
comparablenumber of channels or capacity equivalent to that which was used for at least 10hours per day under
the incumbent provider's franchise as ofJuly 1, 2007.Ifsuch use was not in effect as of July 1,2007, then within
12 months of receipt of a request, a provider must furnish upto three channels or equivalent capacity for a
municipality with a population of at least 50,000 and two channels or equivalent capacity for jurisdictions ofless
than 50,000.Note that the billproposes a maximum amount of capacity,nota minimum, and the language
requirescapacity rather than channels per se.Providers are not required to place any channelreclaimed by the
provider andsubsequently restored to the local jurisdiction on thebasic or analog tier.It is not clear from the
proposed languagewhether initial channels or capacity will be required to be located on the basictier of service.
Other issues of concern include the lack of mandatoryinterconnection requirement, prohibition against
requirements for any grants orin kind support and the limitation that connectivity is only required up to thefirst
200 feet from the cable or video transmission system.
The proposed bill clearly represents a substantial threat to localgovernment's authority over the public rights of
way and the virtual eliminationof benefits currently being provided by cable franchises to local
communitiesthroughout the state with the resulting financial impact.We strongly recommend to all
municipalities,counties and school boards in the state to contact your representatives inTallahasseeandvote
against this bill.
For further information please contact Matthew L. Leibowitz, Esq. atM1~ibowitz@broadlaw.comor Ila L. Feld,
Esq.IFeld@broadlaw.com.Do not miss the opportunity to meet withstaff and officials from other jurisdictions
throughout the state at the 14thAnnual Telecommunications Law Local Government Workshop: Municipal
WiFi in 20070n February 6 inOrlando.For information on this eventvisitwww.MW07FL.comor
emailTfreeman@broadlaw.comto request abrochure.
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2/16/2007
RESOLUTION NO. 15-07
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF DELRAY
BEACH, FLORIDA, EXPRESSING OPPOSITION TO HOUSE BILL 529 KNOWN
AS THE "CONSUMER CHOICE ACT OF 2007" (H529), URGING FLORIDA
LEGISLATIVE REPRESENTATIVES TO REFRAIN FROM ANY FORM OF
SUPPORT OR CO-SPONSORSHIP OF H529 AND TO VOTE IN OPPOSITION TO
H529, REQUESTING GOVERNOR CRIST TO ADVISE THE HOUSE AND
SENATE LEADERSHIP THAT HE DOES NOT SUPPORT H529 IN ADVANCE
OF THE OPENING OF THE 2007 REGULAR SESSION, AND DIRECTING THAT
THIS RESOLUTION BE FORWARDED TO FLORIDA GOVERNOR CRIST, THE
PALM BEACH COUNTY LEGISLATIVE DELEGATION, THE MAYOR OF EACH
MUNICIPALITY IN PALM BEACH COUNTY, THE LEADERSHIP OF THE
PALM BEACH COUNTY LEAGUE OF CITIES, THE LEADERSHIP OF THE
FLORIDA LEAGUE OF CITIES, AND EACH MEMBER OF THE PALM BEACH
COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS; PROVIDING AN
EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, on January 23, 2007, Florida House Representative Anthony Traviesa introduced the Consumer
Choice Act of 2007 (H529); and
WHEREAS, the City Commission of the City of Delray Beach, Florida, opposes the passage of H529 because:
. The bill prohibits municipalities and counties from negotiating terms and conditions from cable and video
service providers wishing to do business within the local governments' jurisdiction in the future;
. The bill deletes authorization for municipalities and counties to award cable service franchises and restrictions
that require cable service companies not to operate without such franchise;
. The bill designates the Florida Department of State as the authorizing authority for state-wide franchising of
cable and video service providers, but prohibits the Department from imposing build out, construction, and
deployment requirements on cable and video certificate holders;
. The bill requires the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to receive all customer servtce
complaints thereby eliminating citizen ability to seek remedy of complaints via their local government;
. The bill establishes requirements and limitations on municipalities and counties relating to access to public right-
of-way;
. The bill prohibits municipalities and counties form imposing any additional requirements on cable and video
certificate holders;
. The bill would deprive municipalities and counties of the authority to establish and maintain government owned
and operated networks, known as institutional networks, that may be utilized by first responders and other
government officials in the day-to-day management of local government business;
1
RES. NO. 15-07
. .
. The bill would potentially reduce the amount of capacity which may be required by local governments to meet
their public, educational, and government "PEG" access needs, while stripping local government of the ability to
obtain capital support for the use of PEG capacity with the result that the communities' cable related needs and
interests may not be met;
. The bill would deprive local citizens of the ability to address the local issues, locally, by removing to the state all
customer service issues;
. The bill would ultimately preempt all local authority over the provision of cable and video services within the
community, including the ability of the local government to provide appropriate oversight to entities conducting
business within their jurisdiction and in the local public rights-of-way;
WHEREAS, for these reasons, the City Commission fInds that it should oppose H529 and urges the Florida
Governor Crist, the Palm Beach County Legislative Delegation, the Mayor of each municipality in Palm Beach County,
the leadership of the Palm Beach County League of Cities, the leadership of the Florida League of Cities, and each
member of the Palm Beach County Board of Couoty Commissioners to oppose H529; and
WHEREAS, the City Commission fInds that this Resolution should be forwarded to Florida Governor Crist,
the Palm Beach County Legislative Delegation, the Mayor of each municipality in Palm Beach County, the leadership of
the Palm Beach County League of Cities, the leadership of the Florida League of Cities, and each member of the Palm
Beach County Board of County Commissioners to oppose H529.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF DELRAY
BEACH, FLORIDA, THAT:
Section I. For the reasons stated above, the City Commission of the City of Delray Beach, Florida, declares
its opposition to H529 and urges the Florida Governor Crist, the Palm Beach County Legislative Delegation, the Mayor
of each municipality in Palm Beach County, the leadership of the Palm Beach County League of Cities, the leadership of
the Florida League of Cities, and each member of the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners to oppose
H529.
Section II. The City Commission requests Governor Crist to strongly consider advising the leadership of
the House and Senate prior to the opening of the 2007 Regular Session that he does not support H529.
Section III. The City Commission hereby directs that this Resolution be forwarded immediately to urges the
Florida Governor Crist, the Palm Beach County Legislative Delegation, the Mayor of each municipality in Palm Beach
County, the leadership of the Palm Beach County League of Cities, the leadership of the Florida League of Cities, and
each member of the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners.
Section IV.
This Resolution shall become effective immediately upon its passage.
Passed and adopted on this the
day of
, 2007.
MAYOR
ATTEST:
City Clerk
2
RES. NO. 15-07