|
SMU Cable Programming Committee Bylaws
Adopted by the Board of Trustees of Spencer Municipal Utilities
on June 14, 1999.
1.0
Mission Statement
Spencer
Municipal Utilities operates a cable television service as
part of its municipal communications utility to provide Spencer
citizens with high-quality television programming at a cost-efficient
price.
The
charge of the SMU Cable Programming Committee (the "Committee")
shall be to make decisions and/or recommendations regarding
programming on SMU’s cable television service. These
decisions will be made after consideration of customer input,
advice from SMU staff, and in consideration of the overall
goals of the SMU cable television service and the SMU communications
utility. The Committee shall gather information to determine
customer satisfaction concerning programming variety, quality
of service, price, and other consumer priorities.
The
SMU Cable Programming Committee shall promote the SMU cable
system.
2.0
Committee Structure
2.1
Size
The Committee shall be composed of seven members appointed
by the Chairman of the Spencer Municipal Utilities Board of
Trustees (the "Board") and approved by the Board.
2.2 Service Qualifications
Members of the Committee must meet the following qualifications
for service:
1) Members must be residents of Spencer and a user of one
or more services offered by SMU.
2) Members must be willing to participate actively in all
functions of the Committee.
3) Members must be subscribers of Spencer Municipal Utilities’s
cable TV service. Committee members shall receive upon request
any or all of SMU’s analog and digital cable programming
tiers at no charge for the duration of their service on the
committee. Additional premium services, pay-per-view orders,
or other advanced features will be at the member’s own
expense.
4) The following persons are not eligible to serve on the
SMU Cable Programming Committee:
Employees of Spencer Municipal Utilities, their spouses, and
immediate family members;
Members of the SMU Board of Trustees, their spouses, and immediate
family members;
Employees of the City of Spencer, their spouses, and immediate
family members;
Members of the Spencer City Council, their spouses, and immediate
family members;
Members of other City of Spencer boards and commissions.
"Immediate
family members" shall include spouse, children, brothers,
sisters, father, mother, father-in-law, mother-in-law, mother-in-law,
daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, son-in-law, sister-in-law,
and grandchildren.
2.3
Terms
The
term of appointment for each member shall be three (3) years,
except for the members of the first Committee, which shall
be as follows:
a)
Two (2) members appointed to serve a term ending June 30,
2000;
b) Two (2) members appointed to serve a term ending June 30,
2001.
c) Three (3) members appointed to serve a term ending June
30, 2002.
Thereafter,
either two or three members shall be appointed annually. Appointments
will be made at the June meeting of the SMU Board of Trustees
for terms beginning July 1. Each member shall hold his or
her position for the term for which he or she is appointed
and until his or her successor is appointed and approved by
the SMU Board of Trustees. A term shall begin on the first
day of July and end on the last day of June.
2.4
Term Limits
Members
of the Committee shall be limited to two full terms of service
consecutively. Members appointed to fill an unexpired term
may complete the unexpired term and be eligible for two additional
full terms. Members of the first Committee are eligible for
appointment to one full term following their initial term
of service. After leaving the Committee, a person is eligible
to serve again following an absence of at least one year.
2.5
Officers
The
Committee shall annually select a Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson
from among its ranks. Selection will occur at the Committee’s
first meeting following June 30th of each year.
The
Chairperson shall coordinate committee activities in cooperation
with SMU staff; preside over Committee meetings; set meeting
schedules and agendas; facilitate discussions; network with
community groups and organizations; and stay abreast of industry
trends and programming developments.
The
Vice-Chairperson shall assist the Chair as requested and fill
the Chair’s position in case of absence.
An
SMU staff member shall serve as the non-voting Secretary of
the Committee. The Secretary shall provide written summaries
of all meetings, distribute meeting materials, complete any
and all cost accounting, and notify members of the meeting
schedule. Spencer Municipal Utilities staff serve in an advisory
capacity only, providing programming information and background,
strategic direction, financial interpretation and support.
SMU personnel have no voting responsibilities.
2.6
Meetings
The
Committee shall meet at least once per quarter. Notice of
each Committee meeting will be provided according to the Iowa
Open Meetings Law.
SMU
staff shall attend all Committee meetings to advise and provide
programming information, background and research data, and
any other information that might assist the Committee in their
work.
Special
meetings of the Committee may be called by the Chairperson
of the Committee, the Chairperson of the SMU Board of Trustees,
or by SMU staff. Written notice of the time and place for
both regular and special meetings shall be given to each member
either by personal delivery, mail, phone, e-mail, or fax at
least 48 hours prior to the meeting.
Meetings
shall be presided over by the Chairperson utilizing "Roberts
Rules of Order". The Committee Chairperson, in consultation
with SMU staff, shall decide what items of business will be
on the agenda of the next meeting.
2.7
Vacancies
Any
vacancy occurring in the Committee (other than a vacancy resulting
from the normal expiration of a term) may be filled by appointment
process. A member appointed to fill a vacancy shall serve
the remainder of the unexpired term of his or her predecessor.
Any member may resign by submitting written notice of resignation
to the Chairperson of the Committee. If the Chairperson or
Vice-Chairperson positions become vacant, the Committee shall
select a replacement from among its members.
2.8
Removal
Any
person appointed to the Committee may be removed by a motion
of the Spencer Municipal Utilities Board of Trustees. The
motion for removal, if approved by the Board, shall be filed
with the Secretary of the Board of Trustees, with a copy sent
by certified mail to the person removed. The removal shall
be effective immediately upon filing with the Secretary of
the Board of Trustees. Upon request filed with the Secretary
within 10 days from the date of mailing, the person removed
may request a public hearing before the Board of Trustees.
3.0
Responsibilities of the Cable Programming Committee
3.1
General Responsibilities
The
general responsibilities of the Committee are as follows:
1) To seek input from the community on cable television programming
and customer satisfaction.
2) To make decisions regarding the cable television programming
offered on SMU’s cable TV service.
3) To represent to the best of their abilities the interests
of the community when making programming decisions.
4) To advocate the utilization of SMU’s cable television
service for diverse community programming and public access.
5) To advocate the utilization of SMU’s communications
utility in general.
6) To provide the SMU Board of Trustees with regular reports
of all Committee activities.
Individually,
members of the Committee shall be expected to support all
final Committee decisions, to make every effort to attend
all Committee meetings and functions, and to offer constructive,
honest, and unbiased opinions without reservation.
3.2
Specific Decision Making Responsibilities
The
Committee is responsible for making decisions on the following
aspects of SMU’s cable television service:
1)
addition or deletion of channels
2) addition or deletion of programming tiers
3) placement of channels within a programming tier
The
SMU Board of Trustees makes final decisions on price structure
of all programming tiers and services.
3.3
Programming Decision Parameters
All
programming decisions made by the Committee must be consistent
with the following parameters:
1)
community standards
2) market demands
3) maintenance of the overall financial health of the communications
utility
4) legal and technical issues
5) SMU’s strategic goals and objectives.
Any
programming decisions made by the Committee that are not consistent
with these parameters are subject to rejection by the SMU
Board of Trustees.
3.4
Procedures for Programming Changes
At
any meeting, the Committee may pass a motion to recommend
a programming change. Such a motion shall require the affirmative
vote of five (5) or more committee members. A motion that
does not secure five affirmative votes fails, but may be reintroduced
at a future meeting. If fewer than five committee members
are present for a meeting, no action on programming recommendations
may be taken at that meeting.
The
Committee’s recommendation is then presented to the
SMU Board of Trustees at their next regular meeting. The Board
is allowed to review the recommendation to ensure it is consistent
with the parameters set forth in Section 3.3 of the Cable
Programming Committee Bylaws.
Upon
review by the Board, the recommendation then returns to the
Committee for final consideration. After receiving any oral
or written comments on the recommendation, the committee can
then consider a motion to adopt the programming change. The
motion for final adoption must receive at least five (5) affirmative
votes to pass.
Following
the approval of a programming change by the Committee, Spencer
Municipal Utilities will provide public notice of the change
and its effective date.
4.0 Amendments to the Bylaws
The SMU Board of Trustees has the sole authority to make any
amendments or changes to these bylaws, as it deems necessary.
back
to top
|
