Stop The Destruction Of Community Access In San Francisco

Stop The Destruction Of Community Access In San Francisco
End Privatization of Our Community Television Channels!

Support The Protest & Press Conference 12/1/2009 4:00 PM

The City of San Francisco has handed over the operation of the Community Access Stations to the Bay Area Video Coalition BAVC. BAVC promised to protect community access television in San Francisco and work with the producers and programmers. Instead it has done the opposite.
The City of San Francisco and their chosen contractor BAVC with a multi-million dollar budget has told producers and programmers of community access television in San Francisco that the station will be closing down on December 20, 2009 despite the fact that the lease for the property does not expire until April 30, 2010 and it does not take three months to disassemble the equipment and studios. This means all productions from the Flash Studio and Main studio will be shutdown and BAVC has also said it does not plan to rebuild a main studio at it’s current location next to KQED. This takes place in San Francisco which is major center of media and communication in Northern California.
At the same time, the corporate driven BAVC is requiring producers of community access program to have their own equipment to develop and produce the shows and they are essentially saying poor and low income users of community access will be locked out of getting their programming on the channels unless they pay exorbitant fees. This is a violation of the principle of community access that it will not discriminate against low income workers and others who do not have their own equipment.
This also violates the promise of the City Department of Telecommunication and Mayor Newsom that they would protect community access in San Francisco. Many other communities including even smaller cities have fully staffed community access stations with main studios. These include Berkeley, San Jose, Sacramento, Pacifica, Santa Rosa and San Rafael. Why is it that San Francisco which is a large city cannot do the same?
http://www.communitymedia.se/cat/linksca.htm
BAVC promised when they submitted their bid and after their take-over of the station that they would work to protect the production and producers of programs. This has shown to be a false promise. Productions and producers are abandoning Community Access shows that have been established by much volunteer labor over many many years. BAVC has not even provided written notice about it's plans to an elected community board of advisors for the station. Is this how BAVC does business in San Francisco at San Francisco community accesss?
Community producers and programmers as well as community supporters of San Francisco community access demand that the City Of San Francisco require that the station stay open at 1720 Market St. until another station is constructed if there is to be a closure. We call for the cancellation of the contract with BAVC and the establishment of a democratically elected board that represents the community and labor to run the community access station. The board of BAVC does not represent the interests of community access and refuses to even meet with Community Access Producers and Programmers.
The city has millions of dollars in capital funds that could be used to maintain the station. Instead, the SF City Attorney and Mayor Newsom want to close our studios and destroy public access in San Francisco.

Support the protest and news conference on Tuesday December 1, 2009 at 4:00 PM at Channel 29 1720 Market St/Valencia St. San Francisco

Bring Your Friends And Supporters Of Community Access

Coalition To Defend Free Speech And SF Community Access
Initial Endorsers
David Miles, Steve Zeltzer, Ace Washinton, Kazumi Torii, Julian Lagos, Pam Sauer, Ken Johnson, Ellison Horne, Peter Kurtz, Raymond Hong, Stu Smith, Mary Ellen Churchill
To endorse the action and for further information contact
(415)867-0628

Call Members of the San Francisco Supervisors And Ask Them To Hold Hearings And To Stop The Closure And Privatization Of Community Access
Contact The San Francisco Department Of Telecommunications To Let Them Know You Are Opposed To Closing The Station
Fraser Berry
Principle Admistrative Analyst DTIS-SFCC/Planning And Compliance Division
581-3976 barry.fraser [at] sfgov.org
1 South Van Ness 2nd Fl. San Francisco

Also Contact The BAVC Board Of Directors And Ask Them Why They Are Destroying Community Access


HOME ABOUT STAFF & BOARD BOARD OF DIRECTORS


CURRENT BOARD MEMBERS
SALLY FIFER, PRESIDENT
SALLY JO FIFER President, CEO sally_fifer [at] itvs.org
Independent Television Service (ITVS)
651 Brannan Street
Suite 410
San Francisco, CA 94107
Phone: (415) 356-8383 ext. 233


Sally is President and CEO of Independent Television Service (ITVS), the leading provider of independently produced programs for PBS. Since 1991, ITVS has funded and presented more than 500 shows for public television. She is also Executive Producer of Independent Lens, a 29-week national series for PBS. Prior to taking the helm at ITVS, she spent nine years as the executive director of BAVC. She is the co-editor with Doug Hall of Illuminating Video, a widely used textbook on video art. She has received fellowships for executive training from Stanford and Harvard Business Schools, and holds a BA from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MA from Stanford University.

BATHSHEBA MALSHEEN, VICE-PRESIDENT
2901 Tasman Drive, Suite 210
Santa Clara, CA 95054
Tel: (408) 343-7500
Fax: (408) 748-1987
Dr. Malsheen is the President and CEO of MINO Wireless, which provides mobile international calling solutions for business travelers. She brings more than 20 years of experience in a wide variety of companies focused on mobile solutions. Dr. Malsheen was previously CEO at Groove Mobile, the world’s leading mobile music service provider. Prior to Groove, Dr. Malsheen served as president and chief executive officer of Voxware, a global provider of mobile voice-based enterprise solutions for distribution and warehouse operations. Earlier, she served as general manager of Centigram Communications Corporation’s Speech Business Unit. She currently serves as a board member of Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC), and of Independent Television Service (ITVS), She also serves as a senior advisor to Melodis, which has developed next-generation sound recognition and search technology for mobile devices, as well as to Wimeme, a mobile marketing company focused on the sports industry.

JASON KIPNIS, TREASURER
Weil Gotshal & Manges
http://www.weil.com

201 Redwood Shores Parkway
Redwood City, CA 94065
(650) 802-3000

Jason is head of the Intellectual Property (IP) Counseling Group in the Silicon Valley Office of Weil, Gotshal & Manges, and has extensive experience in patent portfolio management, IP litigation and pre-litigation counseling, IP due diligence, and IP transactions. Jason holds a JD from Stanford Law School, and a BA and MS from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

JED ALPERT
Mobile Commons NYC

86 Chambers St.
Suite 701
New York, NY 10007
info [at] mobilecommons.com
212-537-5175
Jed Alpert is founder and CEO of Mobile Commons, the leading mobile technology company focusing on cause related marketing, campaigns and advocacy. Mobile Commons customers include Aveda, CREDO, The NY State Democratic Committee, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the NRDC, the National Alliance for Hispanic Health the United Nations, Save Darfur, People for the American Way, UFCW, SEIU and the ACLU. Mobile Commons recently named a “Fast Company Magazine Fast Fifty Company.” Prior to founding Mobile Commons he served as the President of Sunshine Amalgamedia and created innovative marketing and sponsorship programs for clients such as Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Samsung, and Pepsi. As a partner at Rudolph and Beer, Jed’s practice focused on entertainment and media law. He was also an associate at Paul Weiss. Jed has produced numerous feature films, including Sunday, winner of the 1997 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize. He serves on the board of Riverkeeper and has also served on the boards of a number of film festivals and arts organizations, including Genart, The Newport Film Festival, and Thread Waxing Space. Jed holds a BA from Connecticut College and a JD from Cardozo School of Law.


PATRICIA BOERO
LATINO PUBLIC BROADCASTING
PHONE (818)847-9656
EMAIL INFO [at] LPBP.ORG

Patricia is the Executive Director of Latino Public Broadcasting. She brings decades of high-level expertise in the intersecting fields of philanthropy, filmmaking and socially responsible business. Patricia was Director of the Sundance Institute’s International Program, and Senior Program Officer at the MacArthur Foundation where she managed media programs, including funding for major public radio and television series. She directed Hispanics in Philanthropy’s Transnational Program, and was Senior Manager for Global Public Affairs at the Levi Strauss Foundation. Most recently, Boero was Director for International Corporate Social Responsibility at the Starbucks Coffee Company in Seattle, in charge of CSR projects in 37 global markets. She studied film in Sydney, Australia, where she directed documentaries for Film Australia and the public TV station SBS. She has been a correspondent for the BBC’s World Service and field producer for CNN. She was a founding member of LPB’s Board of Directors, 1998-2006.

BONNI COHEN
Actual Films
221 11th Street
San Francisco, California 94103
Phone (415) 575-9999
Fax (415) 575-0826
actualfilms [at] actualfilms.net
Bonnie started Actual Films in 1998 with her partner, Jon Shenk. She is the executive producer of the documentary The Rape of Europa, and the producer and director of a number of films, including many in the PBS series The New Heroes. She is currently producing Jon Else’s new film, Wonders Are Many. Bonni holds a MA in Documentary Film from Stanford University and a BA in International Relations from Tufts University.

JIM GUERARD
San Francisco office
Adobe Systems Incorporated
601 Townsend Street
San Francisco, CA
94103
Tel: 415-832-2000
Fax: 415-832-2020


Jim is Adobe Vice President of Product Management for Web and Mobile Video Applications, overseeing Adobe Premiere® Pro, Adobe After Effects®, Macromedia® Studio, Macromedia Flash®, and Macromedia Dreamweaver® software. Jim has 25 years of experience in computer software and entertainment industry, including executive positions at various companies including Disney, Autodesk, and Pinnacle Systems.

KEN IKEDA

Ken is Executive Director of Bay Area Video Coalition. Ken provides oversight for all aspects of operation at the Bay Area Video Coalition. Ken has been the Executive Director of BAVC since April 2007, and formerly served as the Interim Executive Director, and the Director of Youth Programs. Ken joined BAVC when the organization he founded, Youth Sounds, merged with BAVC. Ken is spearheading, with Joaquin Alvarado, the development of the National Public Lightpath, and as such, has convened meetings with a variety of national funders, content providers, and technologists who are now working together to make this network a reality.

DICK KRAMLICH
NEA
DKRAMLICH [at] NEA.COM
Dick has more than 35 years of venture capital investment experience. Dick was the first person to invest in the Ethernet, and was an early investor in Balloon Angioplasty and the company that originated PowerPoint presentations. Dick is on currently on the board of several technology companies and nonprofit organizations, including Force10 Networks, Visual Edge Technology, and the Exploratorium. He was recently Chairman and President of the National Venture Capital Association. He holds an MBA from Harvard University Graduate School of Business and a BS in History from Northwestern University. He has received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Venture Capital Association and the University of California-Haas School of Business. He and his wife Pam are noted collectors of Media Art.

NEIL O’DONNELL
Rogers Joseph O'Donnell
Robert Dollar Building
311 California Street, 10th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94104-2695
Telephone: 415/956-2828
Facsimile: 415/956-6457
Email: webmaster [at] rjo.com,
Neil is the founding partner of the law firm of Rogers Joseph O'Donnell in San Francisco, where he specializes in construction and public contract law. In over thirty years of practice, Jim has specialized in public contract and construction law at the federal, state and local levels. He was named one of the leading government contract lawyers in the country in the 2005, 2006 and 2007 editions of Chambers USA, America's Leading Lawyers for Business. Neil is on the Advisory Committee for The Government Contractor and the Associated General Contractors of California Legal Advisory Committee, and is a member of the ABA Forum Committee on the Construction Industry. He holds a JD from Yale Law School, and a BA from Williams College.