Travis County Commissioners Court
January 13, 2009
Item 10
>> number 10 is to consider And take appropriate action On the request from the Texas house Of representatives to use Travis County channel 17 (tctv-17) for cablecasting The legislative session that Runs Tuesday, January 13 to Monday, June 1, 2009, which Requires a waiver of travis County code chapter 43.004.
>> good morning.
>> good morning. We're here today -- we come Every year that the Legislature is in town, we Cooperatively work with -- With the legislature and -- And the city of Austin Television to make sure That -- that all legislative Sessions are indeed Televised and that people Are able to -- are able to Watch, it's a cooperative, Meaning that Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, the City of Austin broadcast the Legislative session and they Request that we do the same For Thursdays and Fridays. What this means for the Court is that the times that You will have work sessions On Thursday those will be Rebroadcast in the evening As opposed to live the way We usually do. Common practice again it is Part of our cooperative Collaboration with other Governments to assure that The public has access and Open government and able to See their legislature and -- In making laws in the Debates as they happen.
>> what do we do about Thursday's last session? Same thing that you just Described?
>> yes. Good morning, steven Brobert, director of rmcr. In the past this program has Been going on for about 10 Years now. But during the last session We were fortunate to have in Place on line viewing of Commissioners court. So you can go to travis County tv.org and get any Live session of Commissioners court. In addition, most of us in The campus area can tune in To our own channel 12 and Get Commissioners court Live. Now that doesn't go outside The campus area, but it is Available for most of us Here.
>> last time we really Didn't have that many Problems during the early Part of the session. But during the latter part Of the session they really Were in session quite a bit On Thursday afternoon. So that's when it really -- Really causes us to kind of Reschedule our stuff, right?
>> that's correct, judge. In addition, if there's a Special session, there's Always the possibility that It will bump up into our Budget hearings or something Like that. But we come back to you with An additional request at the End of this session if there Is indeed a special session.
>> questions?
>> yes. Mr. Broberg, does the Legislature have the ability To -- to stream live.
>> they do.
>> so -- so -- I'm wondering If -- and I -- I know that It's a cooperative effort, We are all trying to get up Into the 21st century Here.
>> [laughter] I'm wondering if -- do we Have any way to -- to Monitor the -- the hits, as It were, on our live Streaming as opposed to Their live streaming?
>> yes.
>> what I'm trying to Determine is how many people Are accessing our Information by t.v. Versus Computer to know what kind Of gift we're giving the Legislature?
>> with the t.v. It's Impossible. We have never been able to Get any kind of ratings at All from time warner. Now, we can monitor our own Hits on travis Countytv.org. I have to assume that the Legislature can do the same Things. We can certainly ask them to Do that. I will say this: it is -- This is of a high degree of Interest to the people of This community.
>> absolutely.
>> there's a lot of Interest. In fact we had one incident Last year where there was Some confusion about which Entity should be Broadcasting during the Latter part of the session. That got a little ugly
>> [laughter]
>> so -- but this is -- i Mean this is the court's Decision. We understand that. Our hearts, of course, lie First with Commissioners Court and those broadcasts. But --
>> thank you, mr. Broberg.
>> mr. Broberg, I know it's No additional cost, but is There a licensing fee that We pay for the cable access Or anything like that?
>> no, this is all contract. Tctv is in contract through The city of Austin with time Warner?
>> other comments. We've been able to live with This, it's been a good Public purpose.
>> I agree, judge.
>> a lot of residents do, i Guess, like to see the Legislature. Especially late in the Session.
>> to all of our fans out There, you all have to watch The legislature instead of Us. For all of the lobbyists in Town.
>> move approval of the Request.
>> second.
>> can we charge an impact Fee to the lobbyists for the Amount of time -- never mind
>> [laughter]
>> we can try.
>> we can put -- never mind.
>> any discussion of the Motion? All in favor? That passes by unanimous Vote.
The Closed Caption log for this Commissioners Court agenda item is provided by Travis County Internet Services. Since this file is derived from the Closed Captions created during live cablecasts, there are occasional spelling and grammatical errors. This Closed Caption log is not an official record the Commissioners Court Meeting and cannot be relied on for official purposes. For official records please contact the County Clerk at (512) 854-4722.
Last Modified:
Tuesday, January 13, 2009 2:03 PM