[Imc-radio] CALL FOR SPEAKERS on Monday in support of Democracy Now!

[Randall Cotton]

It's now official. The Democracy Now! resolution is on this Monday's Urbana
City Council agenda.

You can view it on-line at:

http://city.urbana.il.us/Scripts/CouncilList.asp?d=1&Doc=/urbana/city_council/agendas/11-22-2004/Resolution_2004-11-024R.pdf

I'm also including the text at the end of this message.

The mayor is still obstructing as of this afternoon (during a special UPTV
Commission meeting), so we can expect more of the same at the Monday
meeting. Now he's insisting that the City Council needs to pass a budget
amendment to allow for the donation of the equipment and programming. But,
he hasn't proposed any such amendment (imagine that).

So this is an urgent renewed call for supporters of Democracy Now! to attend
this coming Monday's 7:30PM Urbana City Council meeting to oppose the
mayor's censorship and urge the City Council to pass this resolution
*mandating* DN! be put on the air at UPTV.

THIS IS THE ONE BIG (HOPEFULLY FINAL) EVENT THAT REALLY MATTERS - please
mark your calendars and don't forget =8-)

AND WE NEED SPEAKERS! If you would like to contribute to this effort by
speaking during the time allotted for public input at the City Council
Meeting, please reply to me directly. We need folks to spotlight the mayor's
censorship, the time he's wasted obsessing over this and the contempt this
demonstrates for the public despite the 1200+ petition signatures and
overflow crowds at the City Building in support. And also to encourage the
City Council to do the right thing, counter the mayor's attempts to quash
this, and pass the resolution being considered.

RESOLUTION NO. 2004-11-024R
RESOLUTION DIRECTING THE CITY ADMINISTRATION
TO OBTAIN AND ACTIVIATE THE NECESSARY TV SATELLITE SYSTEM
TO ALLOW FOR THE BROADCAST OF REQUESTED
PUBLIC ACCESS PROGRAMMING ON UPTV
WHEREAS, a request that Urbana Public Television (UPTV) begin
broadcasting "Democracy Now!" was submitted to UPTV on May 6, 2004; and
WHEREAS, there are 20 (twenty) additional outstanding requests from
Urbana-resident members of UPTV to broadcast "Democracy Now!" which were
submitted to UPTV Coordinator Chris Foster on August 9, 2004; and
WHEREAS, on July 12th, 2004 and September 13th, 2004 a total of over
1200 local resident petitions were submitted to the UPTV Commission in
support of the live cablecast of "Democracy Now!" on UPTV from 7AM to 8AM
each weekday; and
WHEREAS, on September 13th, 2004 the UPTV Commission voted unanimously
in favor of updating UPTV's public access policy - changes which make
possible live cablecast of "Democracy Now!" on UPTV each weekday from 7AM to
8AM; and
WHEREAS, no cost for broadcasting "Democracy Now!" will be incurred by
the City of Urbana since such cost is being donated by public access member
Randall Cotton; and
WHEREAS, programming time is readily available from 7AM to 8AM each
weekday on UPTV and much of this time is devoted to "filler" bulletin board;
and
WHEREAS, the Mayor has made clear in statements to the press (News
Gazette, September 14th, 2004) as well as in recent conversations with UPTV
Commission members that he wants city council discussion on this matter;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
URBANA, ILLINOIS as follows:

Section 1: The City of Urbana shall sign, submit and execute the "Free
Speech TV Non-Commercial Cable/Broadcast Affiliate Agreement" required for
UPTV to become a "Free Speech TV Affiliate".
Section 2: The City of Urbana shall obtain, install and activate the
necessary "Dish Network" digital satellite system receiving dish and
receiver
equipment required for "Democracy Now!" re-transmision via Free Speech TV,
to
be obtained from Free Speech Television, with any payment for such equipment
and one year of associated programming to be provided as a donation by
Randall Cotton of 508 E. Clark St. Apt. 404, Champaign, Illinois.
Section 3: The City of Urbana shall complete all equipment purchase,
installation, configuration and any other tasks necessary to begin live 7AM-
8AM weekday cablecasts of "Democracy Now!" via Free Speech TV on UPTV and
shall commence these cablecasts no later than January 3, 2005.
PASSED by the City Council this ________ day of ____________________,
______.
___________________________________
Phyllis D. Clark, City Clerk
APPROVED by the Mayor this ________ day of ____________________,
______.
___________________________________
Tod Satterthwaite, Mayor