2023

 Cable Television Advisory Council

Minutes for Wednesday,
May 7^th, 2023 6:00 pm
Monthly Meeting– ZOOM

Attendance:     Johnes Ruta, Chair (New Haven)
George Alexander, Treasurer, (Hamden)
Peaches Quinn, Advisor, (New Haven)
Tom Costa,  Advisor  (New Haven Library System)
Melissa Canham-Clyne, Advisor  (Hamden)

1. Call to order 6:07 pm
2. Welcome and Minutes –
   a.  Johnes will write Minutes for May 7 meeting.
   b.  There were no April Minutes because only Johnes and Tom were in attendance, and no quorum
   was achieved.
   c.  March Minutes by Tom. No changes have been requested. Tom Costa makes Motion to approve the
   March Minutes as submitted. Johnes seconded. Unanimous approval.III.
3. Treasurer’s Report (George Alexander)
   a.  Present Funds Balance:  $6,655.42.
   b.  Year-to-date expenditures:  $0.00.
   c.  Johnes moved to accept the Treasurer’s Financial report. Mr. Costa seconded. Unanimous approval.IV.       CTV – Executive Director Joseph Schofield, not in attendance
4. Joseph Schofield’s email is non-operational.
   b. The CTV offices on state Street are still closed to the public since onset of Covid-19. The video studios
   are not available to producers.
5. Comcast –– Comcast Representative Amy Horan, not in attendance. No email messages received in February.

However, George reads letter from a Comcast subscriber named Luay Szigeti at 2420 Whitney Avenue,
Apt A7, Hamden 06518, about an incident in March 2020 during a service call, stating that a Comcast serviceperson working on wiring on the street verbally assaulted the subscriber. George describes that this
notice came as a greeting card  to the CTAC P.O. Box at Brewery Street Station, dated September 2022.
In her letter to CTAC, Ms. Szigeti states her age as 60 years, and that she had previously complained of this
incident and discussed this with Comcast Customer Service, but as of Sept 2022, there had yet been no sub-
sequent follow-up to her from Comcast. We as a council discuss the seriousness of this complaint, and
determine to contact the subscriber, and our Comcast rep Amy Horan.  Melissa agrees to contact the subscriber and to follow-up with our Comcast rep.

1. Old Business

a    CTAC Public Service Announcement, recorded in early 2020, with the CTAC members at that time,
has not yet been released to run on the air at CTV. PSA.
b.  Since the Dec. 2022 resignation of Yvonne Manning-Jones CTAC Facebook page, will now be attended
by George Alexander, along with his work on the cableadvisory.org website, which is presently up-to-date.

c.   Johnes asks about any outstanding CT Legislative Bills and/or Amendments. Peaches says she has been
continuing research on Legislative activities, and has read through 30 Bills for any amendments having
to do with cable TV, CTV, or the Cable advisories of CT. Johnes inquires the names of legislators now
on the Energy & Technology Committee; Peaches recommends review of website  cga.ct.gov for updated
list of committee members – see Committees link to Energy & Technology, then Membership.
But that the Legislature is now out-of-session until the September-October 2023 time-frame. West Haven
(in our district) has a Committee  member named Charles Ferraro (R).

However, the department that CTACs report to, namely the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority
(PURA) is under the authority of the Executive Branch of the State of CT, not the Legislative.

The legislative Bill SB-16 regarding PURA’s authority, had been amended after the end of the previous
       Legislative Session by certain legislators seeking to terminate cable franchises required funding of
Community Access channels and Cable Advisory Councils in Connecticut, but these amendments
were detected by editing Overseers, so that the entire Bill had been canceled in this session pending
a rewrite.

VII.      New Business
a. Note from previous Minutes: The membership of CTAC for Hamden, New Haven, West Haven is still
presently incomplete. This is discussed, and we agree that we need to develop new strategies for recruitment
to our Council especially for West Haven which presently has no representation with us. We need further
outreach for membership for to Boards of Education for school systems, one for each city in our district.
VIII.    Subscriber Issues

1. Note from previous Minutes: Subscriber Correspondence: Difficulties with the GoDaddy website make
   it hard to access  complaints. The site suffers a large amount of spam. A filter is needed.
2. 
   Next meeting scheduled for Tuesday, June 6, 2023 6:00 pm, possibly for an outdoor dining meeting, at
   Wood n Tap, Hamden restaurant location.  (Reservations made for six members.)
3. Meeting Adjourns at 6:44. Melissa Canham-Clyne makes Motion to Adjourn. Peaches Quinn seconded.
   Unanimous approval.

Minutes for May 7^th, 2023 meeting respectfully submitted by Johnes Ruta,  05/30/2023.

Cable Television Advisory Council

Minutes for Wednesday, March 1^st, 2023 6:00 pm Monthly Meeting– ZOOM

Attendance:   Johnes Ruta, Chair (New Haven)
George Alexander, Treasurer, (Hamden)
Tom Costa, Advisor  (New Haven Library System)
Melissa Canham-Clyne, Advisor  (Hamden)

1. Call to order 6:07 pm
2. Welcome and Minutes –
   a.  Johnes will write Minutes for March 1 meeting.
   b.  February Minutes  by Melissa. No changes have been requested.
   Johnes makes Motion to approve the February as submitted.  Tom Costa seconded. Unanimous approval.

   III.       Treasurer’s Report (George Alexander)
   a.  Present Funds Balance:  $6,655.42 (same as February, Interest accrued: $0.00).
   b.  Year-to-date expenditures:  $0.00.
   c.  Johnes moved to accept the Treasurer’s report. Mr. Costa seconded. Unanimous approval.

3. CTV – Executive Director Joseph Schofield, not in attendance
4. Joseph Schofield’s email is non-operational.
   b. The CTV offices on state Street are still closed to the public since onset of Covid-19. The video studios are not available to producers.
5. Comcast –– Comcast Representative Amy Horan, not in attendance. No email messages received in February.

1. Old Business
2. CTAC Public Service Announcement: This has not been updated. Yvonne Manning-Jones, who was handling the PSA, CTAC Facebook page, and the CTAC website cableadvisory.org has resigned CTAC effective December, 2022.

   b.   PSA, CTAC Facebook page, and the CTAC website cableadvisory.org will now be attended by George Alexander.  George reports that only the website is attended by George Alexander and only the website is up-to-date.

   c.   Community Awards, 2023 planning:  Melissa states that CTAC cold give up to $2000 to community facilities, such as convalescent homes, which have a cable television subscription to Comcast. Hannah Gray does not have Comacast. Partnerships Adult Day Center (Hamden) does have a Comcast Cable and Internet subscription and would greatly appreciate a grant. CTAC spending on this matter has been low due to lack of Comcast subscriptions in the field.

VII.      New Business
a. Melissa Canham-Clyne and Tom Costa remark on the present attrition of CTAC membership, with the recent resignation of  Anthony Cardo, Laurel Coleman and Yvonne Manning-Jones, that we need to develop new tactics for recruitment to our Council. West Haven presently has no representation with us.
We need further outreach for membership for to Boards of Education for school systems, one for each city in our district.

b. We discuss a new strategy: to reach out specifically to young people for participation, especially to students in Business Studies programs.

c.  We discuss the ongoing purpose of CTAC, in light of CT legislative proposals to reduce cable companies’ budget allocations for Community television and Cable Advisory budgets, according to Cable advisory By-Laws. There is presently a legislative Bill SB-16 regarding PURA’s authority.

VIII.    Subscriber Issues

1. Subscriber Correspondence: Difficulties with GoDaddy website make it hard to access complaints. The  site suffers a large amount of spam.
2. Johnes again brings up the issue of phishing emails with  @Comcast,net extension addresses trying to obtain Comcast subscribers personal account info by trickery. Johnes has repeatedly forwarded these false emails to Comcast Security and Abuse Department requesting investigation for fraudulent activities, but has not received any acknowledgment from that department.
3. Next meeting scheduled for April 5, 2023 6:00pm on ZOOM, or possibly for an outdoor dining meeting.

Meeting Adjourns at 7:04. Ms. Canham-Clyne moved. Mr. Alexander seconded. Anonymous  approval.

Minutes for March 1^st, 2023 meeting respectfully submitted by Johnes Ruta,  03/28/2023.

Cable Television Advisory Council
Wednesday, February 1st, 2023 6:00 pm Monthly Meeting – ZOOM

Attendance: Johnes Ruta, George Alexander, Tom Costa, Amy Horan, Melissa Canham-Clyne
Call to order 6:11 pm
Welcome and Minutes – January Minutes. Minor change made with typo in paragraph seven, to “t”s typo. Mr. Alexander moved to accept the minutes. Mr. Costa seconded. Unanimous approval.
Treasurer’s Report
Treasurer: George Alexander:
YTD funds balance. Received $2000 from Comcast. $271.22 spent on December meeting. Balance effective today: $6655.42. Ms. Canham-Clyne moved to accept the Treasurer’s report. Mr. Costa seconded. Unanimous approval.
CTV – Executive Director Joseph Schofield, not in attendance
Report
Issues/Topics
Comcast –– Comcast Representative Amy Horan
Report –
Shared information about community initiatives being undertaken by Comcast. Below this information is shared;
Comcast is continuing our partnerships this year with Boys & Girls Club of Greater New Haven, Freddy Fixer Parade, Urban League of Southern CT and United Way of Greater New Haven. As part of our partnership with the United Way of Greater New Haven we are working on some Team Up events – specifically volunteering for Read Across America in March at Clinton AvenueSchool and a project in April timeframe.
We will also continue to work with Concepts for Adaptive Learning as part of a $50K grant they received last year as part of our Adoption Innovation Fund to promote outreach and connection to the Affordable Connectivity Program.
Issues/topics:
Discussion ensued about rate increases that occurred in December. Rate increases are reflective of increases in the industry [i.e. broadcasting fees]. Bundles should have been protected. If a rate increase occurred in the bundle, the account can be reviewed to see what might have happened to the bundle. Committee asked for a list of bundle packages that may have rate increase protection. Committee recommended that Comcast review policies to make it easier for the customer to understand bundle/service price points and expiration dates.
Comcast Abuse Dept. is aware of fraudulent announcements from Comcast. Comcast does notify customers with security updates. Discussion about how Comcast follows up on reports of fraud.
Old Business
CTAC Public Service Announcement: This has not been updated.
Facebook/Website Update:
Update regarding GoDaddy: Mr. Alexander suggested that current membership be added to the account. It is difficult to remove previous members from the account. Ms. Manning-Jones offered to act as a community volunteer and update our Facebook account.
Community Awards 2023 planning:
Ms. Canham-Clyne will contact Hannah Grey and Mr. Alexander will contact Partnerships Adult Day Center to see if these organizations still use Comcast.
Subscriber Issues
Subscriber Correspondence: Difficulties with GoDaddy website make it hard to access complaints. The site suffers a large amount of spam.
Other
New Business
Meeting Adjourns at 7:08. Ms. Canham-Clyne moved. Mr. Alexander seconded. Anonymous approval.
Next meeting March 1