PUBLIC ACCESS TV: to survive or not

This is mostly an update of the Dec. 8 post previous to this, which should be read to understand how democracy, represented by Public Access TV, has been thrown under the bus to slake the greed of the phone companies and the state's desire to have a more competitive playing field. Unfortunately the states are getting less than they should for the taxpayers and the phone giants more. The Long Beach Community TV Producers Association has obtained a terrific attorney who has been working for us for last several months. He is Marc Coleman, civil rights super attorney. Under his indespensible leadership, we have been having meetings with city officials trying to negotiate a way for Public Access to survive its first of the year closure. These negotiations with city technical staff were making good progress for several months on a plan to present to the city council when the city manager who apparently opposes such an agreement undemocratically shut down the cooperation with city staff and thus precluded the finished plan going on to the council for a vote. We are now in the process of going over the head of the city manager and negotiating directly with the Long Beach City Council to have us put on the agenda for a vote on the plan we are offering the city for its cooperation to restart Public Access. We are asking that PEG funds that are earmarked for Public Access be used to purchase equipment we need to restart Public Access. As the City Council has the final say over the City Manager, we are hoping this vote of the council we are setting up will result in our having the means to go back into operation on Ch. 65. Please see below 12/08 post for overview details. Aside from this I have been busy editing and uploading video clips I have made from various shows I have produced on to the Internet on many Video upload sites such as youtube and about ten others. I also have a new hard cover 38 page version of my Bolsa Chica Wetlands photo book now for sale at the publisher lulu. com. I also have an animated sitcom pilot I have written, Marshall's Agency, being produced and directed by Lucinda McNary, which has just been finished and the preview can be viewed on Moviestorm.com for free, as well as on here. I have recently been learning to use Facebook to correspond with old friends and new. I have found some extroadinary old friends I haven't talked to in some cases for over 40 years, as well as making new ones. I am going to submit this URL to make my first article on Digg.com, if things work right. Digg.com is an interestingly different new experience I am looking forward to. Keep on trucken, Ed