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2.03.014 Powers and duties.
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The commission is hereby delegated the power to carry out any or all of the following functions:

A. Advise the council on applications for franchises;

B. Advise the council on matters that might constitute grounds for revocation or termination of a franchise pursuant to its terms;

C. Resolve disagreements among franchisees and public and private users of the system. The decisions of the commission shall be reviewable by the council, in accordance with procedures adopted by council resolution;

D. Act as the initial hearing board for all requests for rate settings or adjustments, except that all such decisions of the commission shall be reviewed and ratified by the council;

E. Coordinate the franchisee’s consultant services to facilitate government, educational, community group and individual use of the public channels;

F. Determine general policy relating to the service provided subscribers and the operation and use of access channels, with a view to maximizing the diversity of programs and services to subscribers. The use of access channels shall be allocated on a first come, first served basis, subject to limitations on monopolization of system time, or prime time;

G. Encourage use of access channels among the widest range of institutions, groups and individuals within the City;

H. Submit an annual report to the council, which contains, at a minimum, the total number of hours of utilization of access channels, a review of any plans submitted during the year by a franchisee for development of new services, and hourly subtotals for various programming categories. The annual report shall include the following programming categories:

1. Local educational uses including library, public and private schools;

2. Public access for local programming under public control;

3. Local government access such as fire, police, burglar alarms, and public announcements;

4. Channel time use for lease for pay television;

5. Channel time use for lease for business or municipal uses, including telemetry of information; and

6. Information retrieval and professional communication.

I. Act on behalf of and as the designee of the council in intergovernmental matters relating to systems, cooperate with other systems, and supervise interconnection of systems;

J. Submit budget requests to the budget committee for requested appropriation of funds to carry out its functions;

K. Audit all franchisee records required by the franchise and, in the commission’s discretion, require the preparation and filing of information additional to that required by the franchise;

L. Conduct evaluations of the system at least every three years with the franchisee, and make recommendation to the council for amendments to the code provisions or the franchise agreement;

M. Employ, with the approval of the council, the services of a technical consultant, to assist in the analysis of any matter relative to any franchise under this code;

N. Propose regulations and procedures necessary to enforce franchises and to clarify their terms. The regulations and procedures shall be without force and effect until approved by the council;

O. Develop a rules and procedures manual to define the commission’s functions and responsibilities, and adopt rules and procedures in relation to it. The manual, and any amendments shall be without force and effect until approved by the council; and

P. Exercise any other power or perform any other function authorized by the council.