On November 4th, the MTN Member’s Meeting was held in City Hall in Minneapolis.  This meeting is held annually and is MTN’s opportunity to update the City Council and Mayor on the organization's achievements, goals, financial status and future needs. This year's meeting was of particular importance because the city is currently involved in negotiations to renew the cable franchise agreement with Time Warner Cable. The outcome of these negotiations will dictate the future of Cable Access in Minneapolis. The two major documents that MTN presented at the Member's Meeting were an Annual Report and a Business Plan. You may read them on the MTN Web site at mtn.org. If you do not have Internet access and would like a copy of either document, please contact Pam Colby at 612-331-8575 extension 304. MTN Board Chair Robert Vose spoke at the Member's Meeting and told Mayor Rybak and City Council Members that MTN was concerned that city staff had not devised a plan whereby MTN could give input or be informed on the status of the negotiations. MTN Vice Chair Joan Higinbotham then read the following resolution that had passed unanimously by the MTN Board of Directors: Minneapolis Telecommunications Network Board of Directors Resolution October 29, 2004 Whereas the Minneapolis Telecommunications Network Board of Directors supports the city's efforts to explore cost savings and efficiencies in public and government access; and Whereas, specifically, the MTN Board believes significant savings could be realized if MTN produced and cablecast City of Minneapolis programming; and Whereas in 1982 the city of Minneapolis acted responsibly and wisely by establishing MTN as a separate non-profit organization to support and operate public access; and Whereas supporting and protecting freedom of speech is paramount to MTN’s mission; and Whereas freedom of speech is best served by maintaining the tradition of having a separate non-profit organization to support and operate public access; now Therefore, be it resolved that the MTN Board of Directors request that the City of Minneapolis explore options for having MTN produce and cablecast City of Minneapolis television programs and Be it further resolved that the MTN Board of Directors is opposed to the City of Minneapolis assuming responsibility for the production of public access programming and the management of public access channels. The elected officials were very receptive to the concerns presented at the meeting. They committed to address specific issues at the next Ways and Means Committee Meeting of the Minneapolis City Council.   The Ways and Means meeting was held on November 15th with favorable results for MTN. Council Member Paul Zerby moved that the Committee pass MTN’s resolution as written by the MTN Board. But in the end, the Committee directed City Communications officer and lead city franchise negotiator Gail Plewacki to incorporate the language of MTN’s resolution into a similar but separate resolution originating from the city. The Committee also asked Ms. Plewacki to devise a plan for communicating with MTN regarding the franchise negotiations. Both meetings proved that community television is important to our elected officials. We will need to continue to work hard to ensure that public access is a priority in the cable negotiations. We have a long road ahead as this renewal process will most likely continue well into 2005.  I’ll keep you updated of any new developments. - Pam Colby