Philadelphia Community Access Coalition
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MS. MCNAMARA: My name is Patricia McNamara. I'm the Executive Director of CEPA, the Consumers Education and Protective Association, which was founded by the late Max Wiener. And I'm here today to join in the call for public access cable television.

Since 1983, the City of Philadelphia has promised to establish a way for community groups and individuals to use the cable network to inform Philadelphians of important messages. And since 1983, the City has broken its promise. In comparison, used-car dealers seem honest.

What is amazing about the refusal to establish this public access is that it is costing the City money to deny people this right. Many of the critical issues that end up costing the City literally million of dollars in social services could be addressed through public access. Information about CHIPs, (unintelligible), HIV prevention, and other important programs would be available by the click of a button in someone's home if the City had public access.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of families could have received critical information that would have reminded them to immunize their children, enroll their children in school, check for lead point, or find out about Medicare and Medicaid Programs for disabled children. Helping to publicize these programs could save the City of Philadelphia literally hundreds of thousands of dollars and improve the quality of life for many of our citizens.

Public access can make the City a better place to live by providing information about educational, social, and cultural events that happen throughout the City. In fact, I'm surprised that the tourist industry is not the leading voice in demanding public access. Could you imagine if every TV and every hotel in the City had a list of all the cultural events for the next few days? Wouldn't that be a way to help visitors enjoy their time in Philadelphia.

When we see all the good that public access can do and realize there are ways to establish it eliminate that would eliminate the need to use any tax dollars at all, it is hard for us to see why it hasn't been done.

The only reason I can see that public access has not become a reality is that some powerful people in the City are afraid of it. I believe that these people do not want public issues discussed in public. They do not want different points of view aired. What they d want to do is control access to the media and shut the public out.

We are urging you to act today. Stop the handful of powerful people from keeping different points of view off the airways.

Thank you.

COUNCILMAN ORTIZ: Thank you.

(Applause.)

COUNCILMAN ORTIZ: Panel six. Joan Preston, Lauren Townsend, Amy Hammersmith, Kathy Black, Roberta Spivek, Greg Thompson, Reverend Bruce Edward, Denise Kulp.

(Above-named witnesses come forward.)

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