By Ron Thaniel
March 20, 2006

During the current St. Patrick’s Day congressional recess March 20 to 27, it is important that mayors meet with their Senators to express support for the Burns/Inouye principles maintaining local government’s franchise agreement authority. Congress should not try to manage local streets and sidewalks from Washington; national franchising would abrogate a basic tenet of federalism by granting companies access to locally owned property. Franchises do not just provide permission to offer video services; they are the core tool local government uses to manage streets and sidewalks, provide for public safety, enhance competition, and to collect compensation for private use of public land. Eliminating local franchise agreement authority will cause chaos and deprive local government of the power to perform its basic functions. For more information, contact Conference of Mayors Assistant Executive Director for Telecommunications Policy Ron Thaniel at 202-861-6711 or send e-mail to rthaniel@usmayors.org

In testimony provided to The Congressional Hispanic Caucus Task Force on Technology, Communications, and the Arts chaired by Representative Xavier Becerra (CA), Laredo Mayor Elizabeth Flores said issues that are of special importance to the Hispanic community must be present in any rewrite of the nation’s communications law.

Highlighting a Conference of Mayors priority in the rewrite of the Federal Communications Act, maintaining local video franchising authority, Flores said, “Government should always support consumer choice and, whenever possible, unleash market forces to achieve competition and, in this case, the resulting deployment of cutting edge technologies.”

“However, such market forces will only achieve our collective goals of enhancing the quality of life and opportunity for all, if no member of the community is left behind, especially those who might be excluded on the basis of socio-economic status or language,” said Flores.

She said “The best way for Congress and this Caucus to ensure the development of such a pro-competitive and pro-inclusive environment is to ensure that cable franchising remains at the local level of government.”

Speaking on behalf of Flores, Gerry Lederer, Director of Laredo’s Washington Office, told the Caucus that, “Before entering political life, Mayor Flores was a community banker and knows all too well the practices of red lining.”

Addressing the issue of increased competition as the Bells enter the teleco-video market, Flores said, “A competitive marketplace can only by sustained if like services are treated alike, including the obligation of network neutrality such that broadband pipe owners may not discriminate among service providers nor limit the consumer’s access to those services.”

She also urged that the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to “… ensure a community’s property rights and authority for managing the rights-of-way are kept whole. This has traditionally been done through police powers, property rights, meeting social obligations to the community served in rental fees.”

Her testimony furthermore urged Congress to clarify that a community has the right to provide broadband transport and communications services to themselves and to their constituents in the absence of commercial offerings.

Flores also urged the Caucus to preserve universal service, E-911 support, local emergency alerts and the enforcement of CALEA.