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Published on 09/22/1999 All articles from this issue

Access Los Altos franchise agreement ends

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By Leslie K. Martin / Town Crier Staff Writer

Foothill College would like to find a new home for Access Los Altos, community access television, by June 2000.

Los Altos community productions share cable channel 26 with De Anza College productions. Most programs are produced by volunteers from the community and include seniors, high school students, a historical society, the League of Women Voters, and the American Association of University Professors (AAUP).

Fifteen years ago, staff at Foothill College, TCI, and the city of Los Altos signed a franchise agreement, explained George Beers, distance education dean at Foothill. The result was that Foothill College staff built a television studio, provided public access and education TV, and aired the shows on TCI.

The franchise agreement will end Dec. 6, and an extension runs out in June of 2000.

Beers said that the college wants to get out of the television business and use the television studio space to develop a multimedia and distance learning center.

"But we don't want to leave the city of Los Altos hanging," Beers said. The college staff will continue supporting public access if the options aren't acceptable. "We've taught over 200 community users how to do television production," he said.

But Beers sees the move as a positive one for all concerned.

The city of Sunnyvale has never had a franchise agreement and is interested in doing something with Cupertino. Beers said a joint venture between Los Altos, Cupertino, and Sunnyvale, would receive better funding for a larger, newer facility.

Layne Long, assistant to the city manager of Los Altos, is putting together a schedule for community focus groups to discuss options. He could not be reached for comment last week.