Now the community needs to speak up.
On March 5, the Commission reversed course and voted to cut community media funding by 50% for the final quarter after previously indicating funding would continue through June. This wasn’t driven by a lack of money. The funds were there. Instead, the Commission is choosing to fund its own operations and the government channel, Metro 14, while making cuts to community media. More severe cuts are expected in June. No public workshop. No meaningful review of alternatives. No transition plan for the people, programs, and services affected. The next Commission meeting is June 4.
We are asking the Commission to:
- Oppose further cuts to community media funding
- Hold a public, transparent discussion before additional decisions are made
- Review alternatives before damaging local programming and media access
- Work with Access Sacramento and its community media partners to find solutions
Take Action Before June 4!
Please contact the Sacramento Metropolitan Cable Television Commission and urge them to protect community media funding. You can use the sample message below by email, phone, or public comment.
Sample email message
Subject: Protect community media funding
I am writing to oppose further cuts to community media funding in Sacramento County.
Community media provides local programming, media education, civic information, and public access to storytelling tools that are not available anywhere else. Access Sacramento and other community media organizations serve residents, nonprofits, students, artists, journalists, and local communities whose voices are too often left out of traditional media.
Before any further funding decisions are made, the Commission should hold a public, transparent discussion, review alternatives and allow meaningful community input.
The community is watching, and so are community media supporters across the country. Sacramento should not set a precedent of cutting public access and community voices without a transparent public process.
I support Access Sacramento, Sacramento Educational Cable Consortium, KVIE, and SacLifeTV. Please do not make additional cuts without considering alternatives and giving the public a true opportunity to be heard.
Thank you.
Short phone or voicemail script
Hello, my name is [your name], and I’m calling to oppose cuts to community media funding.
I support Access Sacramento and local programming. Before any further cuts are made, I urge the Commission to hold a public, transparent discussion and review alternatives.
The community is watching, and people beyond Sacramento are watching too. Please protect community media funding and give the public a chance to be heard.
Thank you.
One-sentence version
I oppose cuts to community media funding and urge the Commission to hold a public, transparent discussion before making further decisions that affect Access Sacramento, local programming and community media access.
Contacts
Sacramento Metropolitan Cable Television Commission
Contact first:
- Primary Commission email: sacmetro@saccounty.gov
Commission leadership:
- Kevin Spease (Board Chair): kspease@elkgrovecity.org
- Porsche Middleton (Board Vice Chair) pmiddleton@citrusheights.net
Commission members:
- David Gull dgull@cityofsacramento.org
- James T Hackett-Little jhackettlittle@cityofsacramento.org
- Matt Hedges hedgesm@saccounty.gov
- Barbara Leary: barbaral@folsom.ca.us
- Caity Maple cmaple@cityofsacramento.org
- Vanessa McCarthy-Olmstead: mccarthy-olmsteadv@saccounty.gov
- Alma Munoz: munozalma@saccounty.gov
- Siri Pulipati spulipati@cityofranchocordova.org
- Keaton Riley rileyk@saccounty.gov
- Paul Sandhu: psandhu@cityofgalt.org
- Rebecca Sloan: sloanr@saccounty.gov
Also, contact your Sacramento County Supervisor:
- Primary BOS email: bos@saccounty.gov, (916) 874-5411
- District 1: Phil Serna, supervisorserna@saccounty.gov, (916) 874-5485
- District 2: Patrick Kennedy, supervisorkennedy@saccounty.gov, (916) 874-5481
- District 3: Rich Desmond, richdesmond@saccounty.gov, (916) 874-5471
- District 4: Rosario Rodriquez, supervisorrodriguez@saccounty.gov, (916) 874-5491
- District 5: Pat Hume, pathume@saccounty.gov, (916) 874-5465
This is about more than funding. Sacramento should not lose these opportunities and economic benefits because public officials failed to act appropriately.
Our Mission
Access Sacramento lifts all voices by providing media education and local media platforms to engage the community in public dialogue and showcase creative expression.
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Core Values
Access Sacramento's community empowerment mission is based on our inclusive core values.
Inclusion
We value inclusion which is why we provide media training and media distribution channels to the community in order to give access to those who might otherwise be excluded or marginalized for lack of resources.
Originality
We celebrate and encourage originality. It is this independent, unique, creative thought when shared with others enriches our community.
Diversity
We value diversity. We promote intercultural information and dialog in order to promote social empathy and to bring about a variety of ideas and solutions to communal problems, which better strengthens the community.
Localism
We value our locality, one of the most diverse counties in the country. We uplift our neighbors by capturing and archiving their creativity, their views and their actions on local media. We protect speech locally by providing free speech cable and internet distribution platforms for the community to use.