Guide to the Archives of the City of Seattle

Record Group 0800
Office of Cable Communications

The Office of Cable Communications was established in 1974 as a unit of the Board of Public Works. Its purpose was to review Federal Communications Commission regulations, insure compliance, and to promote the City's interests in relation to cable television. An ordinance passed in 1976 mandated City procedures and regulations that cable companies must follow. In 1978, the Office was transferred to the Executive Department and a penalties and enforcement section was added to the Cable Communications ordinance. In 1988 the Office was abolished as an independent office and its function transferred to the Department of Licenses and Consumer Affairs; the cable franchising function was subsequently moved to the Department of Administrative Services in 1992. In 1997 the Executive Services Department was created, assuming most of the operations of the DAS, including the cable franchising function. With the creation of the Department of Information Technology in 2000, cable matters were reorganized into the Office of Cable Communications, a unit of the Internet and Cable TV Division.

0800-02
Cable Communications Coordinator's Records
1969-1976
2.0 cubic feet

Working papers of Jim Hurd, cable communications coordinator when the office was part of the Board of Public Works. Includes correspondence, reports, reference materials, and citizen comments concerning the CATV ordinance, municipal ownership and other issues relating to the development and regulation of cable television in Seattle.

SMA
Folder List

0801-01
Subject Files
1972-1986
4.0 cubic feet

Correspondence, memoranda, reports, and reference materials relating to cable television issues. Includes files and reports from the City's National Telecommunications and Information Administration grant project. Records are primarily from the years Frank Grief was OCC director, but also include materials from the years that the office was part of the Board of Public Works.

SMA
Folder List

0801-02
General Correspondence
1965-1985
2.4 cubic feet

Correspondence to and from the Office of Cable Communications. Arranged chronologically.

SMA

0801-03
Cable Company Correspondence
1972-1985
0.8 cubic foot

General correspondence to and from the various cable companies operating in Seattle.

SMA
Folder List

0801-05
Rate Increase Records
1975-1984
0.8 cubic foot

Requests to the City by cable companies for rate increases. Includes correspondence, studies, reports, and notes. Also included are investigations of unauthorized rates being charged between 1976-1980.

SMA
Folder List

0801-06
Cable Utility Construction Permits
1967-1983
0.4 cubic foot

Applications and permit copies for construction of cable lines in Seattle. Includes name of applicant and proposed locations. Also included are two folders of correspondence, reports, legal documents, and testimony regarding rents paid for attaching cable lines to City Light poles.

SMA

0810-00: Citizens Cable Communications Advisory Board

The Board was created in 1976 to advise the Mayor and City Council on cable television related issues. The Board made recommendations to the City on the granting of cable franchises, resolution of citizen disputes related to franchising and cable service, the use of access channels, and generally advised the City in the formulation and implementation of cable communications policy. By 1995 the City's cable and telecommunications needs exceeded the original mission of the Board. In July 1995 the CCCAB was abolished and replaced by the Citizens Telecommunications Advisory Board. Six months later, the name of the new board was changed to Citizens Telecommunications and Technology Advisory Board to reflect a broadened scope of activities.

0810-01
Minutes
1971-1985
0.6 cubic foot

Proceedings the Citizens Cable Communications Advisory Board.

SMA

0810-02
Correspondence
1971-1985
0.8 cubic foot

Correspondence to and from the Advisory Board relating to cable communications.

SMA

0810-03
Nancy Wright Records
1972-1986
0.2 cubic foot

Nancy Wright donated these files that she collected as Chair of the Citizens Advisory Committee on Cable Television. The committee worked on the wording of the cable franchise that was adopted by the City, and this is reflected in the files by material on citizen committees and government regulation. Nancy Wright represented the Seattle Public Library on the committee and worked for the provision of Public, Educational and Government Channels (PEG), which is reflected in the material on public access television. The files contain news clippings, correspondence, pamphlets and newletters, and subscriber studies.

SMA
Folder List