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1 Councilmember Marks reported he had never viewed what is carried on 2 Channel #34 but people who had had assured him it was "patently 3 offensive". 4 The Councilmember reported that during his visit to the National 5 League of Cities headquarters in Washington, D.C., he had learned that 6 one city in Michigan had handled this problem by entering into joint 7 ownership of the cable franchise with the cable company. Councilmem- 8 ber Ranallo said he would check the Minnesota League of Cities to see 9 if a copy of that franchise had been sent to them as promised. 10 11 Mr. Childs wondered whether the Council could threaten in their 12 resolution not to renew the North Central's franchise when it ran out 13 because they had not kept their promise to keep such materials out of 14 their programming. Mr. Murphy indicated that when the same suggestion 15 had been made while the Cable Commission was writing its own resolu- 16 tion, the Attorney had indicated the court would probably come back 17 and say that portion of the franchise agreement was null and void 18 and not a valid contract because it inherently violated the cable 19 company and its subscribers' First Amendment rights. The Cable 20 Commission representative indicated he was telling the Council this 21 only because he wanted them to go into any legal action with their 22 eyes opened as to the probable result. 23 Mr. Murphy added that he perceived what Channel #34 subscribersin St. 24 Anthony were doing by paying for that programming was "voting with 25 their pocketbooks" when it came to applying contemporary community 26 standards as to whether or not the programs are obscene. He per - 27 ceived that it was up the St. Anthony residents to take the issue on 28 themselves by not subscribing for cable. 29 Councilmember Enrooth told him the City's cable T.V. penetration was 30 only between 28% and 30% and only one St. Anthony Councilmember had 31 cable at all and he said that was only because that was the only way 32 he could get the type of sports telecasts he wanted. 33 Councilmember Ranallo, who said he was that person, wondered whether 34 the Council could legislate "morality" any more than it could "clean - 35 liness" when it came to trying to get residents to clean up their 36 property. However, he thought the Council should at least pursue the 37 suggestion about getting another opinion on the issue by having 38 someone come to a Council meeting to give a different perspective than 39 had been given by the Cable Commission Attorney. The Councilmember 40 speculated that there might even be some law firm around who would 41 want to undertake a test case on the issue without charging. 42 Councilmember Marks said he wanted to be certain that the City at 43 least took a strong stand on the issue. Mayor Sundland commented that 44 he had thought the Council had taken a very strong stand against 45 pornography when they had written the franchise agreement in the first 46 place. 12