4.4. SR 01-24-2000Item
ity of
iver
MEMORANDUM
TO:
FROM:
DATE:
SUBJECT:
Mayor and City Council
Sandra Peine, City Clerk
January 24, 2000
Consider Government Cable Producer Position
Background
The City of Elk River is now producing its own government channel. The
channel was turned over to the city the last week in December. Since then
we have experienced many technical difficulties and have spent many hours
troubleshooting. We hope that the residents will be patient as we continue to
work to resolve these problems within the next couple of months.
We have plans to provide city programming in the near future. Programs
will include items such as city updates by departments, city events, Mayor
updates, etc.
The Issue
Marissa Lee has been working for the city for two years. She has recently
indicated that she will be resigning from her position sometime in March.
Staff is requesting to hire a full-time employee to fill Marissa's position. The
City has budgeted 25 hours per week for Marissa's position for the year 2000
and 10 hours per week for a part-time employee to assist Marissa. We have
tried advertising for the part time employee but have had no response.
Since going live, Marissa believes that a full time employee will be necessary
if the city wants to produce a quality government channel. I concur with
Marissa. Marissa's hours have increased beyond the scheduled 25 per week
and this increase does not include any programming. Marissa has put
together a list of job duties for this position (attached).
13065 Orono Parkway · P.O. Box 490 · Elk River, MN 55330 · TDD & Phone: (612) 441-7420 · Fax: (612) 441-7425
Staff Request
The Government Cable Producer of the City of Delano has contacted me
regarding the possibility of working for the City of Elk River. She currently
is working for Delano approximately 15 hours per week as the cable producer
and also works full time for the Delano Motor Vehicle Department. She is
interested in working full time as a producer because of her interest in the
field. She has a Bachelor's degree in Communications/Broadcast and
Production. She is currently a member of the Sherburne Wright Cable
Commission and is familiar with Elk River's equipment. I believe we would
be very fortunate to hire Kristin because of her qualifications and experience
in the field and her experience in working with the Sherburne Wright Cable
Commission.
Kristin is available to work part time through the month of February and
available for full time work in March. Staff is proposing to hire Kristin
Thomas on a part time basis for $10.00 per hour for the month of February.
If her performance is satisfactory then Staff would like to hire her on a full
time basis at $12.00 per hour beginning in March. This scenario will allow
her to be trained in by Marissa.
ACTION REQUESTED
Request to authorize the hiring of Kristin Thomas as the City's Cable
Television Programming Producer on a part time basis immediately for
$10.00 per hour, to increase her hours to full time beginning in March, and to
increase her wage at that time to $12.00 per hour.
S: \ CLERK\ CABLEoAV\ memo.doc
PROPOSED JOB DUTIES FOR CABLE TELEVISION
PROGRAMMING PRODUCER
· 10-15 hoursEditing and Dubbing
All tapes that are aired need to be dubbed in order to maximize
the use of the tapes. Editing is required of all program and
event tapes.
· 4-5 hours Planning - Phone Calls
This position will receive most of the phone calls pertaining to
cable TV. Planning and scheduling of programming is a very
important part of the position.
· 5 hours Bulletin Board Updates
The Bulletin Board is information that is displayed on the TV
screen. In order to keep it up-to-date and interesting, it must
be reviewed daily.
· 6 hours Video Taping City Meetings
Includes setting up prior to a meeting and typing in agenda
information. Presently the City tapes 2 council meetings, 1
school board meeting and 1 planning commission meeting.
· 3 hours Shooting
Includes shooting footage of departmental requests (i.e. energy
city, economic development, parks)
· 5 hours Programming of Decks
Includes programming of the three playback decks.
· 1-2 hours Maintenance/Trouble Shooting
Includes ensuring that all equipment is cleaned, up-to-date and
running properly.
These are the daily duties that are required of this position. Other
duties not included are as follows:
· Special event shoots or edits (i.e. fair, safety camp, Art Soup,
etc.)
· Meeting attendance - i.e. energy city, cable commissions,
conferences and other association meetings
· The possibility of cablecasting the park and recreation
meetings
· Assist with City newsletter and web page
S:\ CLERK\ CABLE-AV\ duties.doc