LOCAL SELF-RELIANCE

The Institute for Local Self-Reliance works to help urban residents gain greater control over their lives through the use of low-technology, decentralist tools and concepts. Because we believe that city dwellers and country folks alike can profit from the institute's admirable efforts, we've made this "what's happening where" report by the ILSR staffers one of MOTHER's regular features. If you would like to know more, you can have a free catalog of ILSR's selection of books and pamphlets by sending the, institute a self-addressed, stamped envelope ... or become an associate member for a tax-deductible $35 per year ($50 for institutions) and receive both a periodic report on the institute's work and a 20% discount on all the group's publications. Write to ILSR, Dept. TMEN, 1717 18th Street N. W., Washington, D.C 20009. 

CABLE TV'S VIEWER/OWNERS

Cable TV is a fast-growing, multibillion-dollar industry, and firms are scrambling to gain municipal franchises that will allow them exclusive rights to wire those territories for decades to come. In fact, one out of every four American homes is already reached by cable, and almost all of the systems that serve such residences are owned by major national corporations.

There are, however, a few exceptions. Several dozen smaller cities (including Conway, Arkansas and Jackson, Minnesota) have decided to finance and build their own cable services. Davis, California, though, will become the first major market to choose a third alternative: customer ownership. As a member of the Davis Cable Cooperative (DCC), each household will be able to vote on the types of programs and services that the system will offer.

"Cable cooperatives do exist, but not in major markets," explains Robert Kahn, a DCC board member. "They've sprung up in the upper Midwest primarily because no one wanted to invest in those areas. But the industry wanted our market. In fact, several large companies that were bidding on a cable system for nearby Sacramento offered to tie Davis into it ... but our community preferred a co-op."

HOW IT HAPPENED

Davis's cooperative cable system pretty much owes its existence to three factors: The National Consumer Cooperative Bank (NCCB) agreed to consider financing the project. In 1981, it gave DCC $130,000 to conduct a feasibility study, but did so only after the Davis city council awarded a conditional franchise to DCC, with full franchise rights contingent on the outcome of that study . . . and everyone agrees that the city council's action was crucial. "It gave us the time to arrange financing and to contact experts to manage the system," says Kahn. In addition, Malarkey-Taylor Associates, a Washington-based organization with extensive commercial cable experience, was hired to manage the co-op.