CLEARLAKE – Lake County's Public-Education-Government (PEG) committee, until recently the only governing body for the local public access television channel, Channel 8 on Mediacom, is redefining its purpose.

At their regular monthly meeting on Wednesday, PEG Committee members discussed how they might work with the recently established Joint Powers Authority of the City of Clearlake and Lake County, the only government entities in the county which still have active cable TV franchises with Mediacom. Lakeport's franchise has expired and the Lakeport City Council opted not to be involved in the JPA.

Current representatives on the JPA are Ed Robey, District 1 member of the board of supervisors, and the board's new chairman; Joyce Overton, a Clearlake City Council member; and Shawn Swatosh, Mediacom's Lake County manager.

That trio is tasked with appointing two new members, probably one from the educational sphere and another representing the general public.

Overton suggested that people who want to serve send a letter of interest to her at the city of Clearlake, 14050 Olympic Drive, Clearlake, CA 95422, or to her e-mail address, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Overton and Robey, both present at the Wednesday meeting, agreed with the PEG members that the new JPA should be the financial overseer, while the PEG committee handles programming and content for the public access channel and works on fund raising and volunteer efforts.

The public access channel is funded by contributions from the city and county, which receives franchise fees from Mediacom and credits them to their general funds.

The current annual budget is $13,261, which includes $5,400 in revenue from Yuba College and $2,000 in revenue from the county for broadcasting the Board of Supervisors meetings.

The PEG Committee also seeks a new member representing education. The committee has had discussions about that appointment with the Konocti Unified School District, without reaching an agreement.

Committee member Hiram Dukes, a video producer, suggested the appointment of an education representative be turned over to the County Office of Education. He said he had heard from interested people in other school districts. The suggestion was accepted.

The PEG Committee's next meeting will be on Feb. 13, at 2:30 p.m., a permanent change from its usual 2 p.m.

E-mail Sophie Annan Jensen at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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