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Regular City Council Meeting Monday,August 13,2012 Page 10 Additional discussion included the Commission's representation of member cities and the City Council representation of its citizenry; recent surveys and needs ascer- tainment including various focus groups throughout the ten (10) member cities to consider the overall communication needs of those communities; ability for mem- ber cities to deny a franchise if the provider seemed unresponsive during negotia- tions; and regular meetings among the ten (10) member cities to ensure the commis- sion is meeting their needs and adequately negotiating on their behalf with Com- cast. Discussion ensued regarding identifying code violations and assurances that Com- cast would be monitored to ensure they made necessary corrections to address those violations; the commission performing a follow-up audit in the near future to ensure corrections are made and to address how such violations are handled in the future; coordination with the City's code enforcement staff in ensuring compliance. Member Willmus noted the complaints he fields from residents not having cable and their confusion and/or inability to obtain the Universal Access Service required of Comcast to provide. Councilmember Willmus noted a frequent complaint is in their interaction with Comcast personnel apparently unwilling to cooperate in them receiving this cable access. Ms. Wilson stated for Councilmembers and residents that, if they experienced such a problem, to contact her directly and she would intercede for them. Ms. Wilson noted that, unless she was aware of the problem, she could not make sure it was fixed. At the request of Councilmember Willmus, Ms. Wilson advised that she could re- view numbers of those not currently receiving Universal Access Service as deter- mined during their recent survey, and would provide the information to City Man- ager Malinen to forward to the City Council. Further discussion included how the City could validate the amount of money or services the City was receiving as part of the franchise fee; and how to ensure the provider was being forthcoming rather than evasive. Ms. Wilson noted that as part of last year's audit, the auditor used had previously worked for Comcast in their compliance audit area and was familiar with their internal operations. Ms. Wilson noted that discrepancies were found, and noted this provided a challenge for cities and the commission in determining how often a franchise fee audit was done, since they were expensive to perform. Councilmember Johnson personally encouraged the commission, from a business standpoint and with the City as a customer, to continue frequent audits. Coun- cilmember Johnson noted that, when he hears about books not being able to with- stand formal review, it may be time to look for alternatives and not support that par-