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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-229 Q RESOLUTION NO, 09-229 A RESOLUTION APPROVING THE ST, LUCIE COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS MEDIA RELATIONS POLICIES ATTACHED HERETO AND MADE A PART HEREOF AS "ATTACHMENT A" WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners of St. Lucie County, Florida, has made the following determinations: 1. The SLCTV Operating and Guidelines Manual, which was approved by the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) in August 2007, was revised in April 2008 to reflect additional changes approved by the BOCC, including the charging of non-profit and other government agencies for production services. 2. At the June 2009 Informal Meeting of the BOCC, there was discussion regarding the current Manual. 3. The Manual needs to be updated to reflect additional policy direction that was provided by the BOCC at the June 2009 Informal Meeting including new policies relating to the Public Information Officer and County website. 4. The latest revised Manual strengthens the policies of the County's Office of Media Relations to provide clear direction from the BOCC on the division's mission and goal to provide accurate, timely information regarding St. Lucie County government. 5. The proposed Media Relations Policy is provided in Attachment A. Under the proposed policy, Media Relations operating procedures will be established by the County Administrator. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of County Commissioners of St. Lucie County, Florida. 1. This Board does hereby approve the St. Lucie County Media Relations Policies attached hereto and made a part hereof as "Attachment A". 2. The St. Lucie County Media Relations Policies attached to this resolution shall become effective upon adoption. After motion and second the vote on this resolution was as follows: Chairman Paula A. Lewis AYE Vice-Chairman Charles Grande AYE Commissioner Doug Coward AYE Commissioner Chris Craft AYE Commissioner Chris Dzadovsky AYE PASSED AND DULY ADOPTED this 25th day of August, 2009. ATTEST: BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ST. LUCIE COUNTY, FLORIDA a BY: DEPUTY CLERK ? ~~~'r.~ CHAIRMAN s { ~ ~ - AFL;~~ APPROVED AS TO LEGAL FORM AND CORRECT ESS: ~ .t31V v i x ~ 0 4. ~t ~~,"T C i t ~ x ~4 CQ~~ COUNTY A O NEY ATTACHMENT A St. Lucie County Board of County Commissioners Media Relations Policies August 2009 The County Administrator or designee shall develop written procedures consistent with the Board of County Commissioners' Media Relations Policies as listed below: I. SLCTV is a government access channel. Appropriate programming includes: A. Public service announcements (PSAs) of government-sponsored events and services B. Informational or instructional programs on various government agencies and government-sponsored services C. Public meetings of government policy-making boards/commissions D. Election coverage of vote counting data by the Supervisor of Elections Office only E. Candidate forums and debates sponsored by the League of Women Voters F. St. Lucie County-sponsored town hall meetings when approved by the Board of County Commissioners G. Emergency service operations for natural and man-made disasters, pandemic and/or health-related emergencies, weather phenomena, poison prevention, first aid, etc. II. SLCTV PROGRAMMING A. It shall be the policy of SLCTV to cooperate with all related news agencies (commercial, educational, and industrial) to the extent that cooperation will not ere with the o eration of SLCTV or its policies and/or procedures. interf p ommission ederal Communications C B. SLCTV recognizes the jurisdiction of the F guidelines pertaining to television programming. It is the responsibility of the contributing entity to ensure that such guidelines are followed. Community standards of good taste will be adhered to at all times. The County Administrator or designee shall reject programming which does not comply with FCC guidelines. and the following programming restrictions: 1. Meetings/programs containing obscene, offensive or defamatory material/language; 2. Programs containing copyrighted materials will not be broadcast without proper copyright authorization; 3. Programs which have as the primary purpose to promote commercial/profit-making products or services, political candidates, products, trade or business; 1 4. Programs that contain any information concerning any .lottery, gift enterprise, or similar promotion offering prizes based in whole or part upon lot or chance; 5. Programs that directly solicit funding or donations unless for a county-sponsored event, program or service; 6. Programs that would violate any federal, state, county or municipal statute or law; 7. Political advertisements by or on behalf of legally declared candidates for public office; and 8. Endorsements of ballot issues; sample ballots and ballot listings may be permitted if submitted by the St. Lucie County Supervisor of Elections or State Division of Elections spokesperson. Non-partisan voter education information on ballot referendums will only be allowed if the presentation is non-endorsing. C. SLCTV will schedule programming based on availability of airtime in the follawing order of priority: 1. St. Lucie County. Board of County Commissioners, County departments or programs for use in connection .with official St. Lucie County-sponsored activities. 2. Local, State and Federal government agencies for use in connection with ' their official non-partisan government and/or government-sponsored activities that affect the interests of local government and/or residents in St. Lucie County. 3. Programs which impact St. Lucie County residents originated by and/or produced by non-profit group(s). D. St. Lucie County Commissioners, Commissioner Aides, Constitutional Officers or other elected officials shall not personally host any programs aired on SLCTV. This prohibition does not apply to Commissioners, Constitutional Officers or other elected officials fulfilling their official duties. III. USE OF PRODUCTION FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT A. Production Services /Equipment and Studio Facility Rental and Use: 1. SLCTV shall only provide free video production services for the St. Lucie County Board of County. Commissioners and County departments, divisions and offices. An exception can be made in the event of a declared emergency or at the County Administrator's discretion. 2. SLCTV may provide video production services for any non-County individual, government agency, business or corporation at a charge for those services sufficient to cover all related costs. These costs will include, but are not limited to, full compensation for staff, rental fees for equipment and miscellaneous fees to cover other costs associated with production(s). 2 3. Use of SLCTV equipment may be made available upon written request and only upon approval of the County Administrator or designee. An hourly rate will be charged to any non-County individual, government agency, business or corporation and an agreement approved by the County Attorney must be executed. 3. SLCTV may charge competitive rates to rent the studio and equipment to any non-County individual, government agency, business or corporation. The County Administrator or designee shall ensure that the renter is qualified to operate the studio and equipment or charge appropriate fee(s) to have SLCTV staff present. A facility use agreement must be executed. IV. NON-PROFIT GRANT PROGRAM A. SLCTV may offer an annual competitive grant program for production of a video Public Service Announcement(s) (up to 60-seconds) to non-profit and/or government agencies. Written notice of the grant program will be provided and criteria for evaluation and selection of award-winner(s) shall be described. Criteria for selection may include, but is not limited to: 1. Local non-profits or government agencies that have been in existence for at least one year; 2. Value of in-kind services to be provided by the agency; 3. Impact the Public Service Announcement will have on the community; and 4: Level of development of concept or idea for the Public Service Announcement. B. The grant application(s) will be evaluated by a selection committee approved by the County Administrator or designee. Decisions of the selection committee may be appealed to the County Administrator. C. Once the grant(s) have been awarded for that year, any free or discounted production work for non-profit or non-county government agencies must be approved by the Board of County Commissioners. V. PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER 1.. All press releases must be distributed by the Public Information Officer. 2. The Public Information Officer shall only distribute press releases for the St. Lucie County Board of County Commissioners and County departments, divisions and offices. An exception can be made in the event of a declared emergency or at the County Administrator's discretion. 3. County ribbon-cuttings, press conferences and special events must be coordinated with the Public Information Officer. 4. Department directors/division managers or designees may respond to any media request for general information, but should also brief the Public Information Officer following the interview. Members of the the media seeking comments from the County should be directed to the Public Information Officer, who will either respond or coordinate a response with the appropriate department director/manager or County Administrator. 3 5. Members of the media seeking official comments from -the Board of County Commissioners will be directed to the Commission Chair, followed by the Vice Chair, unless the media requests to speak to a specific County Commissioner. 6. The official logo for St. Lucie County is maintained by the Public Information Officer. St. Lucie County departments, divisions and offices are not authorized to alter or use a different logo for county promotions without prior approval from the County Administrator or designee. Digital copies of the county logo can be obtained from the Office of Media Relations. VI. WEBSITE 1. All St. Lucie County departments, divisions and offices must utilize the County website and designate a staff person to be responsible for regularly updating the content on their department web pages and ensuring the accuracy of all posted information. 2. County departments, divisions and offices are encouraged to maximize the use of the department and/or County website to provide timely information to the general public. Public access to current County forms, procedures, event information, meetings, workshops and program information should be readily available to the greatest extent feasible. 3. Information posted on St. Lucie County's website must relate to programs and/or events managed or primarily sponsored by the Board of County Commissioners or Constitutional Officers. 4. County departments, divisions and offices are prohibited from utilizing social networking sites and/or interactive communications (blogs, chat rooms, etc.) such as, but not limited to, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter to promote County programs and services due to Florida public records and Sunshine Law requirements. 4