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Tucson, Arizona | Published: 02.15.2007
PHOENIX — Cox Communications is enlisting its customers to lobby the Legislature to approve a bill blocking Tucson from skirting a new state cable-television law.
In a mass mailing to Cox e-mail customers, the company calls on them to "urge your Tucson legislators and governor to stand up for Tucson cable customers."
By Monday, the move had already crammed the in-boxes of local lawmakers with hundreds of identical e-mails.
"Flooded. Flooded. Flooded," said Rep. Phil Lopes, House minority leader and a Tucson Democrat.
The e-mails came as public- and education-access advocates and city officials met with lawmakers at the Capitol to discuss the pending legislation.
The legislation Cox is pushing, HB 2069, deals with the city's cable franchise license, which expires Aug. 31.
If the bill passes, a state law passed last year would automatically go into effect — cutting the number of public-access channels on Cox's Tucson system by more than half and reducing the franchise fees paid by Cox customers from nearly 8.5 percent to 5 percent.
If the bill fails, Tucson can extend the negotiations past July 1, allowing them to delay the new law from taking effect. City officials say that would give them more negotiating power.
Cox says the city is breaking the new law and limiting the ability for Tucson customers to receive new services available elsewhere, like high-definition and on-demand channels. In the e-mail campaign, the focus is on the potential reduction in fees.
"Under state law, Cox customers in Tucson should receive at least a 40 percent cable tax break," the e-mail reads. "That is $33 million back in the pockets of Tucson cable customers."
The average saving per customer would be a dollar or two a month. And the cut would be to fees, not the entire bill.
State Rep. Steve Farley, a Tucson Democrat, said that by Monday he had received at least 200 e-mails. Also targeted was Gov. Janet Napolitano's office.
On Wednesday, the governor, who signed last year's bill, refused to take a position. But Napolitano did say she wants the issue resolved locally.
"Cox and Tucson should sit at a table and work out their differences," she said.
In addition to the e-mails, anyone can send a letter from a Web site Cox maintains — Innovatetucson.org — which outlines the company's support for the legislation.
But the campaign may have little impact on how lawmakers vote on the bill.
In November, Cox conducted a phone survey of its high-definition customers, which cable-access advocates called biased. And several Tucson legislators have already been vocal in their opposition.
"If you don't make it clear that you're my constituent, or if I don't recognize your name, you go to the bottom of the list," Lopes said. "They're all going to the bottom of the list."
Cox spokesman Michael DiMaria said that's not fair. Just because the e-mails were orchestrated by Cox doesn't mean they don't matter, he said.
"These are constituents in their districts," DiMaria said. "When customers go ahead and e-mail legislators as they're doing, it's not something they do without doing something to make it happen."
And DiMaria said the arguments presented by Cox on Innovatetucson.org aren't misleading to customers.
But East Side resident Gary Mountfort says "I did the wrong thing" by filling out the letter.
"This thing is sponsored by Cox?" said Mountfort, whose name was attached to form letter and sent to lawmakers. "This can't be all that good.
"They were a little ambiguous in their e-mail," he said.
● Contact reporter Daniel Scarpinato at 307-4339 or dscarpinato@azstarnet.com.
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