University City councilors agree to pursue ordinance repealing CALP and plan budget for remaining PEG funds

University City City Councilors on May 12 directed staff to prepare an ordinance that would repeal the local commission charged with recommending uses for PEG (public, educational and governmental) cable-access funds and asked staff to bring back a proposal for how to allocate roughly $154,000 remaining in that account.

The action followed a staff report that the CALP commission has not met since June 2022 and that the city has not received PEG funding from cable companies since early 2012. City Manager Gregory Rose told council, “I would certainly recommend that you discontinue CALP, and that you authorize me to work with staff in the preparation of an ordinance to repeal the ordinance that created CALP.”

Why it matters: the remaining PEG funds were originally generated by a franchise agreement with a cable operator and have been held without appropriation; council’s decision will determine whether the money supports public-access programming and facilities, a proposed scholarship for University City High…