Telecommunications Town Hall Meeting Two
April 22 at the Genoveva Chavez Community Center, 3221 Rodeo Road.
--NOTES
1. Miguel Chavez, City Councelor, Welcome
2. Arthur Firstenburg, Telecommunications Activist - history of cell tower citizens groups in Santa Fe since 2000.
Arthur read from a newsletter put out by the citizens group.
• “they wanted to put in hundreds of cell towers, “ said Mar Deblanco in a newsletter published in 2000 by the citizens task force. Three women: Mar Deblanco and Cili Solomon and one other woman. Thank you to all those who have contributed to this work.
3. Azlan White, Telecommunications Activist –Summary of Town Hall Meeting One
• We are grateful the city attorney’s office is listening to our suggestions, so you can know these meetings are effective in participating in the code-writing process. This is great news for the citizens of Santa Fe, New Mexico, to feel such a true Democratic process in place. We look forward to our continued collaboration, as a citizens group, to continue to advise the city on the telecommunications code revision to ensure things like: private property owners will have a public review before equipment is placed near their home.
4. Jeanne Price, –update on ordinance refinements and changes. Schedule is changing. Meeting has been delayed until June 9th.
5. Public Comment:
Sara Vacha : Question: “Where will the antennae’s be located? [for DAS, Distributed Antennae System, Wifi in neighborhoods]
Response from Jeanne: (paraphrased) On telephone poles, or if there are no poles, poles will be built.
Monika Stenhdl: “We don’t need many gas or water companies, so why do we need many telecommunications services?”
SOLUTION: to establish a kind of public corporation who can oversee the whole telecommunications infrastucture.
Bill Bruno: Overhead: one page 45 of ordinance:
Land use is crossed out. Example of complex questions involved in this telecommunications code.
1996 Telecommunications Act: this law is unconstitutional and should continue to be challenged.
Arianna – Corporate Accountability
Cell phone companies are finding ways to avoid corporate responsibility. Often included in the fine print of contracts with private property owners, where cell phone towers are to be placed, is something like: property owner is responsible for any and all damage or lawsuits coming from neighbors or anyone else.
Suggestion for city:
1. Write the law to increase corporate accountability.
2. Wireless telecom providers should not be allowed to pass any potential liability for their equipment on to property owners.
3. Also in fine print sometimes is: “property owner is not allowed to cancel the lease agreement.” Property owners, or the city should be able to cancel a lease or franchise contract any time requirements or proper maintenance and testing are not complied with.
4. Cell phone providers should cover their towers with 6 Million dollars of insurance per tower.
5. Tax cell phones to help pay for insurance premiums.
Alena -- A MORATORIUM, A moratorium on wireless and cell phone equipment installation on city property, gives the city time for the legal department to split wireless and non-wireless parts of the ordinance. It gives the city a chance to be in touch with neighborhood associations to be sure the city code is in harmony with neighborhood association requirements and codes. A 6 month moratorium gives us time to make a “Telecommunications Plan,” for the city of Santa Fe that is intelligent and considers the needs of all parties.
Therese – FCC has posted on their site that a moratorium is ok. 1. Can there be a compromise? I’ve lived in Santa Fe my whole life, I grew up here, and we are supposed to be the city different, so we do things different here. And why do we need more companies in a quadrant? Do all of these companies need to be there, or can we just have four?
2. And I don’t like the idea of a ten year franchise agreement. We are really just trying to protect the city from unnecessary head aches and law suites from individuals and property owners, and to protect the cities rights. Can’t you make one year agreements? Technology changes, etc.
3. Another thing, If the city can know where every single water meter is, and monitor it, then why can’t the city know and keep track of cell phone towers and monitor them closely?
4. We have the “cleanest air in America,” so why not keep Santa Fe clean of “airwaves” also. Please study the economic impact of these companies installing their equipment in neighborhoods, before moving forward with wireless technologies. We are working to protect the city.
Virginia—FCC comments : Don’t give up zoning laws. Keep towers and antennae’s out of residential areas, while we work on changing the federal law that does not allow people to prevent towers due to health or environmental concerns. I received a call from Udall’s office. Nathan, an assistant, has invited us to come to their office and work on this. This is something the city and state should work together on.
When a company applies to put up a tower, ask them to prove it is safe. Cell Phone Industry has side-stepped the need to prove the cell phones were safe for people, before releasing them.
If DAS will build poles, in a neighborhood that doesn’t have poles, how can they get approval for this?
Is there a way to devise a study on wildlife around cell phone towers?
Leah Morton – Friends of the Earth filed a lawsuit against the FCC for allowing towers in bird pathways.
A cell phone tower was placed in an area where the White Stork breeds. For miles around the cell tower, the White Stork fought with each other and could not build their nest. So the ability of the White Stork to reproduce was stopped in that location.
Young man at the end: I want 3G service. For the people who pay for 3G (high speed) service, you can’t get it here. Edge service is all you can get here, which is not as fast. Santa Fe needs to come up with the rest of the world in technology, so we can have 3G service here.
Question from audience: Do you want faster service even if your children will have Cancer?
Young Man: We already have microwaves and Televisions, I don’t see the difference.
Arianna: Security
Security is poor on a wireless network. It is continually becoming more and more broken into. All wireless internet providers follow Bruce Shine’s recommendations. A wired service is more secure. You do not need wireless. You can use wire for as many computers as you need.
John McPhee—Tom Udall has already agreed to meet with the American Association of Cell Phone Safety
Bingamon, Luhan?
Cell phone industry hearing. Case with federal govt. over health labeling. Government asked Industry, “why do you say, “Don’t hold it on your head,” Industry was confronted. Industry did not have a response, and said they would have to get back on that. This is a situation where we really need to have a guideline in the state and the city of Precautionary Principle.
3,000 doctors
wi max on train
water meters – wireless
like spraying DDT, spraying yard and house
Miguel Chavez – closing thank you
Azlan White, Closing Remarks: Even though we did not address health issues at this meeting, we, the local citizens group are concerned about local health and safety issues with cell phone and radio frequency devices. We hope to continue our intensive research into microwaves and radio waves and create a solid “oversight team,” in collaboration with the city of Santa Fe and the state of New Mexico, to oversee cell phone towers and radio frequency devices in the Santa Fe and surrounding area, to continually check these radio frequency devices for community safety. I am available as your Santa Fe telecommunications researcher and activist, because I care about this issue. I care about the wellbeing of the people in Santa Fe. Please feel free to contact me if you have questions: 505-983-7071 or aw@globalreliefresources.org
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