Huntington Beach expects to debut its own cable TV channel, Surf City 3, next month

The city of Huntington Beach plans to debut its own public cable television channel called Surf City 3, which will feature a quarterly average of eight hours of original content beginning next month.

Assistant to the City Manager Antonia Graham provided an update on the channel’s first-year $425,000 business plan during a City Council study session Monday at City Hall.

Huntington Beach will officially terminate its membership in the Public Cable Television Authority on July 22 and anticipates going live with Surf City 3 the next day.

PCTA provides local programming for Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley, Stanton and Westminster. Surf City funds 67% — $755,615 — of the group’s 2018-19 budget. The other cities collectively contribute 33%, or $356,257.

PCTA live-streams City Council and Planning Commission meetings, as well as major events and other programming. About half the content is focused on Huntington Beach, while the rest is on the other cities.

Huntington Beach may take over public access channel and produce its own local content »

Huntington’s plan to create its own channel began last year when Mayor Pro Tem Lyn Semeta and Councilman Patrick Brenden directed staff to explore what other cities do to keep their communities informed. The City Council voted in January to give notice to PCTA of its intent to terminate its membership.

The city’s manager’s office is set to oversee cable operations, and the city’s Communications Committee would discuss and review programming.

Irvine-based internet marketing service Tripepi Smith & Associates was awarded a contract last month for cablecasting services.

Graham told the council that the Communications Committee is reviewing 10 proposals from consultants for on-call video production.

“We’d like to have a menu of providers to pitch show ideas to the Communications Committee,” she said.

Semeta and Mayor Erik Peterson encouraged residents to tell the city what programming they’d like to see on Surf City 3.

Temporary city manager and CFO officially appointed

In its regular meeting Monday, the City Council unanimously adopted two resolutions appointing former Newport Beach city manager Dave Kiff as interim city manager and Charles Adams as interim chief financial officer.

Kiff — who sat in on his first Huntington Beach council meeting Monday — temporarily replaces Lori Ann Farrell Harrison, who was recently named Costa Mesa’s city manager. Farrell Harrison was serving as Huntington’s interim city manager after the departure of former top administrator Fred Wilson in May.

Kiff, who recently served as interim executive director of the Assn. of California Cities-Orange County, will receive hourly pay of $128.29 and no city-provided benefits.

“I want to extend my appreciation to each of you and the executive team and point out people stepping up into different roles,” Kiff told the council, which he said he found to be a “strong, cohesive group.”

Kiff addressed the controversial cleanup of the former Ascon landfill, which has been halted indefinitely.

He told the audience that the city plans to help facilitate communication and bring on a technical advisor to address community concerns.

Adams is filling the vacancy left by former CFO Gilbert Garcia, who resigned May 31. Adams’ compensation is $100.13 an hour, with no city-provided benefits.

Adams has served as interim finance director for the city of Irvine, as well as acting managing director of finance and administration for the Long Beach Harbor Department, according to a Huntington Beach staff report. His professional career also includes stints as Long Beach’s city controller and as assistant director for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works.

Kiff and Adams will serve in their roles as the city conducts a nationwide effort to fill the positions long term.

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