Web FOIA Compliance: Office of Cable Television
Government agencies in Washington, D.C., broadly ignore a 2001 law, which requires them to post 10 categories of public records on their websites, according to a public records audit conducted by the D.C. Open Government Coalition in conjunction with the Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University.
| Public Information | What's on the Website | Link |
|---|---|---|
| How to FOIA |
There is a FOIA Requests link on the home page. | click here |
| Employee information: names, titles, salaries, dates of emloyment |
A two-year-old list of employees can be found by clicking first on FOIA Requests, then Documents Page, then OCT Employee Listing. It provides employee names, titles, date of employment and pay grade but no salary information. | click here |
| Staff manuals, instructions | The Office of Cable Television Employee Handbook, 2008 is posted. | click here |
| Final opinions, orders | Final OCT opinions and legal notices for Comcast, RCN, and Verizon are posted. | click here |
| Interpretations of policies, rules, acts | Customer service regulations and the Television Reform Amendment Act of 2002 are available in the Documents section. | click here |
| Regulatory and enforcement correspondence | There are links to OCT's regulatory orders involving Comcast, RCN and Verizon. Also available: the Cable Television Reform Amendment Act of 2002, Policy on Television Franchising, and Comcast PEG channel allocations. | click here |
| Account, voucher, contract information | Contract awards and solicitations over $100,000 are posted via a link to OCT Documents Page from the FOIA Requests page. | click here |
| Minutes, all proceedings | Nothing found. | |
| Frequently requested FOIA records | The FOIA Request section has a link to OCT Documents Page where there is a list of Frequently Requested Documents. | click here |
| General index of records to be posted online | Nothing found. |
FOIA CONTACT Information
Niquelle Allen
Office of Cable Television
3007 Tilden Street, NW, Pod-P
Washington, DC 20008
Phone: (202) 671-0066
Fax: (202) 332-7020
Email: Niquelle.allen@dc.gov
Primary research for this audit was conducted by Howard University journalism students LeeSandra Alexandre and Melissa Noel while interning at the Workshop. The project was edited by Pete Weitzel, who is a board member at the DCOGC and a former managing editor of the Miami Herald. FOIA contact information is from DCOGC.
