San Diego

With no discussion, the San Diego City Council Monday accepted an offer from Cox Cable to pay for “gavel-to-gavel” coverage of Monday afternoon council sessions at a cost of about $50,000.

Cox made the offer in June, when it was involved in sensitive negotiations with the city to extend its cable television franchise from 2009 to 2029, but City Manager John Lockwood said he kept specifics of the offer secret from the council to avoid the appearance that the proposal was intended to influence the negotiations.

The franchise negotiations collapsed at a July 24 council meeting when Cox expressed concern about taking over responsibility for an arcane tax assessed by the county. Councilman Bruce Henderson’s office maintained that Cox withdrew from the 15 months of negotiations because Henderson exposed the deal as a poor one for the city.

The council in June cut $72,000 from the fiscal 1990 budget that paid the San Diego County Office of Education to tape Monday council sessions, which are shown on Cox and Southwestern cable television systems on a delayed basis.

Monday’s vote was 7-1, with Henderson opposed and Councilman Wes Pratt absent. An aide to Henderson said Friday that the councilman was concerned about accepting a gift from Cox at a time when the city was negotiating the disputed franchise extension.