WAILUKU - Supporters of Akaku: Maui Community Television expressed fear that the state is seeking to control the community's ability to speak through public access television. Akaku leaders said the state is breaking its own laws, The Maui News reported today.

More than 75 people overflowed from the auditorium at the Cameron Center on Wednesday evening for a hearing called by the state Cable Television Division on a rule to set standards for public access television but also to establish a procurement process for awarding contracts to manage public access television.

No action was taken, with hearings officer Glen Chock saying written comments can continue to be submitted to the division until Monday.

But it wasn't clear that the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs will be able to act on the proposal. Challenges are pending in Circuit Court and a legislative task force studying the issue asked Director Lawrence Reifurth to delay action until the task force completes its work.

Akaku Chief Executive Officer Jay April, attorney Lance Collins and Akaku board Chairman John Bruce all cited federal and state laws establishing public access on cable television to argue that the process is designed to be free of government interference and doesn't warrant procurement processes.

"The funding is not state revenues at all," Bruce said. "It is not state funds, it is not taxes. It doesn't go into the state general fund."

The state law requiring cable television franchises to provide channels for public access also requires the cable television operators to set aside 3 percent of the cable consumer's fees to help pay for the operations of public access.

"The benefit comes from the consumers of cable television and flows to the benefit of the consumers of cable television," Collins said.

The law places responsibility for oversight of public access managers with the Cable Television Division, for which the DCCA director is responsible. It says the director should set standards for public access operators and designate the appropriate nonprofit agency, the Akaku leaders said.

"The director of DCCA cannot defer his authority to the chief procurement officer of the state," Collins said.

April said the federal law recognizes that cable television is effectively a monopoly with control over all channels available on its cable, while using public easements to run the cables across the countryside. He said he was advised of the basis for the federal law in conversations with former Federal Communication Commission chief Nicholas Johnson and other officials involved in establishing public access on cable.

If left to the private market, there would be no support for public access on cable channels, much less to noncommercial governmental and educational programming, April said.

That led to the mandate in the federal law that cable television providers should provide for public access, to set aside some channels for open communications of ideas, he said.

"Johnson said he had one regret and that was to call it public, educational and governmental, when it's community television for all of us. It's about community access," April said.

With the exception of one speaker, Buck Joiner of Kihei, the rest of the audience expressed fears that the proposal to impose a competitive bidding process on awarding of the management agreement would lead to commercial interests limiting public access on the public access channels. All spoke for Akaku to continue to manage the public access channels in Maui County.

DeGray Vanderbilt, a Molokai resident, charged that speakers at a hearing on Molokai on Tuesday falsely claimed that Akaku provided minimal services for the programs on Molokai. He noted Akaku supports two staffers on Molokai, along with equipment for video productions from the island, at a cost of more than $140,000.

He also responded to criticism that Akaku had acquired the shopping center on Dairy Road in which its studios are located, noting that the DCCA itself had raised the issue with public access providers across the state. The state department had advised operators that they needed to consider how they could support themselves if the cable fees were to be cut off.

Vanderbilt charged that criticism of Akaku is coming "from the people that want to control the public's voice."

But Akaku operations are committed to providing public access to the broad range of views in the community, he said.

"Why is the state going after one of the things in the state that is functioning for the people?" Vanderbilt asked.

A Waihee resident, Kamilo Kamaunu, said he believed the move to push public access into a procurement process is to allow a new manager to limit access to views that are critical of government.

"It comes down to the government wanting to take control of the people," he said.

Kamaunu said he appreciated the wide range of views that are broadcast on Akaku's three channels, including the regular showings of county boards and the County Council, with programming that allows people to speak on the issues before the county.

"They bring out the point of view of the people. I have to give them credit. They open it up to everybody," he said.

Shannon Guillermo, a former Kahului man who enlisted in the Marines out of high school and returned after a decade shocked by the amount of growth that occurred, said he relied on Akaku programs to show him the causes of the changes. To hear that Akaku is under threat was more than he could accept, he said.

"To come back and see what has happened is a shock. Now to think that the people with the most money can buy up the people's voice, that's blasphemy to me," he said.

Information on the DCCA proposed rule can be found online at www.hawaii.gov/dcca or on the Akaku site at www.akaku.org. Comments on the proposed rule can be submitted by e-mail to cabletv@dcca.hawaii.gov or by fax to (808) 586-2625.