For purposes of this chapter:
A. "Applicant" means any person who applies for a cable communications franchise in the City of Chicago, excluding any person seeking to renew an existing franchise but including any person who applies for an assignment or other interest of ownership of cable communications franchise in the City of Chicago by way of transfer, sale or other means of assignment, under procedures established pursuant to the Chicago Cable Communications Ordinance, Chapter 4-280 of the Municipal Code, or any successor ordinance or provisions of law relating to the same subject matter.
B. "Application period" means a period commencing with the date of the first communication from an applicant to any city representative expressing an interest in acquiring a cable communications franchise, and ending with the date of the approval or disapproval of the application for a franchise or a transfer of ownership of a franchise by the city council pursuant to Section 4-280-170 or Section 4-280-470 A of the Municipal Code, or such date as the applicant formally notifies the cable administrator in writing of the withdrawal of the application for a franchise or a transfer of ownership of a franchise.
C. "Cable administrator" means the cable administrator provided for pursuant to Section 4-280-420 of the Municipal Code.
D. "City" means the City of Chicago.
E. "City advisor" means any outside consultant, counsel, or other person retained by the city with respect to cable communications in the City of Chicago.
F. "City employee" means any employee or official of the city, including any city representative but, unless otherwise specified in this ordinance, shall not include members of boards or commissions whose duties and responsibilities are part-time in nature.
G. "City representative" means the mayor; members of the city council and their staff; all city department heads; the cable administrator; and all other city employees designated by the cable administrator on the basis of their relevance to cable communications in the City of Chicago but, unless otherwise specified by the cable administrator, shall not include members of boards or commissions whose duties and responsibilities are part-time in nature.
H. "Communication" means the discussion, presentation, or any oral, written or other transmission of information relating in any way to cable communications in the City of Chicago.
I. "Expenditure" means a payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit, political or campaign contribution or loan, or gift of money or anything of value, or the conferring of an economic benefit or the incurring of an economic cost, and includes a contract, promise or agreement; whether or not legally enforceable; whether or not made or incurred in the City of Chicago; relating in any way to cable communications in the City of Chicago.
"Expenditure" includes expenditures by a person's parent corporation, subsidiary, predecessor or other affiliated entity, or by any business or professional entity, with which an individual is affiliated or associated.
J. "Family member" means and includes spouse or qualified domestic partner, siblings and their spouses, children and their spouses, grandchildren and their spouses, parents and grandparents; whether or not they are members of the same household.
K. "Immediate family" means and includes spouse or qualified domestic partner and family members living with the person.
L. "Interest" means any economic interest or relationship, whether by ownership, purchase, sales, lease, contract, option, investment, employment, gift, fee or otherwise; whether present, promised or reasonably expected; whether direct or indirect; whether or not legally enforceable; whether in the person itself or in a parent or subsidiary corporation or in another subsidiary of the same parent. "Interest" shall not include ownership through purchase at fair market value of less than one percent of the shares of a parent, subsidiary or other affiliated corporation whose shares are registered on a national securities exchange pursuant to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. "Interest" shall also not include any interest provided equally to all cable subscribers or to all persons who agree to become cable subscribers, or any interest publicly determined by the cable administrator to be so minor that it doesn't reasonably constitute an actual or apparent conflict of interest.
M. "Municipal Code" means the Municipal Code of the City of Chicago.
N. "Person" means an individual, firm, corporation, cooperative, association, trust, partnership, joint venture, combination or other legally recognized entity.
O. "Person with whom a city representative maintains a close economic association" means a person associated with a city representative in a partnership, professional service corporation or other form of business association or professional association, whether as a partner, officer, employee, associate, principal, agent or otherwise; provided that such "association" shall not include participation by both the representative and the other person as limited partners or other passive investors in an entity in which neither owns or controls more than five percent of the equity of the entity.
Q. "Spokesperson" means and include any person who, at any time during the application period, is authorized to speak on behalf of an applicant or otherwise to represent the applicant or to serve the applicant in an agency capacity or by contract, with respect to any matter relating to cable communications in the City of Chicago. "Spokesperson" includes, but is not limited to, any attorney, consultant, franchise representative, public relations advisor or representative, advertising agency, marketing research firm, accountant, banker, underwriter, financial or investment advisor, broker, person conducting needs assessments on behalf of the applicant, and the like, and any person who is authorized to or who on behalf of the applicant makes any communication or engages in any activity relating to the content or approval of any request for proposals, franchise application, franchise, or ordinance concerning cable communications in the City of Chicago. In the case of an individual "spokesperson", spokesperson also includes any firm or other business or other business or professional association by which the individual is employed or with which he or she is otherwise affiliated. In the case of a firm or other entity, "spokesperson" also includes any individuals who perform or will perform any of the activities as "spokesperson". "Spokesperson" includes any person employed by or retained by the applicant or by a parent corporation, subsidiary or other affiliated entity, whose responsibilities include any of the foregoing communications or activities.
(Prior code § 113.2-2; Amend Coun. J. 6-20-84, p. 7810; Amend Coun. J. 5-16-90, p. 15716; Amend Coun. J. 12-9-92, p. 25465; Amend Coun. J. 11-13-07, p. 14999, Art. I, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 11-17-10, p. 106597, Art. VIII, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 4-24-12, p. 23998, § 1)