Getting his figurative slingshot ready, Jay April, president and CEO of Akakū Maui Community Media, likened an upcoming court hearing July 23 to a David vs. Goliath story.

At issue, April said the cable giant Spectrum is renewing its franchise agreement for Maui, the legal contract that lets Spectrum operate cable services on Maui.

“It’s been going on for a while,” he said.

The hearing will be at the Second Circuit Court in Wailuku at 10:30 a.m. July 23. Attorney Lance Collins will be representing Akakū.

Spectrum’s legal counsel declined to comment on the upcoming matter.

April said he is hopeful a judge will reverse decisions that could imperil Akaku’s funding and autonomy.

April said that in that process, the state director of the department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs denied Akakū a chance to officially intervene in the proceedings.

“That’s a legal way of saying, you’re not allowed at the table,” he said, adding the department then made decisions that could take away a big chunk of Akakū’s funding without due process.

April said it was difficult to estimate just how much funding might be lost.

“We’ve always been a step-child technology,” he said. “It’s always been a cat-and-mouse game to survive. There are hostile regulations and hostile cable companies.”

According to April, Akakū has always been a beacon of free speech where anyone can come and express an opinion or share an idea.

April said there were five major companies that controlled the cable and internet markets in the U.S. with Spectrum being one of them. He also said it was his observation that Spectrum was flexing its financial and political muscle.

He said as cable subscriptions decline, companies are seeking revenue through franchising fees and other measures.

April likened Akakū’s relationship to its “hostile” partners to “someone paying rent and your landlord charging you for the neighbor’s swimming pool that you are not allowed to use.”

“This is wrong,” he said. “That is why we hope people will help fill up the courtroom to witness this.”

April added that Akakū asked the state for clarity on how new federal rules about cable fees and network costs would affect them, but they were denied. He promised the July 23 proceeding would be “a real doozy.”