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December 13, 2005
A Sure Cure For Those Mayoral Blues
Hey, mayors across America, have I got a proposition for you!
Are your citizens moaning about high taxes and poor services? Is the local paper giving too much space to your inability to address the most basic of city problems? Are you sagging in the polls?
When civic pressures weigh heavy, never fear! Because Municipal WiFi is here!
I only half jest. Following the example of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who got reams of great press across the country for doing nothing but suggesting that municipal wireless was a civil right, mayors in cities large and small have seized on municipal WiFi as a way to attract breathless media and distract attention from more mundane administrative woes.
Announced at the right time, a WiFi proposal can do wonders. For example, in Brookline, Mass., Town Selectman Michael Merrill told the Brookline Tab that the town was looking into setting up free WiFi in public buildings and parks and “main commercial areas.” The reporter then gushed about how the Boston suburb was going to join the ranks of Philadelphia, San Francisco and New Orleans (Oh the irony! But more on that in a moment.). Of course, the reporter glossed over the major differences, such as the fact that Philadelphia and San Francisco are talking about covering the whole city. The paper also neglected to report the cost of the project or how it will be paid for.
That question should be of concern. Because the same day, the Tab also reported that Brookline is facing a $3.5 million budget deficit next year, and that the predicted shortfall is $1 million higher than last year.
Town Administrator Richard Kelliher said he was looking at various options to make up for the budget shortfall. The town's operating budget, which includes police, firefighters and public works, is expected to increase about $1.5 million. The school budget increase, which makes up the remainder of the deficit, is expected to total about $2 million.While the local and state revenue coming into the town is expected to increase by $6.6 million next year, the money is not enough to cover the rising cost of health care and utility prices.
"There's no question that it's looking more difficult this year than in prior years," said Kelliher.
Obviously, there’s no better time to propose muni WiFi.
Meanwhile, in Aurora, Ill., which comedian/actors Dana Carvey and Mike Myers put on the map as the home of “Wayne’s World,” Mayor Tom Weisner has asked for a $15 million bond issue build a muni WiFi system in this town of 175,000 about 30 miles west of Chicago. The budget is set to be voted on Dec. 14.
The $15 million includes construction of a wireless system plus a citywide fiber network backbone and will account for 10 percent of the $150 million the town wants to borrow. It will also mean the first city tax hike in a decade. Even so, little is known about how the service will be set up, how much it will cost and who will use it.
From the Aurora Beacon News:
It's not even clear yet how the city ownership of this infrastructure would work. The mayor's office is batting around options like allowing private Internet companies to take portions of the network and re-sell it, or providing a level of free Internet, albeit one riddled with banners and pop-up ads. Residents or businesses could pay a fee for a faster level of service, although that's not definite either.
But inquisitive reporting can be disregarded when the local paper has headline writers who blast “Internet Revolution.” In a follow-up story reporting on questions town officials had about the system’s cost and security, Beacon headline writers remained tech-dazzled and headlined the piece, “WiFi Testimony: Good Idea.”
Say what you will about muni WiFi’s financial record, it provides a proven media boost when the chips are down. The prize for “Most Strategically Timed Muni WiFi Proposal” goes, of course, to New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, who got a week’s worth of positive national coverage when he proposed a WiFi system for New Orleans (never mind that a wireless network had already been constructed, with infrastructure donated by Tropos Networks). That dazzled the media, (although not Reason’s Ted Balaker, see his Nov. 29 entry) long enough to let Nagin’s inability to get funding for critical levee repairs and reinforcement slip by.
My prediction, look to Detroit for the next big WiFi proposal. Why? Well here’s how Tom Bray, a Detroit News columnist summed up the fiscal situation in Motown Dec. 8 in the Wall Street Journal:
Kwame Kilpatrick, Detroit's "hip-hop" mayor, insists that the city is "a long way" from insolvency. Recently re-elected (a recount demanded by his opponent is very unlikely to change the outcome), he has pledged to bring to heel a projected deficit of about 10% of the city's $1.4 billion general fund. In his first term, he reduced the city's work force to about 16,000 from 20,000, mainly by allowing vacant posts to go unfilled.But the near-collapse of General Motors, Ford and their major suppliers is posing a big drag on city finances. This comes atop a long-running failure to adjust to Detroit's decline to less than 900,000 residents from a peak of more than 1.8 million after World War II. With an accumulated deficit of $300 million, union opposition to reform, and a bond rating rapidly approaching junk status, Detroit is in crisis. As Joseph Harris, the city's auditor general until he was term-limited out of office last week, flatly declared: "Insolvency is certain. The only question is the timing of the inevitable."
Any day now, Kilpatrick will haul out muni WiFi. You watch.
Posted by steve.titch at December 13, 2005 01:28 PM
My life's been basically bland today. More or less nothing seems worth thinking about. My mind is like an empty room. I've more or less been doing nothing to speak of. Not much on my mind recently.
Comment by: Sten42597 at January 10, 2007 09:30 PM
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I haven't been up to anything recently, but so it goes. Such is life. What can I say? Pretty much not much exciting going on to speak of. I haven't gotten much done lately, but I don't care.
Comment by: Sten15562 at January 13, 2007 06:27 AM
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I haven't gotten anything done recently. I've just been hanging out doing nothing. I haven't been up to anything these days, but it's not important. Today was a total loss.
Comment by: Sten73413 at January 19, 2007 11:16 PM
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I just don't have anything to say , but shrug. So it goes. Not much on my mind recently. I can't be bothered with anything recently.
Comment by: Sten97392 at January 23, 2007 05:45 AM
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I've more or less been doing nothing worth mentioning, but eh. My life's been really bland today. I don't care. I've just been letting everything happen without me these days. That's how it is.
Comment by: Sten84547 at January 26, 2007 07:50 AM
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I just don't have anything to say. Not that it matters. Eh. I've just been staying at home doing nothing, but I don't care. That's how it is.
Comment by: Sten94831 at January 26, 2007 07:20 PM
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I've just been hanging out not getting anything done. What can I say? I've basically been doing nothing worth mentioning, but pfft. Not that it matters. Pretty much nothing exciting happening to speak of. I haven't been up to much these days.
Comment by: Sten88687 at January 27, 2007 06:38 PM
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I haven't been up to much today. I've just been letting everything happen without me. Basically nothing seems worth bothering with. I've just been hanging out doing nothing. I just don't have anything to say right now. More or less nothing happening.
Comment by: Sten53234 at January 29, 2007 01:52 AM
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Not much on my mind lately. My life's been completely boring these days. I've just been hanging out not getting anything done. So it goes.
Comment by: Sten15762 at January 29, 2007 08:30 AM
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I just don't have anything to say. Not that it matters. Eh. I've just been staying at home doing nothing, but I don't care. That's how it is.
Comment by: Sten99649 at January 29, 2007 08:24 PM
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I just don't have anything to say right now. I haven't been up to anything recently, but it's not important. I've just been sitting around waiting for something to happen, but shrug.
Comment by: Sten92564 at January 30, 2007 07:41 AM
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I just don't have much to say recently. Such is life. I've basically been doing nothing. Basically nothing seems worth bothering with. Oh well.
Comment by: Sten27981 at January 31, 2007 09:42 AM
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I just don't have much to say these days, but so it goes. Today was a total loss. I guess it doesn't bother me.
Comment by: Sten36373 at February 1, 2007 12:17 AM
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I just don't have much to say these days, but so it goes. Today was a total loss. I guess it doesn't bother me.
Comment by: Sten6815 at February 1, 2007 08:18 AM
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My life's been pretty dull recently. Shrug. My mind is like a void. I haven't gotten anything done lately. I can't be bothered with anything recently.
Comment by: Sten4559 at February 1, 2007 05:17 PM
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I haven't been up to anything these days. So it goes. I can't be bothered with anything these days.
Comment by: Sten6322 at February 1, 2007 09:42 PM
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I haven't been up to much today. I've just been letting everything happen without me. Basically nothing seems worth bothering with. I've just been hanging out doing nothing. I just don't have anything to say right now. More or less nothing happening.
Comment by: Sten67195 at February 2, 2007 02:05 AM
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I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen, but I don't care. Basically nothing seems worth thinking about. I can't be bothered with anything recently.
Comment by: Sten19827 at February 2, 2007 07:18 AM
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Not much on my mind. I don't care. I've just been letting everything happen without me , but shrug. Whatever. I feel like a void.
Comment by: Sten20834 at February 2, 2007 02:44 PM
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Basically nothing noteworthy happening right now, but eh. Today was a complete loss. I haven't been up to much recently. I've pretty much been doing nothing worth mentioning.
Comment by: Sten72917 at February 2, 2007 04:44 PM
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I haven't gotten anything done today. I feel like a fog, but what can I say? I've just been letting everything wash over me lately, not that it matters. Shrug.
Comment by: Sten32911 at February 3, 2007 06:17 AM
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I haven't been up to anything recently, but so it goes. Such is life. What can I say? Pretty much not much exciting going on to speak of. I haven't gotten much done lately, but I don't care.
Comment by: Sten46625 at February 3, 2007 09:34 PM
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I can't be bothered with anything these days, but shrug. I just don't have anything to say recently. I haven't gotten much done recently. Nothing seems worth thinking about.
Comment by: Sten21789 at February 4, 2007 03:14 AM
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I haven't been up to anything today. I don't care. I've just been staying at home not getting anything done. Basically not much happening right now. Maybe tomorrow. I guess it doesn't bother me.
Comment by: Sten13072 at February 4, 2007 04:47 PM
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I can't be bothered with anything these days, but such is life. I don't care. So it goes. More or less nothing seems worth thinking about. I've just been hanging out waiting for something to happen, but that's how it is.
Comment by: Sten15678 at February 4, 2007 10:59 PM
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I've just been hanging out not getting anything done. What can I say? I've basically been doing nothing worth mentioning, but pfft. Not that it matters. Pretty much nothing exciting happening to speak of. I haven't been up to much these days.
Comment by: Sten61757 at February 5, 2007 04:49 AM
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I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen, but I don't care. Basically nothing seems worth thinking about. I can't be bothered with anything recently.
Comment by: Sten65078 at February 5, 2007 10:11 AM
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I haven't been up to anything today. I don't care. I've just been staying at home not getting anything done. Basically not much happening right now. Maybe tomorrow. I guess it doesn't bother me.
Comment by: Sten73738 at February 5, 2007 03:10 PM
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I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen. Whatever. Not much on my mind lately. I guess it doesn't bother me.
Comment by: Sten87296 at February 5, 2007 10:41 PM
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I just don't have anything to say right now. I haven't been up to anything recently, but it's not important. I've just been sitting around waiting for something to happen, but shrug.
Comment by: Sten25611 at February 5, 2007 11:56 PM
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