Terman Library in the Terman Community Center, 661 Arastradero Road, Palo Alto, CA
Mayor Wheeler explained that she is computer literate and has used them for years. She is quite familiar with the general use of computers but not the technical details of them or of the Internet. Her reaction to the ICT Group consultants' report was that it was difficult to read and understand. Other council members feel similarly. The decision to do a further study on an information utility was easy. The harder problem will be what to do when the next phase report comes back, and how to act on it. They need help on the issues from organizations such as PA-COMNET. An example of the importance of advisory bodies is the Utility Advisory Commission which provides interpretation of technical information and makes it understandable to The Council and others. The Council is looking for similar help from knowledgeable organizations such as PA-COMNET. They need translators to make the technology comprehensible. The staff report on the study was quite understandable. Since the next report on the information utility will be mainly written by staff, it should be more comprehensible than the ICT report was. The need to serve the residential areas and the city facilities and non-profits is important because businesses will be served by organizations like MFS and Pac Bell. Other parts of the community must not be excluded.
Paul Pease noted that PA-COMNET probably won't have a single viewpoint. We should go out to the community and find out what people want and need, then get back to the city with our findings and suggestions.
Louis Bookbinder noted that we can help with the technical issues, but ultimately the council will have to learn more about the issues and technical aspects themselves. Interpretation can go just so far.
Margaret Cooley said she's not technical herself, but she works in a technical field. We should try to answer Joe Simitian's question about giving examples of useful applications of a communications utility. She pays $500 month to MFS and $1200 to BBN Planet for communications services and is not fully pleased. She wants the city to be involved in the field. There are more Internet providers in Palo Alto than anywhere else in the US.
Mayor Wheeler thought a city utility is out of the question, but she could be persuaded. They do well in monopoly conditions, but don't operate like private corporations, and don't react quickly enough to be competitive.
Margaret was interested in how much is spent in Palo Alto now for communications services. Bernie Strojny, Assistant City Manager, noted that the financial data and projections are in the ICT report.
David Harris said there are other telecommunication areas besides just the Internet and they also should be considered.
The ICT Phase 3 report was posted on the net. Bernie noted it is the first staff report they have posted, but others will be posted in the future, for example the next reports on the communications study. The Phase 4 study will be done in May, and will be taken to the Utility Advisory Commission in June and City Council in July. The goal is to have a decision made before the Council takes vacation in August.
Kathryn Johnston noted that cities can't be as nimble as private companies, but they can set higher standards, making sure that there's full access, and can provide space or bandwidth for the public. Administration of a communications utility by the City may be hard. It is important to involve the whole community in this issue. What can the city do to require that communications providers act responsibly?
Mayor Wheeler noted that Federal law limits what the City can and can't do. Unfortunately they can't control much of what others do, and they have limited control on where the communications systems go. They can't prevent others from putting in their own separate systems.
Bernie noted that if the Phase 4 study shows that it makes sense to partner, that could solve many of the problems. They can tax communications providers by the Utility User Tax or by franchise fees from video providers. It's unclear whether they can tax wireless providers.
Paul would like to see some way of charging for use with some of the revenue used to support general usage.
Jack O'Reilly noted that the city must lead or it will fall by the wayside. If the council doesn't act it should step aside and let others lead so that we can get the kind of services needed. It isn't necessary to understand all the technology in order to support telecommunications. It will be a very major change in the way things are done, much as paved roads changed the economy and communities. If the present City Council can't make a decision and move towards an information utility they should be replaced with those who will. This is too great an opportunity to allow inaction to result if the City is falling behind. He doesn't want the same kind of fiasco as cable TV where discussions went on for many years before a franchise finally was awarded and a system built.
Paul noted we have lots of capability in the community and can understand and correct mistakes.
Jay Thorwaldson noted that his first article on cable TV was written in 1968, but the franchise wasn't awarded until 1985. He said the city should take the role of being a bully pulpit, and promote full access to the advanced communications facility, not depend on first understanding the technology completely. We should set the standards and the model for what should be done and how in communications, and if necessary identify shortcomings in Federal Law that need to be changed. The danger is in being taken over by big business interests who aren't concerned about the community, just in profits.
Mayor Wheeler said that this is Palo Alto. We need a vision and a way to articulate what should be done.
MaryJo Levy, Head of Library Services, wants a shared vision of residents and businesses. Both should be involved because both work together and support each other.
David said from the Council's position they may not be able to compete with large organizations with a national presence. How would we make the money back that was invested in communications?
Margaret said there's plenty of users, lots of interest and lots of money to be made. People want the high-speed access.
Bernie noted that a good alternative might be to have the City provide the infrastructure so that it can have an advantage in that others won't have to pay for the infrastructure, and can offer extensive competition. The hope is that others will lease the system rather than spending lots of money for separate plant and then finding there aren't enough customers to pay for the plant.
Mayor Wheeler disagrees that if the Council members decide not to go ahead they should be replaced, but they do need to move ahead. They need to decide about telecommunications and city involvement this year.
Bob Moss, Member of the Cable Co-Op Board of Directors, gave a summary of the position of Cable Co-op on the issues.
Last night at the Board meeting there was agreement to adopt a single policy statement as to goals and objectives. The draft was generally agreed to, but it will be revised and refined before it is issued.
The Board has agreed that there needs to be a vision of what can be offered by a communications utility, and is trying to get feedback from the community on interests and needs. They have a goal of working with the City to provide comprehensive communications which goes back years. As for large national organizations vs. local ownership and control, a local organization will be more responsive, have a better understanding of the community and the market, and be able to react faster in response to community needs and desires. We've got lots of capabilities here. He prepared a set of examples of applications and advantages of an advanced broadband communications facility which the Cable Co-Op Board considered and found useful.
He will provide a revised summary on what the advantages, issues, and options are for a communications utility in the overall area and will distribute it to interested parties. A few draft copies were distributed to some of the attendees.
Jay noted that while some organizations are reportedly reexamining the importance of Web sites to their businesses, others that have high levels of interchange of data, such as health care, will be expanding electronic communications. Large amounts of data are transmitted to and from medical facilities already. Reliable high bandwidth data transfer is essential for operation of modern medical organizations. There is a meeting Saturday at Stanford to discuss the issues and status of information access in health care.
Mayor Wheeler noted there is a need for vision, but the city also has a fiduciary responsibility to look carefully at financial issues and take due care with public funds.
The key to what actions to take will be the conclusions in Phase 4 and the council decision to act. Phase 5 will do the detailed business plan which can range from little expense to a full network. It is not necessary that Phase 5 be complete before the decision is made to take or not take action on a communications utility. They are trying to have dialogue during Phase 4 with different components of the community. PA-COMNET could be the residential/small business part of the review. If PA-COMNET had an evening meeting to discuss the issues and talk with staff about the technology, interests, and needs it would be useful.
Mayor Wheeler noted the need for information, not just consensus. In the end there will be a City Council vote and the issues will be decided yes or no. If a consensus can be reached, fine. If not, PA-COMNET should just be informative. She hasn't read the PA-COMNET minutes from past meetings yet. She has access to the Internet, and was looking forward to using it before she was elected mayor, but just hasn't had time to use it. She does read the e-mail.
Mary Jo is working with the Midtown neighborhood trying to find out how many have PCs, Macs, modems, and trying to create a community network. So far it looks very promising.
We all thanked Mayor Wheeler for her participation and attendance and are looking forward to working with her and the rest of the council on the communications utility.
The next meeting will be April 3 at 7:30 AM at Terman Library. Brian Moura is a possible guest, as is another council member or someone from the Chamber of Commerce. Mayor Wheeler suggested inviting a council member who isn't experienced technically.
Adjourned at 8:40 AM
Submitted by Bob Moss