[RTC List] Fwd: local hosts - Why are we held hostage?

Mon Dec 29 13:20:09 PST 2008

Jacqueline 
I have a couple ideas I want to run by you. You seem to be in the know about things like this.
You said: The purpose of grant funding is determined by the funder, and I've never seen a 
case where they would move funding designated for "planning" to 
"implementation". It just doesn't work that way

Let me see if I understand this correctly.. So the grand funder is the County of Humboldt right?
So the board of supervisors could have designated the headwater funds for implementation instead of ANOTHER PLAN or ANOTHER STUDY?? 

Or are these different funds/grants we are talking about? 

How much money is left for the county to spend in the Headwaters Fund? Could that be used to form a county wide wireless/wired broadband network that would provide internet access County wide?

Also could headwaters money be used to add aditional fiber lines into the county like 299 or Hwy 36 and have those owned by the county?

I think it would be great to have a municipal countywide broadband network... It would create revenue for the cash strapped County and provide a huge infrastructure investment.  You deal with the headwaters fund right? or is that something you used to do or is that totally someone else?

What is your understanding of what the Headwaters Fund could be used for? something i want to know is how much money is left and if we could use it for something like this. It could finally make our broadband problems be a thing of the past and create a much needed additional stream of money for the county.

Is it realistic to want a network like Provo Net a network developed via public/private partnership with the City of Provo, Utah.

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________________________________
From: "Debets, Jacqueline" <JDebets at co.humboldt.ca.us>
To: Dwight Winegar <dwightw at mac.com>; list at redwoodtech.org
Sent: Monday, December 29, 2008 10:56:33 AM
Subject: Re: [RTC List] Fwd:  local hosts - Why are we held hostage?

A 
couple of things are useful perspective on the RCC 
project...

1) 
None of us has read the report, because it has not been published yet, so it 
seems a tad early to be judging its contents.

2) 
The report is being produced for the STATE to tell the state what the barriers 
are to ubiquitous broadband deployment in RURAL areas. We should expect that 
there will be both things that we already know, because we live in a 
particularly remote rural region, and things that may be a surprise to us. Just 
remember, the primary audience is the state, not locals, so that we can get the 
state to make changes and funding available to overcome the barriers on a local 
level.

3) 
While we may not like how the $500k was spent or would have spent it differently 
if it were in our own personal broadband checkbook, there isn't such a thing. 
The purpose of grant funding is determined by the funder, and I've never seen a 
case where they would move funding designated for "planning" to 
"implementation". It just doesn't work that way.

4) 
Regarding local elected officials, every one of them either understands or is 
eager to understand our broadband barriers and find a solution(s). Every one 
would do everything in their power to aid a solution. The thing about elected 
officials that we easily seem to forget is "in their power"...they typically do 
not have the power to affect solutions to complex problems like this. They do a 
bit here and there to push it along, and look for places to make a difference. I 
see them doing that. 

Overall, I see quite a few people doing valuable work to build 
solutions to overcome a complex array of barriers that are not all intuitive or 
obvious to understand. Some of them are in the media talking about their 
efforts, others are not. I don't see anyone who can do something waiting around. 
There is no single person or effort that will be responsible for the solution. 
It's going to take all of us working for solutions to get 
them.

The 
only thing I would caution against, which really does slow down the process, is 
criticizing community partners...we need to cooperate and support the various 
efforts, and to keep our eyes on the prize...not a circular firing squad. That 
will be the first thing to turn the state/feds away from investing in our 
solutions.

j

Jacqueline R. 
Debets 
Economic 
Development Coordinator 
HC-WIB Executive Director
County of Humboldt, 
CA
Prosperity Center
520 E Street, Eureka, CA 95501
707-445-7747 
(Direct)  
707-445-7745 (Main Office);  707-445-7219 (Fax) 
Email: jdebets at co.humboldt.ca.us www.NorthCoastProsperity.com
Humboldt County is a partner in the Prosperity! 
Network. 

-----Original Message-----
From: list-bounces at redwoodtech.org  [mailto:list-bounces at redwoodtech.org]On Behalf Of Dwight  Winegar
Sent: Sunday, December 28, 2008 1:57 PM
To: list at redwoodtech.org
Subject: [RTC List] Fwd: local hosts - Why are  we held hostage?

Begin forwarded message:

Subject: Re: [RTC List] local hosts - Why are we held  hostage?

I second that!   Thanks again Larry for your observations and  sharing - it's this sort of writing and discussion that makes RTC, the list  and the Broadband conference come together and worth participating in.   As for the $500K - this is totally outrageous!   What other  non-profit or any other person or entity among us here in this region would  get paid this much for such a project - especially with how it has gone.   It seems there needs to be accountability for how that money was  spent, and if there might actually be some sizable portion of it still  existing for deployment [of infrastructure].    BTW - how reliable  (or perhaps I should use the word "consistent") is Microwave over water?   Certainly it can cause amplification has allowed low powered local  stations to broadcast with a far more ERP across a bay (e.g. Monterey Bay  from Carmel to Santa Cruz) but question has come up about the consistency,  especially with weather conditions.     

- Dwight   

On 28 Dec 2008, at 10:41 AM, Keri Raphael wrote:

Thanks  Larry, for this writing.  I agree that the $500K study money should  have been used to actually do something about the issues.   Most of already knew what the study 'discovered' and would have been glad  to offer that info for free to any PTB wanting to  know.
Keri

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