[RTC List] Local Broadband Stimulus Money

Thu May 7 12:09:05 PDT 2009

Great!

Sorry that I'll miss the meeting on Tuesday - will be on my way to DC
to meet with Federal funding sources at USDA, NTIA and FCC.

For Access Humboldt's part, here is the current draft of our Digital
Redwoods concept that has been in circulation since December 2008.
Access Humboldt offers this concept to help frame the larger vision
for publicly funded broadband deployment, demand and adoption efforts.

Digital Redwoods was the focus of our Collaboration Workshop with
public agencies only, hosted at College of the Redwoods on Monday May
4th.  With help from our elected officials (esp. Assemblymember
Chesbro, Senator Wiggins and US Rep. Mike Thompson), we convened an
open discussion with County, Cities, Tribal, Education and Emergency
Services representatives and made great progress on informing
policymakers and gathering Public sector participation.

Digital Redwoods project is in support of the efforts by Humboldt Area
Foundation, Redwood Coast Rural Action, Redwood Coast Connect and
other privately funded efforts to develop regional partnerships that
can serve Public, Education and Government purposes.

If you have questions about Digital Redwoods - feel free to call me.

- Sean

Sean McLaughlin
Executive Director
Access Humboldt
P.O. Box 157, Eureka, CA 95502
tel: 707-476-1798
dir: 707-476-2873
fax: 707-476-1702
cel: 707-616-2381
e: sean at accesshumboldt.net
http://accesshumboldt.net

"Local Voices Through Community Media"

On Thu, May 7, 2009 at 11:18 AM, Peter Pennekamp
<peterp at hafoundation.org> wrote:
> As of this morning HAF is planning an open meeting with RTC for the 12th.
> That’s right, almost overnight. We are looking for a place (our facilities
> are booked) and a couple hour time slot that does not interfere with the
> activities around broadband associates that I hear are happening that day. I
> will send more information this afternoon. I am on a two hour conference
> call. I will address the enormous amount of misinformation that is flowing
> around.
>
>
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: Larry Goldberg [mailto:larry at northcoast.com]
> Sent: Thursday, May 07, 2009 10:56 AM
> To: Bob Morse
> Cc: Rick Blanchard; list at redwoodtech.org
> Subject: Re: [RTC List] Local Broadband Stimulus Money
>
>
>
> Bob,
>
>
>
> I forgot who is on the Board of Directors of the RTC, but given what has
> transpired over the past week, I am formally requesting the following:
>
>
>
> I hereby request a special meeting be held by the RTC to receive public
> input specifically about the use of public funds for broadband projects and
> how projects should be selected and prioritized.  This meeting should take
> place prior to the scheduled luncheon (I propose within the next two weeks)
> and be publicly noticed to invite all community members to attend and
> participate.  I request the RTC prepare and adopt a position on how publicly
> funded broadband projects should be selected and, if possible, identify key
> technical issues hampering widespread broadband usage in our region.  Our
> position should be reported to elected representatives at appropriate public
> meetings prior to selection of projects for stimulus money.
>
>
>
> It's time to stand up and be counted.  RTC board - please do what you were
> elected to do - represent our interests and step up to this challenge.
>
>
>
> On May 7, 2009, at 10:13 AM, Bob Morse wrote:
>
> It's odd that RTC had to hear of this plan after the horse was out of the
> barn. Perhaps others were in the loop, but I sure wasn't. I think part of
> the problem, though, may be finding a consensus among RTC members as to what
> the RTC stance on this and similar projects is. As you can tell from the the
> posts on this list, there are widely varying opinions.
>
>
> Rick Blanchard wrote:
>
> I agree as well however, why was the RTC established if not to present ideas
> and expertise to the decision makers in our area. This area has gone too
> long with the "good old boy" mentality and the reason I joined the RTC was
> in hope to lend my experience and ideas. If the experience and expertise of
> the RTC Members go unnoticed or unheard, why have a consortium? To just talk
> between the members? Perhaps all of us can come up with a presentation to
> give to the County, City and Local Government Agencies which would allow us
> the opportunity to attend meetings about local development and input our
> thoughts and opinions. After all, in the areas of technology, our members
> are the local experts.
>
>
>
> Rick Blanchard
>
> ----- Original Message -----
>
> From: Mike
>
> Cc: list at redwoodtech.org
>
> Sent: Thursday, May 07, 2009 12:50 AM
>
> Subject: Re: [RTC List] Local Broadband Stimulus Money
>
>
>
> Larry & all:
>
> Yeah, what you said. I've been watching this shape up and I don't like
> it one bit. We would benefit from participating in the larger efforts
> and in particular would find it useful to have funding or access to
> grant writing services and consultants to get that polished final
> product ready when the grants are opened up, but nobody I have
> communicated with (and who is 'in' on this process) seems to be willing
> to do that. There is that single minded mindset like "this is just what
> we're going to do and sorry you've busted your ass for 7 years here, now
> the money has arrived we don't need you anymore...".
>
> To be sure, since we're not invited to the party, we're simply going to
> pitch rus/ntia directly. I don't think there is anyone in mendocino
> county that knows the situation here better or who has _demonstrated_,
> funding or not, the impetus and resourcefulness to actually go after the
> problems here and build a viable business out of it anyways. I think
> this raises the likelyhood that any grants received will result in
> sustainable business, as opposed to big expensive fiber to nowhere
> that's fine until the money runs out and it's all dark and does nothing
> for nobody.
>
> Mike-
>
>
>
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>
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>
>
>
> --
>
> Bob Morse
>
> Morse Media
>
> Web Development * Web Hosting * Internet Marketing
>
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>
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>
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>
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