[Ww-snww-regional-list] Tough Questions about WiredWest at Wendell Selectboard Last Night

Robbie Leppzer robbie at turningtide.com
Thu Apr 9 01:18:21 EDT 2015


Hi Everyone in our Regional WiredWest Group:
 
            I just sent out the below email to the WiredWest Executive Committee and I want to share it with all of you.
 
            I’m wondering, have you encountered similar questions and hesitations from town officials in your towns?
 
            I welcome your thoughts and discussion on the issues raised.
 
Best,
 
Robbie

--------------------

From: Robbie Leppzer <robbie at turningtide.com>
Date: April 9, 2015 1:04:29 AM EDT
To: Webb Monica <monica at wiredwest.net>, Webb Monica <poco at bcn.net>, Nelson Steve <steve at stevenelson.us>, Jim <jim at ddgwebmedia.com>, Torres Becky <wiredwesttownliaison at gmail.com>, Cardinal Glenn <gcard at valinet.com>
Bcc: Robbie Leppzer <robbie at turningtide.com>
Subject: Tough Questions at Wendell Selectboard

Dear Members of the WiredWest Executive Committee,

           Last night, Robbie Heller and I participated in an extensive 90-minute discussion about WiredWest at a meeting of the Wendell Selectboard, in which many members of our Finance Committee also attended.  A lot of tough questions were raised.

           I’m sharing this report with you as a cautionary tale.  If we are getting these tough questions and hesitations from our Selectboard members, who have long been very supportive and savvy about WiredWest (they were among the first residents to personally sign up!), in one of the towns that has already achieved a 40% take rate, you can be sure that these questions will be raised in towns with less support for and understanding about WiredWest.

           We need to have ready answers for these legitimate concerns in order for us to move forward successfully as a collective whole.

           One of the basic questions that was asked: Is the town meeting article an iron-clad commitment that obligates the town to spend money on this project no matter what?  How can we (as the Selectboard) endorse this article if we don’t know all the details of the plan, the budget and the mechanics of how it is all going to work?  What entity are we committing to, since the 32-town member coop doesn’t even exist yet? 

           While Robbie and I, along with members of the Finance Committee, emphasized numerous times that the town meeting article is an authorization to spend money in the future; it doesn’t mean we have to actually spend the money right away. I imagine there will be a period of months following the town meeting vote when further parts of the plan will fall into place to allow the Selectboard more confidence in the process before they have to authorize a first spending of the money.

           A fundamental question they raised: At what point in the process is a town fully committed to spending the money? Does this mean they can back out before that point if they have serious questions about the plan or the process?

           The closer we get to asking towns to make a commitment to spend a huge amount of money, town officials are getting nervous.  In the words of one Selectboard member, they feel there are a “lot of moving targets” at play and a lot of unknown information about the plan.

           They also asked: Why the rush now to decide all of this by this spring’s town meeting?  Why can’t it wait until we have more solid information?

           Robbie Heller and I emphasized over and over again that members of the Selectboard and Finance Committee need to come to WiredWest forums so they can hear the information directly themselves and ask questions.  Many of them did say that they would be attending Friday’s financial meeting in Northampton, as well as our upcoming forum in Wendell next week, at which Jim Drawe and Becky Torres will be present.

           I set up this meeting with the Selectboard after realizing that a lot of confusion was being created by so many emails flying back and forth between Robbie Heller and I and town officials.  I realized that an in-person meeting and discussion was an absolute necessity. Overall, the tone of the meeting was positive, and we ended with a commitment to work in better communication with each other as a town team on this.

           One very promising development is that Jim Slavas, former chair of the Wendell Finance Committee, has volunteered to work with Jim Drawe to vet and test the financial model. Jim Slavas has a great deal of professional expertise in deep financial analysis and has a lot of experience with the complexities of the unique software program used to develop the WiredWest model. 

           I look forward to hearing your comments on these issues.

Best,

Robbie Leppzer

P.S. Since I don’t have the emails of everyone on the EC, please forward this email to those I missed.  Thanks.

Chair, Wendell Broadband Committee
(978) 544-8313
robbie at turningtide.com







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