SCN: Municipal Information Infrastructure

[Doug Schuler]

 To: Council Member Jim Compton and others concerned about access
 Subject: Municipal Information Infrastructure


Dear Council Member Compton:

I am a former CTTAB member and advocate for information policy that is
of benefit to all citizenry.  To that end I've convened conferences,
written editorials and articles, taught classes, presented at
conferences, and served on CTTAB.

I am writing to inquire about the fate of a Seattle City Council
resolution that was made two or three years ago that seemed to have
vanished without a trace.

To the best of my recollection the council directed the Department of
Information Services to develop a feasibility study for a municipally
owned infrastructure.  This direction was apparently ignored for the
first year ostensibly due to the "Y2K problem."  Ignoring the fact that
this was an extremely poor excuse in my opinion, the fact remains that
this direction has been entirely unheeded.

Can you fill me -- and the citizens of Seattle -- in on the status of
this proposal?  Tacoma has implemented a large program in the time that
our proposal was gathering dust.

While a project of this magnitude may eventually be shown to be
infeasible I am sad to see it shelved with no public input and
deliberation.  This is much too important to be left to city
administrators who, apparently, are opposed to the program.

Information and communication for all citizens are key to a democratic
society and Seattle can be, in my opinion, a leader in this area.

Thanks for your consideration in this matter.

-- Doug Schuler

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