BD: Re: SCN: "Free-Nets" in Los Angeles Times

[Rod Clark]

Patrick Fisher wrote:
> What's everyone's opinion on this one?

Patrick, 

   A technology mapping project like this is tailor-made for a
public agency like the City, or King County, or Pierce County,
or Snohomish County, or Kitsap County, to do. Better yet, all
five of them could collaborate on an area-wide version. Olympia
and other cities might even contribute to it.

   It would take a lot of time and effort to keep a complete
regional access locations database sufficiently updated and
accurate. Public agencies are willing to do this, and can do it
very well. SCN is not at all unique in being able to do this
kind of clerical work. If SCN undertook such a regional
database, it would simply be doing something that the government
could do just as well. And that is not what SCN is for.

   Governmental bodies have shown themselves to be relatively
unwilling to build fair, inclusive menus of grassroots groups
like SCN has done with its Community menus. SCN is pretty much
unique locally in doing that. SCN should keep its focus on
directing increased public attention to grassroots groups who
often look askance at local governmental bodies. Just try to
find some of the more controversial issue-oriented groups that
SCN hosts on the City's neighborhoods menus, or on King County's
neighborhoods menus. They aren't there, and have never been, and
we will all grow old and die before these governments will
direct attention to some of these groups.

   The only reason that I made the King/Pierce access menus in
the first place, a few years ago, was that the City decided not
to coordinate its efforts with King County, and at that time
Pierce County wasn't even close to providing any similar
information. That's probably all changed now. 

Rod Clark

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