1. The Cambridge Broadband
Task Force
When Bad Process Happens to Good
People
Saul Tannenbaum @stannenb
Disclaimer: The presenter is a member of, but NOT speaking for, the
Cambridge Broadband Task Force
http://www.cambridgema.gov/CityManager/broadbandtaskforce

2. Cambridge
January 1983

3. Cambridge
November 1983

4. Cambridge
December 1983

5. Three Decades Pass

6. The Perfect Storm
• Comcast, Cambridge’s
monopoly internet and
cable TV provider, buys
NBC/Universal, raising
fears of even greater
media concentration
• Federal Appeals Court
strikes down FCC net
neutrality regulations
•

7. Cambridge Responds

8. Cambridge Responds

9. Boards and Commissions
Oh, And Task Forces

10. Types of Boards and Commissions
Created by
Ordinance
Formal
Process
Created by
City
Manager
or Mayor
Informal
Process

11. Encouraging resident involvement
The City of Cambridge encourages and promotes involvement by residents in the
decision-making process through participation in a variety of boards and commissions.
Serving on a board or commission can be a rewarding experience and an excellent way
to contribute to the quality of life of the community in which you live or work. We rely
greatly on the interest and involvement of those volunteers who seek a more active
role in the functioning of their local government.
Selection for appointment to one of our boards and commissions is generally based on
the following characteristics:
• A broad perspective and concern for the welfare and progress of the City
• A familiarity with the City’s history, issues and goals
• Interest in the functions/responsibilities of the board or commission under
consideration
• City residency, in most cases
• A willingness to devote time and effort to the work of said board or commission
• Awareness of and understanding of the City’s ordinances and policies
• Balanced and diverse representation on boards and commissions as feasible

12. Jenny Holzer, Survival 1983-1985

13. Let’s not overlook the obvious
• Privileges people who:
– Like meetings
– Like process
– Have leisure time
– Like spending what otherwise would be leisure
time in meetings talking about process
– Don’t have child care issues
– Have remarkable tolerance for low bandwidth,
high frustration discussions

14. Cambridge Broadband Task Force

15. Process

16. Process
• Meetings every other month, announced on the
City Calendar
• No agenda
• No notes
• No decision making process
• Two lightly attended “outreach” sessions
• A resident survey, with methodological problems
• A consultant’s report whose recommendations
we rejected
– And it was terribly written, too

17. Public Participation

18. All That Mattered
• Consultants determined that building a full
fiber optic network in Cambridge would cost
up to $170,000,000
– For Cambridge, that’s roughly a school
– Cambridge builds schools routinely
– Which means a municipal broadband network can
be built

19. Next Step: A Municipal Broadband
Feasibility Study
• We’ve moved to saying “municipal broadband”
• City staff have had time to stop freaking out about the
prospect
• We need a detailed financial plan
• We need to build a serious digital inclusion/digital
equity plan
– “Broadband regardless of the ability to pay”
• We need to do real outreach to institutions, the
entrepreneurial and innovation sectors
• And we need to do outreach to residents because
that’s what Cambridge does