Since then, several people have shown their support using the #rebootbt hashtag on Twitter. Hopefully many have also been calling their City Councilors to tell them that they support pursuing this plan. Bill Simmon posted the letter he wrote to Councilor Keogh. Today Councilor Shannon sent the following draft resolution to her fellow City Councilors (I’ve been told that this is public information which is why I’m posting it here):

Sponsors:  Councilor Shannon

Resolution to Consider offer of Reboot BT

WHEREAS on February 17, 2010 a group of 9 telecom and business professionals offered both their expertise and substantial financial resources to support Burlington Telecom;

WHEREAS the Mayor has chosen not to engage this group in discussion;

WHEREAS Burlington Telecom was created by resolution of the city council and it remains subject to the orders and ordinances, and ultimate oversight, of the city council;

WHEREAS the City must give thoughtful consideration to all options available to address the financial distress of Burlington Telecom and the City of Burlington;

WHEREAS this offer has become known as “Reboot BT”; and

WHEREAS many Burlington citizens have urged the Mayor and City Council to reconvene the Blue Ribbon Committee to give consideration to the proposal of “Reboot BT”; and

WHEREAS the City Council views this proposal more as a short term proposal that may open the door to more partnership options and a stronger negotiating position in the longer term; and

WHEREAS the administration and Council have taken steps to hire financial advisors to negotiate both with our current lender, CitiLeasing, and with potential partners;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, the City Council requests that the Blue Ribbon Committee reconvene for the purpose of evaluating the offer from Reboot BT and advising the Council as to whether or not the City should entertain this offer and under what conditions and terms this offer could benefit the City of Burlington.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the City Council requests that the Blue Ribbon Committee review and evaluate any other offers that the administration deems pertinent to the discussion and decision making process.

It’s my understanding that this resolution will be discussed at Monday’s City Council meeting. If you’re a Burlington citizen and support the Reboot BT plan, then please contact your City Councilor if you haven’t already.

Here in the city of Burlington, Vermont (where I live and work) I am proud of the fact that we have a municipally-owned, state-of-the-art fiber-optic telecommunications network. Municipal control over the network, Burlington Telecom, helps keep its goals aligned with the interests of Burlington’s citizens.

Burlington Telecom is currently experiencing some financial troubles. The City Council has formed a Blue Ribbon Committee to assess the viability of Burlington Telecom. The committee’s official report is due out today. Tomorrow (Thursday, 2/11) the City Council will discuss this report.

The scope of the Blue Ribbon Committee’s assignment and the City Council’s thinking seems too limited. They seem focused on the short term financial sustainability of Burlington Telecom rather than the long term benefits (which are many) of owning our own telecommunications infrastructure. A recent Ars Technica article on why municipal fiber needs more FDR localism and fewer state bans quoted Franklin D. Roosevelt as saying:

I therefore lay down the following principle: That where a community—a city or county or a district—is not satisfied with the service rendered or the rates charged by the private utility, it has the undeniable basic right, as one of its functions of Government, one of its functions of home rule, to set up, after a fair referendum to its voters has been had, its own governmentally owned and operated service.

Other telecommunications options in this city include Comcast and FairPoint. Comcast is not interested in creating an open network that can be used equally by all. Comcast, a telecom provider, is in the process of buying a controlling stake in a content producer, NBC Universal. This is bad news for advocates (like myself) of network neutrality. FairPoint just filed bankruptcy plans. They do not have the resources to create the infrastructure that our city needs in the 21^st century. This is why Burlington Telecom was created.

Locally owned businesses give more to the community, spend more money in the community, and are far more likely to stay in the community. Verizon left us when they sold their Vermont network to FairPoint. Comcast is a massive corporation with little interest in our small city. Locally run and municipally-owned telecommunications will serve us much better than the alternatives.

The options being discussed revolve around selling off Burlington Telecom, either in part or in whole. If we decide to sell off Burlington Telecom to private equity we will look back in 10, 20, or 30 years and regret that we off-loaded such a great resource to private interests. If we keep it, the current financial issues will look insignificant in comparison to the revenue that Burlington Telecom will generate and the opportunities of having a municipally-owned open network will create.

I hope that Burlington citizens and City Council can put their heads together and come up with a solution that allows Burlington Telecom to continue to be owned by the citizens of Burlington. Several ideas have surfaced from the  #isupportbt_vt conversation on Twitter including:

• invite other providers to compete using Burlington Telecom’s infrastructure;
• convert Burlington Telecom into a cooperative; and
• have a referendum asking Burlington voters if they want to fund Burlington Telecom.

Have other suggestions? Please come to Thursday night’s meeting so that you can share your ideas with the City Council.