Whither GCN?

The future of broadband Internet access and the Gustavus Community Network (GCN) looks bleak this fall.

• In May I gave the city council notice that I will continue volunteer maintenance and operations for the community network only through June 30, 2011. Sixteen years is enough, and I know maintenance and operations will never be professionalized unless and until I quit volunteering.
• Ballot measure 1, which would have lent up to $150,000 from the Gustavus endowment fund to build a community-wide broadband network, failed to gain the two-thirds majority vote needed to pass.

• Rivada-Sea Lion's $60 million broadband stimulus grant application for a wireless network that would serve Gustavus and other communities throughout Southeast Alaska was denied.

Will GCN remain a city-owned public utility, and if so how will it pay for maintenance and operations next fiscal year, much less expand broadband coverage to the entire community?

Or will GCN be privatized and if so, can an operator be found and on what terms, and how will that affect service and prices?

Or will GCN simply cease to exist, and how will that affect the 79 Gustavus households it currently serves?

These are questions the GCN committee will be considering this fall.

Happiness Is...

Soapbox Originally posted on the Gustavus community page approximately November, 2009. I am excited to have Paul Berry as our mayor! In his first month in office he has combined his understanding of city operations and issues with a vision of open and efficient government to streamline procedures, make the inner workings of the city more accessible, and draw up a road map of issues that need to be addressed, all with unassailable integrity and good humor. A great example of his leadership is the work session notes he published on October 20. I highly recommend this "State of the City" report to anyone who wants to understand where we are and where we need to go. And if you have something to add, I see Paul is having "coffee with the Mayor" Thursdays at 2 pm at the Fireweed gallery and coffee house. As always, you can also submit your comments and questions to the city council in writing. And for the latest city council news you can follow the city council forum. In The Geography of Bliss Eric Weiner writes, "Canadian happiness researcher John Helliwell believes that quality of government is the single most important variable that explains why some countries are happier than others." Weiner explorers many other variables in the book including my favorite, connectedness to nature, but who could argue that good government is an important factor? I would like to thank outgoing council members Sandi Marchbanks, Wayne Howell, Lou Cacioppo, and Bill Unkel for all their hard work promoting our collective happiness. Thanks largely to their efforts (and to all the other council members and city staff and volunteers and participating citizens) Gustavus is already the envy of small governments across Alaska. And now Paul is working to set an even higher standard. Nathan Borson Volunteer Webmaster, Community Section City of Gustavus