Setting a course for progress
The aftermath of the second City Council meeting of the year continues to provide grist for the journalistic mill as The Tribune's Amany Ali provides us with yet another follow on story in today's editions.
Her investigative piece on council-mayor tensions regarding appointments was followed by a profile of the city's new Building Commissioner, Paul Roberts. Today we get the first public utterances from the squared-away Economic Development Director, Paul Wheatley.
Some of what he has to say is the expected - "Certainly, the city of New Albany needs a bit of revitalization."
But as Wheatley surveys his new responsibilities, he and the mayor have apparently been exploring the mundane and the exotic.
The biggest surprise is Wheatley's mention of how wireless Internet for the city could be a benefit.
Does he mean universal access by means of a public utility? Or are they discussing a wireless network for the city government? We'd love to hear more. Other municipalities have realized substantial savings by creating their own broadband utility, but in areas where broadband was otherwise completely unavailable.
Since the satellite providers bailed out on Internet service, wireless or land line has been the only alternative, and when the telcos refuse to bring service to outlying areas, it can be a devastating to those communities and their jobs/economic survival.
We're not quite in the same fix, with at least two alternatives for high-speed Internet, but we'd like to see it extended throughout the county/region. The little-known secret is that a municipal utility can, through its enterprise powers, generate significant revenues from outside its boundaries by creating a wireless system.
In Ali's article, Wheatley comes off as an alert guy who recognizes the need for caution, but who also has a modicum of vision in his new role as the city's chief recruiter.
I was at first alarmed at his statement that "we need your anchor-type stores, which would attract other stores." I'm prepared to reserve judgment until I hear him clarify that priority statement. He defines anchor projects to include Scribner Place and such businesses as bookstores. Quickly, we need to take up a collection to buy Wheatley a copy of The Hometown Advantage: How to Defend Your Main Street Against Chain Stores, and Why it Matters.
Read Ali's story, when posted, at http://www.news-tribune.net/ or pick one up at your local independent bookseller.
Her investigative piece on council-mayor tensions regarding appointments was followed by a profile of the city's new Building Commissioner, Paul Roberts. Today we get the first public utterances from the squared-away Economic Development Director, Paul Wheatley.
Some of what he has to say is the expected - "Certainly, the city of New Albany needs a bit of revitalization."
But as Wheatley surveys his new responsibilities, he and the mayor have apparently been exploring the mundane and the exotic.
The biggest surprise is Wheatley's mention of how wireless Internet for the city could be a benefit.
Does he mean universal access by means of a public utility? Or are they discussing a wireless network for the city government? We'd love to hear more. Other municipalities have realized substantial savings by creating their own broadband utility, but in areas where broadband was otherwise completely unavailable.
Since the satellite providers bailed out on Internet service, wireless or land line has been the only alternative, and when the telcos refuse to bring service to outlying areas, it can be a devastating to those communities and their jobs/economic survival.
We're not quite in the same fix, with at least two alternatives for high-speed Internet, but we'd like to see it extended throughout the county/region. The little-known secret is that a municipal utility can, through its enterprise powers, generate significant revenues from outside its boundaries by creating a wireless system.
In Ali's article, Wheatley comes off as an alert guy who recognizes the need for caution, but who also has a modicum of vision in his new role as the city's chief recruiter.
I was at first alarmed at his statement that "we need your anchor-type stores, which would attract other stores." I'm prepared to reserve judgment until I hear him clarify that priority statement. He defines anchor projects to include Scribner Place and such businesses as bookstores. Quickly, we need to take up a collection to buy Wheatley a copy of The Hometown Advantage: How to Defend Your Main Street Against Chain Stores, and Why it Matters.
Read Ali's story, when posted, at http://www.news-tribune.net/ or pick one up at your local independent bookseller.
posted by All4Word at 1:36 PM
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