December 21, 2005
City council approves proposal to explore sale or spin-off network
By Vickie Aldous
Ashland Daily Tidings
The City of Ashland will test the waters to see how much it could receive for selling the Ashland Fiber Network while also investigating whether spinning it off as a nonprofit is feasible.
The city also will explore opportunities for allowing businesses to sell telecommunications products over AFN’s infrastructure, which could bring in revenues, according to a three-pronged approach approved by the Ashland City Council Tuesday night.
The council directed City Administrator Gino Grimaldi to discuss terms of a possible sale of AFN with potential buyers. Grimaldi said Qwest and Charter Communications, both telecommunications businesses, have already requested information about AFN. The council would have to approve any sale.
Councilors Russ Silbiger, David Chapman, Kate Jackson, Alex Amarotico and Jack Hardesty voted to pursue the three-pronged approach. Councilor Cate Hartzell voted no, after stating throughout the evening that she would never want to sell the fiber backbone of AFN. Mayor John Morrison votes only to break a tie, but said he supported the majority approach.
“The decision we made tonight is not making AFN go away immediately, and maybe not ever,” Mayor John Morrison said.
A long parade of AFN supporters and some critics lobbied the council on Tuesday night.
Several small business owners said AFN was vital to their operations.
Jimmie Young, who composes books for technical publishers, held up a volume of Digital Photography and said he needs AFN’s massive bandwidth and reliable service to send information to his clients.
“We came up here because we heard of AFN. I’m an extreme enthusiast of AFN,” he said.
Jon Dowd, an employee of InfoStructure, one of AFN’s Internet Service Providers, said he went from earning minimum wage to making $32,000 a year and has become a homeowner.
But businessman Michael Donovan, who chaired the options committee, said the community needs to acknowledge costly mistakes were made with the construction and operation of AFN. Spinning off AFN as a nonprofit would not mean that the valuable services AFN provides would disappear, he said.
“AFN can exist as an entity outside the city structure with a capable board of directors,” he said.
The council also unanimously agreed to restart the stalled process to find a new leader for the Ashland Fiber Network who would also run the city’s internal computer operations.
Councilor Russ Silbiger said work on the city’s internal computer systems has fallen behind, while Councilor Kate Jackson noted Ashland Finance Director Lee Tuneberg has been overloaded as he has been heading his own department and guiding AFN.
The council decided early this year to hire a full-time leader for AFN who would also be in charge of the city’s computer systems. Dick Wanderscheid, who had managed both the electric department and AFN, then turned his full attention to the electric department and Tuneberg began to temporarily oversee AFN.
The city received more than 70 applications when it first advertised to fill the Information Technology Director post, but applicants balked at making a commitment with the city after learning about AFN’s unresolved future.
Despite the unanimous vote to fill the Information Technology Director post, councilors had different visions for that person.
Councilor Alex Amarotico said if the city spun off AFN as a nonprofit, the new director could go with AFN. But Councilor David Chapman said he would want the person to stay and operate the city’s computer systems.
“Let the spin-off worry about where they get their director,” Chapman said.
Councilor Cate Hartzell said she hopes the city ultimately keeps AFN as a city department along with the director.
Other council business Tuesday night included presenting a League of Oregon Cities 2005 Middle School Poster Contest Third Place Award to Neil Presicci and accepting the annual Ashland Audit Committee report.
Vickie Aldous can be reached at 479-8199 or valdous@dailytidings.com.