Feb

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Update 1: How Big Telecom Wins "Democratic" Local Referenda:

sascha's picture

More and more we're seeing state laws that would require a local referendum before any municipality can create their own telecommunications/broadband infrastructure. Unfortunately, the same telecommunications companies that are pushing so hard for these seemingly democratic processes are pouring tens of thousands (and even hundreds of thousands) of dollars into campaigns at the local level to defeat ballot measures supporting municipal ownership.

As a case in point, Comcast claims they spent $3,000 on the recent Tri-Cities referendum. What they fail to mention is the $89,740.22 in "in-kind" campaign donations they made. Here's the report of Comcast's campaign contributions. Think that's insane? SBC made $192,324.89 in cash donations to defeat the Tri-Cities ballot measure. Here's SBC's campaign disclosure statement.

When was the last time a community group in your town raised a quarter-of-a-million dollars to support a local referendum measure? Fiber For Our Future, the local community group that was in support of the ballot measure (see their campaign statement here), spent $4,325. It begs the question, "How democratic is it when a ballot measure has $4,325 in support on the one hand and $285,065.11 spent to defeat it?"

UPDATE 1:

Since posting this this afternoon, the amount of money being reported by SBC has gone up from $192,324.89 to $209,212.04 -- meaning that SBC and comcast spent over $300,000 (compared with $4325 for the local community organization) to defeat this ballot measure.

Also, the links from within the article to the spending reports are correct, but may not work from within the article with certain browsers. You may need to copy the URL target and manually paste it into your browser address window.

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  1. Muniwireless (not verified) on Wed, 2005-02-02 09:05

    TrackBack from Muniwireless:

    Harold Feld has posted an excellent and detailed analysis of the Indiana bill (HB 1148) that would kill municipal broadband......

  2. sascha on Wed, 2005-02-02 10:01

    http://www.dailyherald.com/kane/main_story.asp?intID=3838567

    Broadband quest cost $300,000
    By Garrett Ordower Daily Herald Staff Writer
    Posted Wednesday, February 02, 2005

    To Tri-Cities residents, the onslaught of advertising aimed at defeating last fall's municipal broadband referendum request might have seemed novel: An entire campaign dreamed up to quash a plan that itself was little more than a dream.

    But to the coalition of consultants, pollsters, ad gurus and public affairs veterans employed by SBC and Comcast to create the $301,065 campaign, it was old hat.

    "We specialize in providing message and communication strategy to companies seeking to influence public policy," reads the description on the Web site of Chicago-based ASK Public Strategies. "We have developed winning campaigns for Fortune 100 companies in a broad range of industries including financial services, telecommunications and energy."

    SBC paid ASK $22,500 for its services this fall, making it the third
    highest-paid consultant on the roster.

    All told, SBC spent $208,324 and Comcast went through $92,440 successfully fighting the municipal broadband referendum request, according to campaign disclosures filed Monday. Voters defeated the question by 60 percent to 40 percent in St. Charles and Geneva, and 53 percent to 47 percent in Batavia.

    The Fiber For Our Future group pushing the plan for a Tri-Cities-operated cable TV, high-speed Internet and telephone system spent about $4,000. Nearly 30,000 people voted on the question, which was binding only in Geneva.

    Elmhurst-based McGaffer Communications topped the list of spending from the telecom giants, with $49,842 from SBC and $31,451 from Comcast. It created postcards, door hangers, direct mail pieces and provided consulting services.

    Though they employed many of the same vendors like McGaffer, Lawrence said, each company ran an independent campaign. A limited number of companies have experience with campaigns like the one in the Tri-Cities, which is what led to the overlap, Lawrence said.

    Comcast spokeswoman Angie Amores refused to answer any questions about the filing. It was unclear whether Comcast's statements represented all of its spending. SBC said its statements were complete Tuesday.

    SBC paid Austin, Texas-based GSD&M $47,615 for advertising services. The company has developed campaigns for the U.S. Air Force, Wal-Mart and Southwest Airlines

    Another Austin-based company, Public Strategies Inc., was paid $18,435 by SBC for advertising and artwork.

    At the beginning of the campaign, SBC said it did not plan any more of the controversial phone polls used during the 2003 campaign, but it did spend $5,000 for Lemont-based Fako & Associates to conduct consulting and poll analysis.

    Comcast paid $12,000 to Public Opinion Strategies, with offices in
    Washington, Denver and Los Angeles, for a poll.

    Comcast also paid $10,000 to Chicago-based Alliance Associates for
    door-to-door campaigners. SBC paid $18,000 to the same company for training and transportation.

    A portion of the expenditures did go to the local economy, including $2,514 to St. Charles-based Minuteman Press for mailings and postage. SBC spent $200 on copying at the Kane County clerk's office and $751 at the St. Charles post office.

    Comcast spent $12,078 on ads in the Daily Herald, and $14,939 for ads in the Kane County Chronicle.

    The telecom giant also spent $223 on food at a West Chicago Dunkin' Donuts and $200 at a St. Charles Jewel. And, a day or two after the referendum, it spent $840 at McNally's Irish Pub in St. Charles.