Fiber Optic Plan Vote part II

Both the Advocate and the Advertiser carry stories discussing the upcoming October 26th hearing and probable November 2nd vote on LUS’ fiber optic network feasibility plan. (Oddly, the Advocate’s does not appear online.) They are both pretty insightful and worth tracking down to read. Blanchard at the Advocate emphasizes the continuing draft nature of the plan and the anxiousness of some council members to get a final version Taylor at the Advertiser emphasizes the tentative nature of the vote—quoting Durel as saying that there will be more votes downstream which will also be crucial.

The two emphases likely reflect in their own ways the underlying tension of the moment. The council members want to see a robust finalized plan in enough time to scrutinize it before they vote and some are beginning to get nervous in public about that. Durel’s downplaying the vote as interim seems likely to be one way of dealing with that quite legitimate anxiety.

But make no mistake about it. The November 2nd vote will set the course. That will establish the community’s direction and by all accounts will move Lafayette firmly onto the track of building a fiber-optic network for its people. It will be very hard to change that direction once the train has picked up steam. The November 2nd vote is the crucial one.

UPDATE 10/7/04: The Advocate story has finally appeared online. Its worth the trip over to read. Go to: http://www.2theadvocate.com/stories/100704/new_optics001.shtml