Wireless (and Wired) Minneapolis

The City of Minneapolis says it won’t do this because it wouldn’t be fair to the bidders if their competitors see the details of their proposals.

We disagree. The City of Minneapolis should make available summaries of the bids currently being reviewed.  San Francisco has shown this can be done. Companies were given the opportunity to redact information alleged to be proprietary or confidential. Not surprisingly, but tellingly, local businesses were much more willing to share their information with the community than national corporations.  The San Francisco responses range from Earthlink’s non-specific two-page summary to Feeva’s detailed answers to the city’s questions.

To learn more about San Francisco’s wireless project, visit San Francisco TechConnect. The City of San Francisco set up the TechConnect section of its web site to provide both vendors and citizens with information about the project. In addition to the Request For Information, there is a fact sheet targeted at citizens, a list of frequently asked questions, and a contact number for those who would like to ask questions.

By comparison, information on the Minneapolis’ wireless project can be found only in the Procurement Division of the city’s web site.  And visitors there will find information targeted only at bidders, not at citizens.

Perhaps it isn’t surprising that a city that wants a private company to own its information network would be a city unwilling to share vital information about the proposals to build that information network with its residents and businesses.

Provided by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, www.newrules.org

Contact: Becca Vargo Daggett, 612.379.3815 x209, becca@ilsr.org

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