Thanks for recognizing our coverage on the Opelika matter. I learned about the project only at the weekend and spent all day digging through records and materials. Too many municipal projects fail because community proponents get sandbagged by distraction campaigns, scare mailers, side issues, and generally bad marketing. Opelika could have gone the other way and seen this project demagogued to death by the anti-government paranoia crowds. My guess is the hatred for Charter Cable helped push this vote over the top despite the total nonsense from the opposition (be sure and follow our other pieces on Opelika which included the Charter Cable rep trying to sell the idea fiber was no good and their cable system was more "resilient" -- it is to laugh.)

At first I suspected some sort of funded opposition campaign at work, but the more I dug, the more the "smart grid" opposition web interests were mostly anti-government types and remarkably few in number. The only thing missing was Glenn Beck's chalkboard. I think they probably lost all but the most devoted true believers with a tangled mess of rhetoric which went so far into the weeds, a search party couldn't have found it. Trying to link the Kyoto Protocol, global warming and broadband together was not a winning strategy.

Opelika's mayor seemed to get the idea when he was able to laugh off the fringe elements convinced the proposal's accompanying "smart grid" was going to allow the gov'mint to control people's appliances. When the opposition goes over the top, using comedy to extend the hyperbole eases the concerns of the undecided and disempowers the rhetoric coming from those who think these projects are "socialist takeovers." Think Stephen Colbert.

We did this ourselves noting the militantly-anonymous believers in zombie appliances.

We are increasing our coverage of municipal broadband on Stop the Cap! because we increasingly believe these networks are ultimately going to be the best opportunity most people will have to see competition in the duopoly broadband marketplace.

The one recommendation I could make to communities building or proposing these systems is to have a website and blog devoted to the issue. Don't just set up a Facebook page and call it a day. The other side is well-financed with social media and marketing strategists who will blitzkrieg projects with targeted mailers, media campaigns, and demagoguery. The media will not check out most of what is said along the way. They'll simply show "he said"/"on the other hand she said" coverage and "let the viewer decide." In reality, that means the one with the best soundbite that can penetrate the audience wins. Charter went with the "taxpayers will pay for this mess" strategy - that is the most common. I've seen the scare mailers from Comcast and Time Warner Cable in other cities -- those usually go to everyone but especially reach older residents with fears about more local government spending and tax increases. A lot of these folks don't even use the Internet, so they'll be hostile to projects if they believe the mailers.

Your response is to use the prevailing dislike of the local cable operator. Opelika framed their referendum on one issue - do you want competitive choice for cable? They didn't even focus on broadband or phone service -- they kept the focus right on Charter's past performance and rate hikes in the area. Older residents, who do vote, also have cable. Most are furious with the annual rate increases, especially those on fixed retirement incomes. They'll support projects they understand will deliver competition and lower bills and will not increase their local taxes.

You will have the conservative element objecting to "government" running things. If you intend to build the infrastructure and then hire a company to administer it, that can provide a strategic response to the "government can't do anything right" crowd. Use language about public highways providing the infrastructure that any private company can use to deliver their products and services (just like FedEx, USPS, UPS, and others do when they use the public highway system). And remind residents the fruits of this labor can be invested right back in the local community instead of feeding some Wall Street banker. And -always- explain how a revenue bond will not stick any bills with taxpayers. Make it simple and clear.

As Opelika did, it's okay to respond and isolate the fringe opposition, but do not allow yourself to be side-tracked by the "death panel"-style rhetoric. If you spend all your time on that, undecided folks start to tune out and the cable and phone companies can swoop in sneak attacks with their mailers, robocalls, and 30-second ads. When we find out about these things, we'll take them on for you and you can link to us.