Any hint that the Comcast-funded effort in Longmont to oppose authorizing the City to provide broadband services was anything but an astroturf campaign of lies has evaporated in the wake of its overwhelming defeat.

If there had been a shred of local legitimacy among the "Look Before We Leap" group that was run by Denver-based strategists, it probably would have kept its website up for longer than a few days after the election. If I were them, I would want to keep a record for the future.

But they don't. Because they were just a bunch of paid public relations people working a job. They didn't oppose Longmont's initiative, they didn't know anything about it. They were collecting a paycheck. And this is what they left behind:

The Times-Call has a hopeful reflection about the broadband battle (somewhat classier than the hilarious Neener Neener Neener poke at Comcast).

This time, lobbyists for the telecommunications industry spent even more than they did last time -- about $300,000 -- in trying to convince residents that the city having control over its own property was somehow "risky." Obviously, the lobbyists, including the euphemistically monikered Americans for Prosperity, were only concerned about the welfare of Longmont residents and the health of the local economy. They spent so much money to show just how concerned they were.

But the majority of the voters weren't buying what they were selling. People had the audacity to think for themselves and make up their own minds.

Personally, I would thank the anti-2A folks for pouring so much money into the local economy, except most of its spending was elsewhere. They did pop for a few ads in this newspaper, though, so for that they have my gratitude.

The author, Tony Kindelspire, goes on to note just how amazing it was to see everyone unified on an issue.

Many people who you would typically expect to find defending corporate rights above all else, and criticizing the inefficiency of government, were quite vocal in support of 2A.

As they should have been. Ask a local businessperson how Longmont having its own electric utility is working out for them. We have some of the cheapest rates in the country.

It takes leadership to stand up against big business lobbyists to act on behalf of what you think is right, not what's going to raise you the most amount of campaign cash the next time around. How very, very refreshing it was to see, and I hope it's a lesson that spreads far and wide.

I hate quoting so liberally from an article, but I want to make sure these important words are remembered. I hope the City takes seriously its responsibility to continue involving the public in important decisions about the digital future as it moves forward with the freedom to invest in infrastructure that every community should have regardless of how much money incumbent lobbyists pour into legislatures around the nation.

And I cannot help but remind my readers that this referendum would have failed by Minnesota standards, which requires a 65% supermajority. That is an incredibly tough ask when a major player like Comcast can get 40% of the population to vote for its position by spending a mere $300,000 while having zero support in the community.

Today is election day in Longmont, Colorado -- tomorrow we will find out if Comcast's record-breaking campaign of lies has scared enough voters to prevent the community from using its infrastructure to encourage broadband competition.

It looks like Comcast will break the $300,000 mark, funneling the money through the Colorado Cable Telecommunications Association. Two years ago, it spent over $245,000 in a similar effort -- setting the record for most amount spent on a local election in Longmont. Comcast and its anti-competition allies will spend approximately 10x as much as the total amount spent on the entire mayoral campaign. All to stop the city from having an alternative to the cable/DSL duopoly.

In a recent news story about the absurd spending level, the present Mayor struck an indifferent tone:

“It doesn't really matter at this stage of the game,” Baum said. “It's going to the electorate. The electorate will vote. And we will know on Tuesday how they voted – if they believe a $300,000 ad campaign, or if they believe the people they've entrusted their votes to.”

Both incumbents and challengers in the City Council race have unanimously endorsed 2A over the course of the campaign.

The Boulder Weekly has even weighed in on Comcast's campaign of lies and misinformation, tying it to their efforts two years ago:

In 2009, a similar campaign called “No Blank Check” was bankrolled to the tune of nearly $250,000, primarily by the telecommunications industry. That campaign, which was successful in defeating the measure, was labeled as misleading by city officials because it claimed money would be taken from police and firefighters to fund city telecommunications services.

“It was actually just the opposite of what No Blank Check was saying,” Tom Roiniotis, director of Longmont Power and Communications, told Boulder Weekly this summer. “They were saying we were going to have to lay off police and firefighters. Nothing could be further from the truth. … In fact, telecommunications would actually generate money for those departments. But they had models dressed up as firefighters, looking very sad.”

When we say that this campaign is orchestrated by Comcast, we should be clear -- virtually no one in Longmont opposes the 2A ballot initiative. And no one running for office opposes it! See the Boulder Weekly discussion about their support for 2A:

But we — along with every Longmont City Council member and candidate who responded to a Boulder Weekly questionnaire — agree that the city should be able to use its own network, despite the corporate powers’ concerns about losing market share to a new competitor. Taxpayers have already invested in this network and should benefit from it. We strongly urge a YES vote on Longmont Ballot Question 2A.

The Times-Call also supports the measure. Just how unanimous is the support? Consider this report from Longmont's Future:

At an event at Silver Creek High School last night, according to the Times-Call,
"Carroll and Levison were joined onstage by Mayor Bryan Baum and his challenger Dennis Coombs, at-large candidate Ron Gallegos, Ward 1 candidate Suzzanne Painter and Ward 3 Councilman Sean McCoy.

One question, on Ballot Question 2A, drew immediate solidarity from the panel.
"Everyone, on three, say yes or no on 2A," Baum told the other candidates with a grin. "One, two, three ..."

"YES!" they all echoed.

"That is the one thing we all agree on," Baum said."

You can listen to a local radio story about the referendum here or at the bottom of this page, where it is embedded for the future.

Comcast's campaign of lies has gone so far as to take out a full-page ad inventing a story of impropriety, accusing the City of somehow colluded with Alcatel-Lucent to scam the public.

The Times-Call looked into the allegations and found nothing but smoke and mirrors -- exactly the tactics of bait-and-switch you would expect from an out-of-town astroturf campaign:

A group against Longmont Ballot Question 2A claims city officials coordinated a push for the issue with telecom company Alcatel-Lucent, a claim the city denied, saying that early email contacts with the company were taken far out of context.

The opposition group Look Before We Leap said the charge would be part of their advertising against 2A as the election campaign enters its final week. The group spent about $2,800 to look through city emails related to the ballot question, which, if passed, would lift state restrictions on how Longmont can use a fiber-optic loop it built in 1997.

The group's findings included three messages from an Alcatel-Lucent representative offering information and suggestions for a supportive campaign to Mayor Bryan Baum and Longmont Power & Communications director Tom Roiniotis. All three were sent before Aug. 23, the date the City Council put the question on the ballot, after which city staff could not be involved for or against the issue, though elected officials could.

...

Roiniotis called the charges ridiculous and said there was no relationship. He said he had received many "sales calls" from telecommunications companies interested in Longmont's fiber system; the main difference here, he said, was the offer of help.

"I made it perfectly clear to them that they could do anything they wanted to do, but that the city could not be involved in advocating for it," he said. He also noted that the city had been aware of much of the information sent by Alcatel-Lucent since 2009, the last time Longmont tried a ballot issue to lift the restrictions.

....

In the email messages, Jennie Burgoz of Alcatel-Lucent offered contacts and information related to successful municipal telecommunications campaigns in Chattanooga and Bristol, Tenn. She also suggested ideas such as "tricking out" Baum's campaign vehicle as a mobile fiber vehicle and working with attorney and advocate Jim Baller, who was familiar with a similar campaign in Illinois.

Comcast's "Look Before We Leap" group has even attacked the actual grassroots pro-2A groups for how little they have spent!: [from the same article as above]

Merritt said he also had concerns that there had been no reporting by Longmont's Future, a pro-2A website. That amused its proprietor, Jonathan Rice, who is the only person operating the site.

"It's not really so much a group as it is 'me,'" Rice said. Between a couple of Times-Call ads and the website, he said, he had spent $353.

"I don't have $300,000 to work with ," he said. "So I'll do my $300 and see how that goes."

Rice has invested in an online pro-2A ad on the local newspaper's website.

Some of the pro-2A folks have responded to these trumped-up charges with the following press release:

$297,000 On A Local Election? Isn't That A Little Crazy?

Look Before We Leap - a front group for the Colorado Cable Telecommunications Association - continues to block Longmont's efforts to partner with private industry.

In a new twist on the saga of Ballot Question 2A, which would re-establish Longmont's right to partner with private industry to use its fiber-optic ring, Comcast-sponsored group 'Look Before We Leap' has now spent over $297,000 (http://www.ci.longmont.co.us/city_clerk/election/candidates/documents/LB...) on robo-calls, door-knockers, and most recently a full-page ad in the local Daily Times-Call to mock the city's efforts to partner with private employers.

The city of Longmont, which attempted to win the valuable gigabit network from Google last year, is prevented by state law from using its fiber-optic network without a voter referendum. That is what is on the ballot this November 1st - with Comcast's monopoly over telecommunications at risk.

In recent public comments by Google VP of Access Services Milo Medin, he specifically identified political hurdles such as these as a cause for automatically removing cities from consideration. As Google reviews additional cities to partner with, Longmont will continue to be disqualified if Question 2A does not pass.

Question 2A specifically supports the City working “either directly or indirectly with public or private sector partners.”

"Look Before We Leap have tried to pretend that this is a grassroots effort," said Jonathan Rice, editor of the pro-2A website longmontsfuture.com

"But the truth is that not one single donation over $50 has been declared by the front group... other than those of the Colorado Cable Telecommunications Association."

The organization has spent more than ten times what the rest of Longmont's elections put together will spend, and flies in the face of elected public officials' opinion.

"Every single candidate for office and every incumbent, in every race, supports this measure," continued Rice. "But Comcast and its friends are more interested in profit than progress, and continue to run a smear campaign to spread misinformation and outright lies - they recently posted Mayor Baum's name as an opponent of 2A when he is actually a vociferous supporter."

With Longmont reeling from the loss of hundreds of local jobs over the last few months, it could badly use a shot in the arm from a major employer - but without 2A passing, that won't be Google.

"We tried our darnedest to get them to come here," said Rice. "But without access to the fiber optic ring, they just couldn't quite bring themselves to be part of Longmont's future."

Question 2A is a battle between the rights of citizens and local businesses versus the desire of out-of-town corporate interests to maximize profits at their expense.

You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialize correctly.

Radio Story about Referendum 2A and History of Anti-Competitive Actions by Incumbents

Just one day after getting busted for lying about its supporters, a group funded by self-interested groups outside the community is accusing the City of distributing propaganda regarding an upcoming referendum over whether the City should have the authority to use an existing fiber-loop to spur economic development.

We developed a comic that explored the ways cable and phone companies use dirty tricks to fool people into voting against more competition in broadband (such as this "Look Before We Leap" Vote no group).

As if to prove our point for us, that group was busted for outrageously claiming the Mayor wanted people to vote no when the Mayor has been explicit in not just supporting the referendum but in condemning outsider groups like theirs from coming into the community to do the dirty work of anti-competitive incumbents.

Bryan Baum has appeared at several forums in support of 2A, including a Longmont Area Chamber of Commerce forum in which he urged out-of-town opponents of the ballot question to "get out of town" and let Longmont settle its own issues.

The group said "This is obviously a mistake," Merritt said. "We'll get that fixed." Yeah sure. Whoops. We accidentally claimed a prominent figure as a supporter. Their response? They took his name off that list but left his wife's name on their site!

This is a group with absolutely zero credibility. But they have tons of funding -- likely from Comcast and incumbent trade groups that fight these initiatives everywhere to preserve what is essentially a monopoly for the cable and telephone companies. We just republished an op-ed outlining some these tactics from 2009.

Now the "Look Before We Leap" group is accusing the City of distributing propaganda.

Longmont's pamphlet, on the cover, states that the contents are "intended to provide a factual summary, including arguments both for and against the proposal, of issues of official concern to Longmont voters. It is not intended to urge a vote in favor of or against Ballot Question 2A." Inside, it gives the text of the ballot question, a brief history of Longmont's fiber optic network and the restrictions on it, election dates, and sections titled "What is being asked of voters?", "Those in favor believe" and "Those opposed believe."

"The city used taxpayer dollars to campaign with a glossy mailer, complete with high-quality pictures, an inaccurate history, a lengthy advocacy section and a clearly token statement that does not show how most other cities fail when they enter this unpredictable business," said George Merritt, a senior strategist for Onsight Public Affairs of Denver and spokesman for Look Before We Leap.

Of course, as we discuss on a daily basis, the vast majority of communities have succeeded in this space. Even if one narrows the field to communities that have attempted the most difficult challenge of building citywide networks (which is not what Longmont presently plans), there are very few failures. In the case of Longmont, where the city already has built the asset, the only risk lies in not using it to its full potential.

This is simply another case of a few massive companies using their power to prevent new competition that would greatly benefit the community and create new jobs. The question is whether the majority of voters will be able to see through the blizzard of propaganda pushed by Comcast's "Look Before We Leap" proxies.

Residents in Longmont, Colorado are preparing for a municipal referendum to utilize an existing fiber optic network.

The referendum is set for Tuesday, November 1, 2011.

At issue is how the city can use a ring of fiber-optic cables it built around the city in the late 90's as part of its electrical infrastructure.  Much of the capacity on the ring remains unused but the city requires approval of the voters in a referendum before it can offer services to local businesses -- which will encourage economic development by creating more telecommunications choices in the community for businesses and residents (some background here).  

This is referendum question 2A:

Ballot Question 2A: Without increasing taxes, shall the citizens of the City of Longmont, Colorado, re-establish their City's right to provide all services restricted since 2005 by Title 29, article 27 of the Colorado Revised Statutes, described as "advanced services," "telecommunications services" and "cable television services," including any new and improved high bandwidth services based on future technologies, utilizing community owned infrastructure including but not limited to the existing fiber optic network, either directly or indirectly with public or private sector partners, to potential subscribers that may include telecommunications service providers, residential or commercial users within the City and the service area of the City's electric utility enterprise?

Big cable and telco operators  have wasted no time in spreading fear and false information to scare voters into voting against using a valuable asset owned by the community. When the community organized a debate for the end of September, the only people willing to defend Comcast's position came from far outside the community to do it.  

Trying to get in the mind of the big incumbents of Longmont, we developed this cartoon (the style is an homage to the "Get Your War On" comic).

Download a higher quality pdf version.

Citizens have responded by joining together to support the referendum to encourage economic development in their community.

Learn more at Longmont's Future.  Also the local Free Range blog has posted an article: Join forces for “YES” on Longmont’s Fiber Optic Referendum

Learn more about Longmont's journey from stories in our archive:

• Sept 29, 2011 - Longmont Referendum Take Two: It Starts With a Debate 
• July 14, 2011 - Longmont Considers Second Vote on Community Fiber Network
• March 14, 2010 - The Fundamentally Unlevel Playing Field in Referendums 
• March 1, 2010 - More History on Longmont Fiber Ring in Colorado
• Nov 16, 2009 - Longmont's Saga - The Failure of Referendum