[RTC List] The Rob & Cherie Arkley Fiberoptic Cable

[Arkley, Rob]

Dear Michael,
    The only reason that I would sue is that I did not receive what I
bargained for in any way shape or form.  It is almost six months since
it should have been delivered.  I would far rather get a professional
product than my money back.  However, I am not going to have neither a
report and plan nor my money.



                                 Vty,



                                 Rob     

-----Original Message-----
From: list-bounces at redwoodtech.org [mailto:list-bounces at redwoodtech.org]
On Behalf Of Michael Welch
Sent: Friday, October 12, 2007 1:39 PM
To: list at redwoodtech.org
Subject: Re: [RTC List] The Rob & Cherie Arkley Fiberoptic Cable

Hey William. OK, I am appropriately chastised for appearing to mock
Arkley. I let my feelings about his eagerness to file suit against
somebody cloud my choice of words a bit. (Though from your choice of
words to me it is a bit like the pot calling the kettle black.)

That said, I still think it would be an appropriate thing for him to
spend his money on--if he is interested. (He let us know he was not.) It
may have appeared to have a mocking tone, but I was dead serious about
the suggestion on all levels. 

We obviously have a different take on what constitutes critical service
for a community, but I do understand your and your business's viewpoint.


For the record, I did not question Arkley's right to say anything. I'm a
strong proponent of the individual right to free speech.

William Van Hefner wrote at 12:19 PM 10/12/2007:
 
>Michael,
>
>Benefits private industry?!!? I don't know what planet you are living 
>on, but down here on Earth I spent the entire day without any phone
service.
>My Sprint Wireless service didn't allow me to make any local or long 
>distance calls or even reach an operator. God only knows what would 
>have happened, had I needed to dial 9-1-1. This issue is not about how 
>to benefit "private industry", it is about serving the needs of the 
>average Humboldt County citizen, which is what our public officials are

>supposedly elected to do. If it's important to me, then it should be 
>important to them. The last time I checked, representing the voters was

>their job, not just something they did in their spare time.
>
>For that matter "private industry", consists of businesses owned and 
>worked at by real human beings. The "public sector" is made up of those

>whose job it is to serve the public who pays their salaries. Our 
>government was created to serve the people and protect their rights, 
>not the other way around.
>
>As for your concern in regards to Mr. Arkley, I'd say that he has just 
>as much right to demand that our public officials represent our 
>interests as taxpayers as any other citizen. If our public officials do

>not have time to listen to the concerns of their constituents, then 
>they should be promptly impeached or voted out of office as quickly as 
>the law will allow.
>
>And as for your insistence that fiber redundancy would only benefit the

>"few", and your inference that the rich would benefit more than the 
>poor, you might want to get out into our community a little more often 
>in order to see how directly this affects all aspects of people's 
>lives. For starters, the trend these days is that not everyone can 
>afford both a landline and a wireless phone. Those with low incomes 
>generally have to choose between one or the other, and the price drop 
>in wireless phones has made them the more acceptable of the two. What 
>happens to their ability to communicate with their families when they 
>have no phone service? For that matter, what happens to those families 
>who are going through hard times and can't afford to put dinner on the
table without using a credit card?
>How long should they have to go without groceries while AT&T patches 
>cables back together? What about the elderly who depend on home 
>monitoring services, most of which dial numbers outside of the area? 
>What about the public buildings that rely upon reliable phone service 
>for their (fire) alarm systems (mine dials a 1-800 number)? What if a 
>child got sick and his parents could not reach the poison control 
>hotline, or someone who was mentally ill couldn't reach a suicide 
>hotline? Perhaps you could explain to their families that these 
>services weren't really important, because only rich people or private 
>businesses stood much to gain by having a reliable and inexpensive way 
>for 99%+ of the public to communicate with the outside world?
>
>Anyone putting 30 seconds or more of thought into this knows how vital 
>it is to public safety that we do not allow this situation to continue.
>Wealthy businesspeople can obviously afford to get around the problem. 
>The average Humboldt County citizen can't. Mr. Arkley has nothing to 
>personally gain in any of this. His company can afford to bring in 
>their own wireless system if they want to. It seems to me to be in poor

>taste to mock him when he is going out of his way to help support the
rest of us.
>
>--
>
>William Van Hefner
>President
>
>Vantek Communications, Inc.
>3144 Broadway, Ste 3
>Eureka, CA 95501-3838
>707.476.0833 ph
>800.331.4638 fx
>e-mail: vantek at sonic.net
>
>> It's not the Supes job to do this. This benefits private industry, 
>> and private industry should cover it.
>> What a perfect application for your huge amount of wealth. You could 
>> even name it The Arkley Cable.

The above is the opinion of Michael Welch, and not that of his employer
or any organization that he volunteers for. 



_______________________________________________
List mailing list
List at redwoodtech.org
http://redwoodtech.org/mailman/listinfo/list_redwoodtech.org 
  
  
--------------------------------------------------------
 
  
This message (and any associated files) is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed and may contain information that is confidential, subject to copyright or constitutes a trade secret. If you are not the intended recipient you are hereby notified that any dissemination, copying or distribution of this message, or files associated with this message, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please notify us immediately by replying to the message and deleting it from your computer. Messages sent to and from us may be monitored.  
Internet communications cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free as information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive late or incomplete, or contain viruses. Therefore, we do not accept responsibility for any errors or omissions that are present in this message, or any attachment, that have arisen as a result of e-mail transmission. If verification is required, please request a hard-copy version. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the company.