Geddes: School districts should keep option for local broadband contracts
Bob Geddes, who as of this week is the new director of the state Department of Administration, told the Idaho Statesman in an interview last week that he thinks the department may still have a role with something like the defunct Idaho Education Network school broadband service, but local school districts should continue to have the option to contract with local vendors instead, as they have since the IEN shut down after courts declared the statewide contract the state signed with the two IEN vendors illegal.
Geddes told Statesman reporter Bill Dentzer, “In small communities, which Idaho has a large number of, if it makes sense for them to use local vendors, they should do that. If it builds the community and provides employment opportunities to keep the business sector strong and healthy, then they should do that, within reason. If they want to use a state contract and they can use it and it saves them money and it helps them be more efficient, then they need to use that as well.”
When Dentzer asked if that meant that if Idaho develops a new statewide broadband system, Geddes “wouldn’t want to see every district or every local entity locked into that if they could find a better deal somewhere else,” Geddes responded, “Absolutely. Those local entities of government should have the flexibility to manage their responsibilities as they see fit. If we can help their efficiency, if we can save them money and they choose to use the state’s leverage ability, then that’s fine, too.”
Dentzer’s full Q-and-A with Geddes is online here. Geddes, former Senate president pro-tem and former chairman of the state Tax Commission, said he hopes to work toward “restoring the credibility of this agency.”
After the IEN shut down, lawmakers removed the school broadband program from the Department of Administration and handed it to the state Department of Education, which oversaw successful contracting school district by school district that resulted in sharply increased bandwidth for the districts along with significantly lower costs. They also sharply cut the Admin budget.
Greg Lowe, CEO of Syringa Networks, the Idaho company that successfully challenged in court the state’s $60 million IEN contract with Education Networks of America and Qwest (now CenturyLink), said, "Bob Geddes has a reputation of honesty and integrity. Gov. Otter made a very good choice by appointing him."
