The majority of La Plata County, Bayfield, Durango and Ignacio voters gave their support on Tuesday to expand their local governments’ ability to improve Internet and cable services.
The item passed easily, with 10,770 votes, or 85 percent, in favor and 1,881 against in the county. A total of 3,499 Durango voters, or 90 percent, favored the measure. Bayfield had 494 electors, or 86 percent, in support of the ballot initiative. In Ignacio, 116 voters, or 82 percent, approved the measure.
These totals are the initial results after polls closed at 7 p.m. on Tuesday. Results will not be official until Nov. 12.
The broadband ballot items, which also went before voters in neighboring counties this year, proposed an override of state legislation that limited the amount of telecommunications infrastructure local governments could lease to private companies without a local vote. The bill effectively left La Plata County with more conduit than it could legally use. Now, the county joins about 10 others in Colorado to opt out of the law’s restrictions, which has the approval of local telecommuters, service providers who see business opportunity on the horizon, and residents who have just experienced the vexation of sluggish Internet service.
Enacted in 2005, the prohibitive legislation was supported by larger telecommunications providers who argued that allowing local governing bodies to improve broadband service would hinder the private industry. But the same bill is viewed largely by critics as a heavy-handed means of allowing larger companies like CenturyLink to quash smaller competitors.
County and city officials as well as residents have told The Durango Herald in recent weeks that lifting Senate Bill 152 would bring welcome changes to Durango, which currently has about 19 miles of infrastructure and leases 14 of it. Small amounts of conduit and fiber-optic lines are found within the county’s other municipalities. Fiber-optic connection between Durango and Silverton, and Bayfield and Pagosa Springs, in particular, stand to see improvement.
Studies also suggest property values receive a boost where there is high-speed Internet connection.
Zach Watkins, 30, has lived in the Animas Valley area of the county for three years. Above all, ballot item 1B drove him to the polls.
“Internet was the big one for me,” Watkins said. “It felt like a no-brainer. Internet is a basic human service, like water and electricity. It’s knowledge. It’s how we communicate. That access is as democratic as it gets.”
Walker Thompson, who works for a local software company, said he voted “Yes” on the issue.
“The infrastructure is already there, so the private industry could come in and capitalize on what already exists,” Thompson said. “If there are drawbacks, I’m having a hard time figuring out what it is. What the citizenry can do to act on this is push for it. This has to be as important as telephone service, and look what that did for us.”
County commissioners have depicted the ballot item in public discussions as a baby step toward better communications. Taxpayers should not expect a burden out of this ballot item, they said.
“The idea is not to put in giant infrastructure,” Commissioner Gwen Lachelt said. Rather, it’s to open up opportunity to use existing conduit.
Lachelt as well as Durango City Councilor Sweetie Marbury saw the first totals come in around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the La Plata County Clerk and Recorder’s Office. The broadband initiative appeared to be the given on this year’s ballot, and its passage did not surprise officials.
“I think everyone recognizes the advantages to have that access,” Marbury said.
jpace@durangoherald.com
Telecommunications
La Plata County 1B
Yes: 85.13%, 10.770
No: 14.87%, 1,881
Durango 2C
Yes: 90.02%, 3,499
No: 9.98%, 388
Bayfield 2E
Yes: 86.06%, 494
No: 13.94%, 80
Ignacio 2A
Yes: 82.27%, 116
No: 17.73%, 25
