Welcome...

We're not the only ones tired of incumbent delaying tactics!

You're probably here because you saw one of our satirical Chritsmas Carol eCards. or have heard of our repeal project. We hope you enjoyed Carols as much as we have. The tounge-in-cheek productions have produced a lot of laughter in our neck of the woods. We'd like to think others would enjoy them as much. Those cards were produced as an opening salvo in our effort to repeal a Louisiana law which is being used to thwart the vote of the people of Lafyette.

While Lafayette has its own special and immediate reasons to feel the incumbent telecommunications companies are engaging in unjustifiable obstructionism we are not under the illusion that our illness is anything more than an acute case of what troubles the country as a whole.

The crux of the problem for us all is that the telecom companies--cable and phone--have been dragging their heels for decades in deploying real broadband while countries around the world move forward. Lafayette decided not to wait on the schedule of the large corporations and developed a plan to do for itself what the telecommunications companies would not do for us. That's when the obstructionism began. We're not the only or the first to experience their ire, though when completed we will be the largest municipal fiber build in the country and hence offered a particularly significant target. Here in our own state New Orlean's has had the temerity in the wake of recent devistation of its telecom infrastructure to offer free wifi to its citizens over the still-functioning public safety network. You can imagine BellSouth's response. (Can't? Take a Look.) This behavior is hardly unique to BellSouth and South Louisiana. The Tri-Cities of Illinois had a bitter battle with AT&T not that long ago that was very similar to Lafayette's. Respecting a community's right to chart its own future is not something any incumbent seems to feel is important.

We're in this boat together.

If you'd like to join in the fight and have a little fun like Lafayette we can offer a few suggestions. (We are having fun. Cajun, Creole, and transplant, Louisiana fosters the attitude that nothing that is worth doing can't be improved by making it into the basis for a little communal fun-making. It's how we got Mardi Gras and myriad festivals going.)

Our Quick Suggestions....

1. Stir Things Up; Note Our Vote...

Help us spread the word! Pass the Christmas carols on to all your friends and colleagues. Attach a note expressing your own thoughts about BellSouth's unwillingness to "note our vote." Talk a little bit about how it relates to your own situation. Urge your friends to send the carols to everyone in their e-mail address books with notes about your displeasure with the delays and obstructions we all face. And send them a link to this page so they can join in all the fun. (http://LafayetteComingTogether.org/ActGlobal.htm)

2. Oppose!...Support!

If spreading the word was fun but not completely satisfying, consider joining us in urging your federal senators and representatives to oppose, in no uncertain terms, proposals that would block municipal broadband nationwide and use federal law to strip local communities of control of their property and of income from it they have long enjoyed. In a more positive vein support federal legislation that guarantees local rights and forbids state or federal interferance with them. (You do not, trust us, want to get into the situation Lousiana now finds herself in--having to fight for the repeal of a law that was touted as a compromise. History uhappily shows that you can't trust the incumbents to stick to the deals they make. Fight for complete freedom; nothing less is workable; nothing less is right or just.)

3. Enough Is Enough...

Still bleeding for Louisiana? We are happy to have you express your sympathy directly to BellSouth. And we are happy to help you out. Jump to the Incumbents page to join Joey Durel, Lafayette YES! and many Lafayette citizens in telling BellSouth exactly what you think of their tactics.

Not from Lafayette? But are from Louisiana?

Take a look at our Action Page. People from New Orleans and Lafayette are merely the first to have to deal with the incumbents determination to keep local communities from taking care of ourselves. It'd be very helpful for you to join in our attempt to set things right. Contact your state legislators. Write letters to the editor.Talk about it with your friends. And let us know what you're up to! We can support each other.