On July 24th the City of Bellingham is having 2 meetings to talk about the CenturyLink cable TV franchise in Bellingham. CenuryLink is among the most Anti-Net Neutral companies in the US. Meaning that they will censor the news, slow down your connections, and a whole host of other things that violate the spirit of the constitution. While the COB cannot directly regulate CenturyLink, they can refuse to allow a cable TV franchise to them, and let them know that it is because of their Anti-Net Neutrality stance. There will be two meetings on the topic. 1pm -- This is another odd one where the public is allowed to attend, but not ask questions. 7pm -- The public can attend and ask a very limited number of questions. Just like a meeting with a large corporation. Questions that should be asked 1. Why would the city consider doing business with a corporate entity that will violate the "freedom of press" ideals set forth in our Constitution if they could avoid it? Which they can. 2. How many members of our government are CenturyLink investors and will directly benefit from this agreement? A reminder that on a publicly owned network we can require NetNeutrality, have better connections, and have them provided by people that actually live here and care about our community. Not to mention become a tech hub and address out economical and social problems. I will paste the reply I received from the COB about the meeting below. "Jon, The topic will be presented by our IT Director during the afternoon Committee of the Whole. There is typically no public comment during committees. However, that evening, there will be a Public Hearing on the topic during which time the public will have a chance to communicate their viewpoints to the entire Council. The Public Hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Council Chambers. Detailed information will be available tomorrow afternoon when the packet is published at www.cob.org/meetings. Please let me know if you have any other questions. Marie Marie Marchand Legislative Assistant Bellingham City Council 210 Lottie Street Bellingham, WA 98225 360.778.8202 (v) mmmarchand@cob.org" "Jon, Yes and no. The afternoon committee item is a work session for council members to discuss amongst themselves and to hear from staff. In the evening, there will be a second item in addition: a public hearing at the start of the meeting. We will be soliciting public comment at that time, and then return to the same topic when we re-cap the afternoon work session. Please keep in mind that this is a cable television contract. Federal law does not allow local governments to negotiate over internet services, on TV services. Yours, Michael Lilliquist President, Bellingham City Council Representative, Ward 6 360 778-8212 • mlilliquist@cob.org"