I am very happy to say that Dana Briggs (City Council At Large Candidate) and Ashanti Monts-Tréviska (City Council Ward 3 Candidate) have signed the broadband pledge. 

Both candidates are long-time supporters. I would like to share the excellent commentary that Ashanti provided on how better broadband access will help the Deaf community.

"This is so important to address because it will be very beneficial to the Deaf community locally so they can have access to quality video remote interpreter services (VRI) in American Sign Language. Bellingham and Whatcom county do not have enough ASL interpreters to support every Deaf community member's needs to be well represented." -- Ashanti

I would like to note that her opponent, and current council member, Dan Hammill has never responded in any meaningful way on broadband and has backed big telecom, especially Verizon, CenturyLink and Comcast in his votes. I sent him the pledge too, in the hopes that we could actually talk about the issue. I remain hopeful. Still, it should be noted that he provides no personal way to contact him in relation to his campaign. I don't know about you, but I'd like more transparency than what we're currently getting and leaders that will actually talk about the issues we face with the community.