Real questions and concerns from Bay Area residents like you

M,

Thank you for your question on the cost of this infrastructure. We can approach it from the capital improvement and ongoing cost perspective which shows just one layer but I think it's important to also highlight other beneficial aspects that have been proven in use cases shared by jurisdictions that have embraced this type of technology. For example, one of our nearby jurisdictions spent $5.2 million to install smart LED lights on all their 5200 pole lighting infrastructure which comes out to $1,000 per light versus $50 bulb for sodium lamps and $100 staff time for replacement per pole - an expensive cost, nonetheless. The energy savings over 15 years with these lights amounted to $7.8 million for these LED lights rated to last 20 years with no replacements (1% failure rate) and the staff time costs for the 5200 poles for sodium lamps (lasts 1 to 2 years) weren't even factored on the savings - this is a different way to see savings over the long haul.

There are published documents by jurisdictions that have done this so it comes out to between $3,000 to $5,000 per Wireless Access Point (WAP) as capital implementation cost and ongoing annual maintenance of between $300 to $500 per year per WAP. The City of San Leandro has put out this infrastructure and it has serviced their public particularly in the times of Covid for those with no connectivity. It has also transformed their downtown by bringing in more corporate leasers of their commercial property with a highly skilled and technical workforce - the average weekly spend by this type of workforce in their downtown averages between $200 to $300 per capita. San Leandro has in the works for expansion of the tech campus development to eventually employ more than 3,000 of these workers and this doesn't include the other leasable spaces which adds upwards of 3,000 more adjacent to their downtown. This demonstrates the clear economic benefit it has to the City of San Leandro.

The County of San Mateo in 2013 built their first public wi-fi in the Town of Pescadero which has a population of 600+ and 8 businesses in their downtown. Now, Pescadero has built festivals and events around this public wi-fi which has grown to an average of 60,000 visitors monthly to their town which has benefited their downtown well. Notwithstanding, the economic benefits to the local town folks has been immense as it also has benefited them socially bringing connectivity to a rural town that had none. Students attending college locally are going back to visit their families because they can now do their school work and still stay connected with their friends. Government services to those in need are happening because they don't need to drive the 20 miles to get to a government service center now that they have online direct access to services online. Due to the successes in the County of San Mateo, they have since expanded to over 100 sites with free public wi-fi and it is serving them well in the face of Covid-19.

Covid-19 has changed the way we do things and has caused those not connected in schools to drop out - this causes more costly issues for society in the long haul when we lose people from the system. Connectivity is a way to get people back into the system which saves us much in the long haul. I hope this addresses some of your concerns as there will be capital and ongoing costs which we must measure wisely from the public benefits to the people and revitalizing Irvington downtown.

Best Regards,

Charles Liu

J and R,

Thank you for your response and comment on homelessness as this is a regional issue that's plagued the Bay Area as a whole. We see these numbers growing tremendously year after year due to increased housing costs and lack of affordable housing. We need to think outside the box and not focus on business as usual with the forethought of different solutions that can be realized. There's no one answer to this problem so we need to tackle it from multiple dimensions. Other cities have used navigation centers successfully which is a one channel. Other channels are working with our County services and housing providers to put together sustainable compacts (e.g. San Leandro Housing Compact) that addresses those in the mental health area as this is the one area that's harder to solve but is not impossible. Other areas include economic sustainability that gives predictable income and we are a city that has those opportunities but it means that we need to connect the unconnected. Counties like San Mateo have provided devices to these populations to provide them online services so that they could easily connect to navigation services so we need to do the same in our County and City. Not being connected means that those in this mix will need to go to a given location such as the HNC to solve their problems. Connecting people with Municipal Wi-Fi gives them mobility to have continuity with these types of services. We're in the 21st century so we need to look at smarter solutions such as these.

Best Regards,

Charles Liu

P,

Thank you for your thoughtful response and comment on housing as this is a regional issue that's plagued California as a whole caused by the Financial Crisis of 2008 and Great Recession. The challenges that plagued Fremont were out of control. Housing that did not factor the capacity of our infrastructure which made Fremont among the worst cities for traffic congestion. The slowdown in housing development statewide exacerbated this issue causing housing prices to skyrocket due to lack of supply over great demand for our Silicon Valley region. Covid-19 made problems worse but it also proved that we can do things differently so we will work on these policies to move us into a 21st century way of working. Connectivity has proved to be an issue for those not connected with about 13 million people nationwide not getting their unemployment due to these digital divide challenges. We see in other jurisdictions that municipal wi-fi has connected the underserved and have given them channels to services along with bridging the learning gap for the students who had no connectivity. Working remotely where possible is the right direction to go as it's reduced traffic and has increased productive availability for many who can work in this realm. Privacy and Security concerns are important and the school districts have recognized that CIPA compliance must go down to the device level which addresses this issue. While the ideal is to have privacy and security for all, it's much more important that we get them connected so that they can access services. Many of the services already provide layers of security through their sites and applications. The other layers would be to add Privacy and Security training through our library curriculums.

Best Regards,

Charles Liu

J,

Thank you for your thoughtful response and comment on traffic safety around schools. Traffic has plagued Fremont due to the job demand growth in Silicon Valley post-Great Recession which has increased cut through traffic. Covid-19 made problems worse but it also proved that we can do things differently so we will work on these policies to move us into a 21st century way of working. Connectivity has proved to be an issue for those not connected with about 13 million people nationwide not getting their unemployment due to these digital divide challenges. We see in other jurisdictions that municipal wi-fi has connected the underserved and have given them channels to services along with bridging the learning gap for the students who had no connectivity. Working remotely where possible is the right direction to go as it's reduced traffic and has increased productive availability for many who can work in this realm so this is one solution channel I'm committed to pursuing. Other jurisdictions have issued proclamations to have these mass workforces move towards remote working and remote working facilities so Fremont can do the same but we need to expand connectivity so that we have real working mobility.

Best Regards,

Charles Liu

N,

Thank you for your response and comment on crowding, services and homelessness as this is a regional issue which requires commitment from officeholders and adjacent jurisdictions. We see homelessness numbers growing tremendously year after year due to increased housing costs and lack of affordable housing. We need to think outside the box and not focus on business as usual with the forethought of different solutions that can be realized. There's no one answer to this problem, so we need to tackle it from multiple dimensions. Other cities have used navigation centers successfully - which is one channel. Other channels include working with our County services and housing providers to put together sustainable compacts (e.g. San Leandro Housing Compact) that address those in the mental health area as this is the one area that is harder to solve. Other areas include economic sustainability that gives predictable income and we are a city that has those opportunities but it means that we need to connect the unconnected. Counties like San Mateo has provided devices to these populations to provide them online services so that they could easily connect to navigation services so we need to do the same in our County and City. Not being connected means that those in this mix will need to go to a given location such as the HNC to solve their problems. Connecting people with Municipal Wi-fi gives them mobility to have continuity with these type of services as it's a working model that's being done. We're in the 21st century so we need to look at smarter solutions such as these.

Best Regards,

Charles Liu