Call For Application

City of Albany

Common Council

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS 

The Albany Common Council is seeking applicants for insert number here vacancies on the newly established City of Albany Commission on Municipal Internet Service

Title of Position:                    

Member, Albany Commission on Municipal Internet Service -seeking 5 candidates

Term of Appointment:         

Two years 

City of Albany Commission on Municipal Internet Service:

The mission of the commission is to research the feasibility, logistics, and financing of creating a

municipally-run, citizen-owned high speed internet service that will provide internet speeds far

greater than what private companies currently provide and ensure such service will be made

available to every Albany resident and business, regardless of income level or geographic

location in the City.

Creating high-speed, reliable, affordable, and citizen-owned internet service has shown to be a

major economic boost in municipalities where such infrastructure exists. Providing this service

would also serve as a significant benefit in every neighborhood in Albany, particularly in

neighborhoods where unemployment and poverty rates are high. Affordable, reliable internet

access gives individuals, among a host of other benefits, the ability to more easily search for

employment, work from their homes, and take online higher education courses.

The marketplace for internet access lacks any true competition. Residents are faced with

expensive plans that provide sub-par internet speeds. Chattanooga, Tennessee serves a model for

municipally-run internet service. That city’s average download speed is over 100 megabytes per

second. In Albany, the average download speed is a little over 20 megabytes per second.

Establishing a successful citizen-owned internet service would be an enormous help to attracting

new small businesses and residents to Albany, which means a significant increase of our tax

base, more thriving commercial centers, and give Albany a major competitive advantage over

surrounding municipalities.

With significant economic and community development opportunity in mind, the

Common Council determines it to be sound public policy and advisable to establish the

“City of Albany Commission on Municipal Internet Service” for the purpose of

researching all the necessary elements of creating a municipal internet service and make

meaningful recommendations to City Government in order to seize upon this opportunity

and move towards quality internet for all.

Position Responsibilities/Duties:

Individuals appointed to the Commission on Municipal Internet Service will attend scheduled meetings on an as needed basis to develop a report that will detail any and all research and recommendations to the City of Albany about the feasibility of financing a City owned high speed internet service. The commission will make all findings and recommendations to the Mayor and the Common Council regarding the creation of such infrastructure, costs, available financing, logistics and feasibility. 

Statutory Authority: 

Sec. 1 Chapter 42 of the Code of the City of Albany, Part 39.

Application Requirement:    

Interested applicants must submit a letter of interest describing qualifications and their most recent resume to:

Albany Common Council 

Attn: Danielle Gillespie, City Clerk

Room 206, City Hall, Albany, NY 12207

Tel: 434-5087 / Fax: 434-5081 / e-mail: Commoncouncil@albanyny.gov  

Applicants will be interviewed by a selected committee of the Common Council prior to appointment.

Deadline for Applications:   April 30, 2021