Community Computer Lab

["Shahab Mesbah" <moscadmin@moscow.com>]

Dear Friends,

I can appreciate the problems you or others have had in their experience but
that has not been the case with the city of Moscow since i have served them.
The city employees have been very kind and supportive. They have appreciated
the superior service (if i might say so myself)... now we can sit around and
get offensive and in your face about things or we can deal with things with
a spirit of cooperation and actually get things done.

The problem with most cites and other governmental agencies is that politics
dictate action instead of the greater good. I have always been skeptical and
maybe downright hostile towards most governmental agencies. In the past
seven months, however, I have seen the city of Moscow as a very different
organization. From the staff to the department heads to the council and the
mayor and managers there is a strong conviction for serving the residents of
our city. I see a tremendous will to cooperate and a genuine concern for our
city and its role in the future.

It is easy to sit around and complain about things but I bet that very few
of you know the tremendous amount of work the city employees get done. I am
in a unique position since I am not an employee of the city yet have been in
the trenches with them and have witnessed the amazing level of dedication
shown by most of them. I have to say one of the most annoying things for
these people is to not be appreciated.

Like all of us, who have high work ethics and go beyond the call of duty,
they need to know that they are appreciated or at least acknowledged.
As for the specific issue of the computer labs, at the risk of sounding
arrogant I have to tell you what I tell my clients... if I had a buck for
every person who thinks they know about computers and messes them up, I
would be richer than Bill Gates! Most of you are either unhappy about your
computers or happy because you have not experienced a great computer. I have
developed a reputation in the region for my expertise in the field and have
backed it up with real certification and unparalleled reputation for
excellence and honesty. I have continually volunteered my services to the
charity and non-profit agencies in our region. I have had to clean up after
countless so-called computer experts; it generally takes me less time to
start from scratch and set everything up from scratch.

You may wonder why it cost more to maintain computers than it takes to buy
them but it is a universally understood fact that this is the case. You will
not find a single organization that does not go through this. The people who
think this not to be true are those who do not understand the real issues
behind organizational computing. It is easy for most computer users to spend
hours tinkering with things. how much money is your time worth? How many
things did you not get done while you were fooling around with the computer.
How are you going to maintain legal tabs on software use, internet use, data
loss, etc. having a public computer lab is a lot more involved than just
flopping a bunch of systems in a room and allowing people to use it. You can
talk about the work being done by volunteers and as a volunteer for many
things I applaud that but you can not begin to imagine the complexities of
this plan unless it is done correctly.

This brings me to my original point. The city should provide this service. I
say this because the city can do this with minimal investment. We are
already investing in the infrastructure that allows us to provide this
service with almost no impact on the budget. We can house the computers
(purchased or donated) in a publicly accessible room and use volunteers to
man the room. The administration of the systems, however, will be provided
as a part of the whole city administration. This is the cheapest and most
stable way to do this.
If you are interested in donating money, hardware, or software for this
project I bet the city will appreciate it; If you want to volunteer to man
the facilities that will also be helpful. Please note that computers below
Pentium 75 will not be used in the city network. I would love to hear from
you if you have input on this subject and or have donations. I will take
your suggestions and offers to the IT Committee and the council. If we get
behind this I am sure we could house the lab in the community center.
Please note that I do not respond well with offensive tones! If you want to
help and make a difference for our community and you approach this with a
spirit of unity and cooperation. you are welcomed; if you like to be
skeptical, negative, and generally offensive and difficult. please remember
that I have a rude filter and I will completely ignore you. I do not believe
negativity has any place in community service.

Sincerely,

Shahab.