The Cleveland Digital Justice Campaign received a response yesterday to our four questions from City Councilman Zack Reed, running for Mayor against incumbent Frank Jackson.

We still have received no response from Mayor Jackson.

Reed doesn’t fully commit to any of the four Digital Justice proposals, but he expresses general agreement with three of them:

• City support for Neighborhood Technology Centers — but with no specific monetary commitment pending review of the entire 2018 budget.
• Expansion of the City’s free public wifi network. Reed writes: “…as Mayor of Cleveland I will support the expansion of the city’s free public wifi.” He does not use the word “citywide”.
• A Cabinet-level position to lead City efforts on digital literacy and access. Reed writes: “I find this to be not only important but necessary. Again, we must be mindful of budgetary constraints as we seek to remedy a myriad of problems facing the city. Having said that, I can assure you that we will take ALL appropriate measures to ensure that digital literacy and universal access are made a priorities in my administration.”

On the fourth Digital Justice proposal, creation of a City fiber broadband network to promote high-speed Internet provider competition, Reed  writes: “I would like to enhance the existing fiber optics capabilities the city has. But we must better manage our existing public utilities better before we can expand to a city serviced broadband/fiber optic internet.”

Read or download Councilman Reed’s whole response here.