LIT San Leandro- Changing the Course of Our Economy

By Morgan Mack-Rose

LIT San Leandro is the biggest economic opportunity San Leandro has seen in a generation. For every high-tech job, there is a cascading effect of five more jobs. But if we don't act now, it will slip through our fingers.

Having access rights negotiated with BART and others, the San Leandro Fiber Loop is unique in that it is one of a few, if not the only, private fiber loops in the country, the others being run either as a city service or as a utility, both requiring significant oversight and open process in their usage.

With a private fiber loop (one of the fastest in the country at 100 gigabit), immediate access to Silicon Valley, three international airports, major highways, the Port of Oakland, and being central to virtually all Northern California/East Bay money interests, San Leandro is uniquely positioned to become the area's preferred location for high-tech industry.

Businesses from this sector bring significant capital for investment and build-out, high wage earners, and enable the cascading economic benefit of "five jobs for every one tech job." This cascading effect enables San Leandro to have more variety of retail driven by higher wage earners, more city revenue from payroll and increased sales tax, and a plethora of other benefits from money entering the economic region.

San Leandro's ability to capture a portion of this incoming wealth is critical to the success of our city. We've missed out on one tech boom, the consequences of which our city is only now having to come to grips with including deteriorating infrastructure, diminishing services, decreased crime prevention, and more.

To take full advantage of this tremendous gift brought to the City by Patrick Kennedy, we need leadership that understands the magnitude and the possibility of what is now before us. I believe our new City Manager, Chris Zapata, is in a key role to ensure our success. Mr. Zapata truly understands our city's needs, understands our blind spots, and knows what must happen for our success. His recent initiative to hire a Chief Innovation Officer is a critical part of our city's ability to capitalize on the Fiber Loop.

But a City Manager can only be as effective as the Council that gives him or her direction and approves his or her decisions. Our City Council must have a clear, cohesive vision of how San Leandro will ensure this opportunity is best profited by for the good of our city.

As Council member, I will drive business opportunity in San Leandro by supporting innovators and entrepreneurs through incubator spaces, venture capital, incentives, encouraging innovative live-work spaces, and marketing our unique assets. A small investment promoting these unique projects today is a wise investment in the future.

Finally, local businesses must flourish to support this industrial recovery. We must ensure there is a healthy economic environment for them given the economic realities and the great needs we have locally. Pursuing ways to improve the business environment while lowering their costs will give our local businesses an advantage+an advantage benefiting residents and customers as well. One such advantage may be creating a city-wide, free wifi network that would allow residents and businesses to reduce monthly expenses and be an added draw for consumers to come to San Leandro and access free internet throughout our city.

But all of this can only happen if we have leadership that understands the potential the Fiber Loop brings with it and is willing to work hard to realize that potential.