I would like to encourage all voters of Salisbury to vote for the lease of Fibrant assets to Hotwire.  It is the only sensible way for the city to address a $3 million annual drain on city finances. Hotwire understands the market and technology and is in a position to much more effectively purchase programming than the city of Salisbury.

In a presentation to the Salisbury Rotary, City Manager Lane Bailey gave the example of programming that costs Salisbury $50 can be purchased by Hotwire for $3. They purchase in much larger blocks and therefore have clout with the sellers.

A group of local business people (Dari Caldwell, Dyke Messinger, Greg Alcorn, Tee Ross Young, Nelson Murphy, Steve Fisher, Luke Fisher and John Ketner) were asked to give their perspective on how to approach the future of Fibrant.  They strongly endorse the approach that the City Council has unanimously approved.

I have been a subscriber to Fibrant since its inception and have found the service to be very good.

Don’t misunderstand me, I was very skeptical of the initial decision to invest in Fibrant.  While the service is quite good, the City of Salisbury doesn’t have the capability to operate it effectively, so the decision to lease to Hotwire is the responsible, cost effective thing to pursue.

Please get out and vote May 8  and approve the lease to Hotwire.

— Carl Repsher

Salisbury