Humboldt County's General Plan and its Communications Element

[Commentary] If local visionaries have their way, Humboldt County's General Plan will include a new Communications Element focusing on fundamental policies to develop local communications infrastructure and services to meet local needs.

In the General Plan, the county could create a policy framework to support local broadband media for the next generation. With clear vision in the plan, future networks will better serve public safety, health, education, civic engagement, economic development and other community purposes. First, the county's General Plan must affirm that communication is an essential human need, a fundamental human right and the basis of individual and societal development, essential to ensure liberty and justice for all. The General Plan should endorse five important principles: ensuring universal access; supporting digital literacy; preserving net neutrality; protecting the right to privacy and planning for balance in future capacity. [McLaughlin is executive director of Access Humboldt]