Proposed Click partnership with Rainier Connect moves to City Council despite trepidation

Rainier Connect on Monday moved one step closer to becoming a significant player in the new business model for Tacoma’s Click Network.

Monday’s special board meeting was the second of two public hearings held by the Board of Public Utility to consider the term sheets offered by Rainier Connect and Wave in a public-private partnership with Tacoma Power to run Click.

“We are in love with Click and its workers,” said board Chairman Woodrow Jones. “It is one of the jewels of this organization.”

The board on Monday approved a resolution to move forward in negotiations with Rainier Connect to partner in running the municipal cable and internet provider, with TPU retaining ownership of the network.

The proposal, however, is being met with trepidation by some of Click’s customers and others.

Click customers who spoke at both hearings were primarily concerned that the change would raise rates more and lower the quality of customer service they experience now. Many also expressed concern that, to them, Click’s financial history was unclear.

“I do believe Click is making enough money to do without a partnership in any way. I don’t know where they went wrong,” said one customer speaking at Monday’s hearing. “I’ve dealt with Rainier Connect, and I’m no longer with Rainier Connect, to make a long story short.”

Mitchell Shook is founder of Advanced Stream and one of Click’s current internet service providers. In remarks Monday, Shook recalled his advice given in the RFI process.

“They wanted to know the best ideas of what to do. We told them we’ll go get you 8,000 more customers and straighten your bookkeeping up. Do what your consultants have told you. Look at Click as a business. Get rid of all the extra unrelated overhead that has nothing to do with what Click is — that would have fixed it.”

“I have loved Click. We are the only reason Comcast has lower rates in this area, it’s all because of Click,” noted another customer speaking at the hearing. “I, too, would like to see a full audit.”

“Click just went up $5 a month, and that’s OK,” said another. “This all seems like futile hurling ourselves into something that’s unknown. We know Click. ... Don’t move too fast. I’m having trouble believing what any of these companies are promising.”

After hearing public comment, board Vice-Chair Karen Larkin explained Click’s financial struggles through the years.

Citing tens of millions of dollars spent annually on rebroadcast fees for Click’s cable TV service, Larkin said, “Moving forward the model we’re currently operating Click under is not sustainable.

“Given that the private partnerships have the internet business and we are just in the cable TV business, we cannot make that model work into the future. We have to have a new model moving forward.”

“We are not throwing the ball over the fence and going home,” she added, noting the 12 policy goals set for a new Click, including customer service and enforcement through a city contract. “We will have those protections in place.”

In a previous board hearing March 13, Joanne Hovis of CTC Technology and Energy, which was hired to evaluate proposals for the new Click business model, presented the term sheets with side-by-side comparisons of the deals offered by the two companies as they related to the 12 policy goals.

The March 13 presentation was an abbreviated version of one presented at a joint utility board and Tacoma City Council study session March 5.

CTC’s recommendation to both the board and the City Council was to move forward with Rainier Connect because of its higher compensation rate and terms.

The resolution now moves on to the City Council, which could take action at its regular March 26 meeting.

Click customers have two more opportunities to weigh in at public meetings: during the citizens forum at the Tuesday (March 19) council meeting and at a public hearing during the March 26 council meeting.

This story was originally published March 19, 2019 at 9:46 AM.