Fund writes...

...In their favor-seeking, all of the lobbyists visiting Capitol Hill are bound by House and Senate ethics rules that cap most individual gifts at $50 per elected official or staffer, with an annual limit of $100 per recipient from any single source. But local governments, public universities and Indian tribes are exempt from the limit, so they are able to shower members and their staffs with such goodies as luxury skybox tickets to basketball games and front-row concert tickets...

See the complete article at... http://www.opinionjournal.com/diary/?id=110009776

I can assure you that the City of Troy does not conduct this type of lobbying.  It's unethical.  It's an abuse of taxpayer dollars.  It also gives certain interest groups an unfair advantage in Washington.  I hope that Congressman Jeff Flake and a bipartisan group of members are successful in their efforts to eliminate the "March Madness" lobbying loophole.

Yesterday, I visited the office of Congressman Joe Knollenberg in Washington.  Because the Congressman was in a committee hearing, I met with Jeffrey S. Goff.  Goff is the Legislative Director for Congressman Knollenberg.  The reason for my visit to the "Hill" was to provide input on Federal governmental issues that affect Troy.

From the Office of the Oakland County Exceutive...

Pontiac, MI, March 13, 2007 – The Wireless Oakland Project Team and MichTel Communications, LLC are excited to announce that free wireless internet service is now available in portions of the City of Troy.  Installation of the service was completed on Friday, March 2, 2007 in a neighborhood north of Big Beaver Road and west of Rochester Road.  This area is only the beginning of Wireless Oakland’s Phase One deployment and remaining areas will be brought online throughout the months of March and April of 2007. 

“Today’s announcement signals a positive and very important step forward in Oakland County’s aggressive plans to bring free wireless internet service to our 1.2 million citizens and 300,000 daily visitors,” said Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson. “I would like to congratulate members of the Wireless Oakland Team and our partners on this project for their hard work and dedication in making Wireless Oakland a reality.”

“Wireless Oakland is the perfect example of collaboration and cooperation between business, Oakland County and the cities,” said Troy Mayor Louise Schilling. “Troy is pleased and proud to be a pilot city for this successful enterprise that benefits our citizens.” 

In the first twenty-four hours of service, MichTel Communications, LLC saw over 10% of the households in the area begin to use the free internet service.   Free internet service is being offered at a 128Kbps and MichTel Communications, LLC will charge fees for additional download speeds and services as desired by the consumer. 

“We are very excited to see the vision of Wireless Oakland become reality and look forward to providing free internet service to all of Oakland County,” said David R Thomas Chief Operating Officer of MichTel Communications.

Additional information about the Wireless Oakland initiative can be found at www.wirelessoakland.org. For further information about the Press Release please contact Bob Dustman, Media and Communications Officer at (248) 858-1048.