The woman who steered Philadelphia’s municipal Wi-Fi project through city politics and battles with incumbent telcos is leaving her post as the city’s communications information officer next month to lead Georgia-based technology consulting firm Civitium’s international practice as a senior partner.
Neff was hand-picked in 2001 by Philadelphia Mayor John Street as the city’s CIO, and has been the primary force behind the city’s Wireless Philadelphia project to create a 135-square mile citywide Wi-Fi network.
Philadelphia’s Wi-Fi contract went to EarthLink Inc. in October 2005. Earthlink is building a 15-square-mile “proof-of-concept” network, with the entire citywide system expected to be up and running by late next year.
The contract spells out that EarthLink will provide the infrastructure for the massive hot spot, a project that would have cost the city $20 million if it had conducted the buildout itself. In addition to financing, building and managing the wireless network, EarthLink agreed to provide Wireless Philadelphia with revenue-sharing fees to help support the Wireless Philadelphia Non-Profit Corp.
For its investment, EarthLink will provide the city government, schools and other entities with free wireless Internet access while charging about $20 per month for private access. The project also includes a $10-per-month fee for about 25,000 low-income households. The company has said it expects the network to turn a profit by the end of its second year, and projected that it would have between 50,000 and 80,000 subscribers by then.
Neff’s performance in Philadelphia was often praised. In 2004, she was awarded the Technology Leadership Award by the Public Technology Institute board of directors for her “far-reaching accomplishments and the technology leadership you have demonstrated in your capacity as Chief Information Officer for the City of Philadelphia.” She also received recognition from Computerworld and Information Week.
“Without her, Philadelphia’s Wi-Fi project wouldn’t have gone nearly as far as it went,” observed Craig Settles, author of “Fighting the Good Fight for Municipal Wireless.” “Philly is the kind of city where a project like this could have easily gotten lost in the political shuffle. But because of her inclusiveness practices, she was able to get people to sit around a table and work as a team, and the Wi-Fi project moved along at a fairly decent clip because of that.”
Neff was also cited as a powerful negotiator as the city’s incumbent telecommunications provider, Verizon Communications Inc., threatened lawsuits to keep Philadelphia’s Wi-Fi network plans from taking off. As state lawmakers passed a bill prohibiting cities from building and operating wireless communications networks, Wireless Philadelphia received permission to move forward.
Nonetheless, Neff’s choice to join Civitium has raised a few eyebrows in Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Inquirer pointed out that Neff steered more than $300,000 to Civitium last year through consulting contracts with Wireless Philadelphia. In addition, the newspaper shed light on Civitium’s financial support of several conferences Neff attended in the last 18 months, often speaking as a panelist alongside Greg Richardson, founder and managing partner of Civitium.
As soon as Neff announced that she was joining Civitium, rumors began circulating about a possible investigation into her dealings with Civitium while managing the city’s Wi-Fi initiative. The mayor’s office has not answered whether an investigation is planned.
Civitium said Neff’s primary focus at the firm will be increasing business outside the United States, which ought to satisfy city rules that Neff not be involved with contracts between it and Civitium for one year.
Professor Robert Tuttle at George Washington University Law School has studied ethics violation cases and said there is nothing inherently wrong with moving from a position of government responsibility to one with a contractor they’ve done a lot of work. “But the situation merits an investigation to determine whether there was a quid-pro-quo relationship,” Tuttle added.
Tuttle said investigators in such a case would be looking for a paper trail or e-mails that reference trading favors or money for deals that involve city funds.
Other reports have surfaced indicating that Neff left her position to avoid inevitable technical problems as the city’s Wi-Fi network is launched, but Settles noted that as the mayor’s term nears its end, many on his staff are looking elsewhere for employment since a new administration usually means a new mayoral cabinet.
