I can’t take much more of this. Now we have another, smaller plan for a government-run cable TV system in Mecklenburg County. Mooresville town commissioner Frank Rader wants to spend money on a study to determine if just Mooresville, Troutman, and Davidson, alone, could run their own cable franchise.
Why those towns’ 5,300 customers deserve to be socked with a government-run system is unclear. Rader steadfastly holds that the system could still work, although not as well as the six-jurisdiction coalition that adds Mecklenburg County, Huntersville, and Cornelius to the mix.
I hope this development signals that the six-party idea is on the ropes, although Rader says it is not. However, even those officials who might like the idea of a county-run cable system — instant TV moguls! — are slowing starting to grasp that paying $80 million for a cable system that, oops, all of a sudden turns out to be worth $40 million will not exactly do wonders for the county’s credit rating.
