Fall 1995

Columbus, OH - June 21 and 22, 1995. The Ohio Community Computing Center Network (OCCCN) Coordinating Committee concluded two days of meetings at the Ameritech Building, just three blocks north of the State House, by selecting Carolyn Williams as its Statewide Coordinator and giving final approval to the selection of centers in Toldeo, Akron, Marietta, Youngstown, and Dayton. The OCCCN was established to oversee the $2.2 million final settlement Ameritech agreed to dedicate toward the establishment of 14 community computing centers in its negotiations before the Public Utility Commission (PUCO) with the Edgemont Neighborhood Association and Dayton Legal Services and representatives from the other cities along with Cleveland and Columbus.

The OCCCN was guided in its development, in the creation of its Request for Proposal (RFP) and the selection process for establishing centers, and in writing the job description and helping select Cary Williams as the Statewide Coordinator by the consultant services of the Playing to Win Network and its Director, Peter Miller. It is anticipated that the OCCCN and its centers will continue to benefit from, and come to contribute to, the resources and experience of PTWNet and its 50+ low-income community computing center members.

Cary Williams is just returning to Columbus from Rochester, MN, where she managed a countywide assessment of human services for the United Way, assisted the Mayo Clinic in its community outreach program, and served as a member of the Olmstead County CommunityNet Policy Board. Ms. Williams was previously the Data Center Director of Ohio United Way.

The following centers were presented to the OCCCN Coordinating Committee by their city representatives, discussed, and received final approval for their projects to move forward with the new Statewide Coordinator. Each city rep also touched briefly on the local selection process.

Edna Pincham, a member of the Youngstown School Board, presented their proposal noting, in the words of its cover letter from City Director of MIS Mike G. Kraynanski: "The selection committee is unanimous in proposing the Youngstown Public Library be awarded the YCCC grant," to be established at its Main branch in the heart of the city.

Kerry Bruce, Utility Rate Coordinator for Toledo, underlined that the joint proposal they received from the Toledo chapter of Black Data Processing Associates (BDPA) and Organized Neighbors Yielding eXcellence (ONYX) Community Development Center "was the most comprehensive and visionary of the three proposals we received." The center will be located at St. Martin DePorres parochial school as a recommendation of the Toledo Youth Commission and will be under the direction of ONYX Executive Director Aaron Laramore and BDPA Chair Howard Abernathy.

City Councilor Mike Williams had previously submitted the proposal from the Akron Community Service Center and Urban League which will be overseen by Michael Lisman, Director of Programs.

Phil Case, of the Marietta City Council, presented the proposal from the City School's Adult Basic and Literacy Education (ABLE) program and its Coordinator Mary Kerns to establish a center at its site in the WashingtonMorgan Community Action Agency building.

Ellis Jacobs, Acting OCCCN Chair, presented both Dayton proposals, one from the Otterbein United Methodist Church to expand its pilot ComputerSpace program for its East Dayton, primarily white Appalachian community, currently overseen by Kathleen Harrington, the other from the Edgemont Neighborhood Coalition and its Program Administrator Linda Broadus, for the primarily African-American community in West Dayton.

Maureen Connelly and Bob Bucklew will provide final recommendations and selections from Columbus and Cleveland at a later date.

For more information on what's going on in Ohio, contact Cary Williams as listed below or any of the appropriate city representatives on the OCCCN.

Dayton Legal Services' Ellis Jacobs, chair of the Ohio Community Computing Center Network Coordinating Committee, and Linda Broadus, Director of the Edgemont Neighborhood Association, the original party in the negotiations with Ameritech before the Public Utilities Commision of Ohio which led to the fund to establish the Ohio Centers.