Voice Your Opinion RE: Microsoft Enterprise Agreement

[Derek Neighbors]

If you want your government to stop using Microsoft Products now is the 
time to have your voice heard.  It starts with local government.  If you 
didnt know the State of Arizona budget is in the dumps, because all 
governments under them (read county and city) get large sums of money 
from the State they are hurting for money.  

It just so happens that this July is when most of the local governments 
start a new fiscal year, which means this June (now) they are ADOPTING 
budgets (planned spending) for the upcoming fiscal year.  Many of them are 
faced with the choice on whether to renew Microsoft's 'Enterprise 
Agreement' stiff arm.

I urge you to PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE contact your district council person 
(maricopa county) and your city council people and simply ask them.

a. Do they plan to approve funding for the Enterprise Agreement?
b. If they do plan to do so, please provide you with a copy of the 
agreement and the dollar amount to be expended.
c. When they will be hearing from the public on the budget, so if they are 
adopting you can have your voice heard publicly.


It may sound funny but I can speak from REAL experience if a council 
person gets as few as 10 requests that are similar a red flag will be 
raised and they will grill their technology departments on it. 

I have contacted the Town of Gilbert and Maricopa County already to 
recieve such information, I suggest others follow and use your power as a 
citizen to make a difference.  We have no one to blame but ourselves if we 
dont start to take a stand.


I dont have town information but county information is as follows:

Map To Find Your Council Person
http://www.maricopa.gov/county_glance/maps.asp?link=districtMap

Council Contact Email
Dist 1 Fulton Brock      FBrock@mail.maricopa.gov
Dist 2 Don Stapley       DStapley@mail.maricopa.gov 
Dist 3 Andrew Kunasek    AKunasek@mail.maricopa.gov
Dist 4 Max Wilson        mwwilson@mail.maricopa.gov
Dist 5 Mary Rose Wilcox  MrWilcox@mail.maricopa.gov

Also I would cc: the County Administrator and Deputy County Administrator

CAO: David Smith         DSmith@mail.maricopa.gov
DCA: Sandi Wilson        Swilson@mail.maricopa.gov



-Derek