Are you a Skype user in New York City? Well today's election day is half over and you've probably not voted in this piddling election. Skype Journal stays out of partisan politics, and that's not changing today. But Andrew Raciej, running for NYC Public Advocate has a platform that promises free or cheap bandwidth, bandwidth for every New Yorker, bandwidth in subways and skyscrapers and tenements and schools, bandwidth for disaster preparedness, bandwidth for citizen participation in local government, bandwidth everywhere.

He makes the case that a universal Wi-Fi system is needed for economic development. That it fuels better government, better public education, economic mobility, attracts business, help bus and train riders commute. He says Wi-Fi bridges what he calls three digital divides:

First, New York City as first among American Cities. I love that he raises the spectre of Philadelphia having better municipal connectivity. You can hear New Yorkers growl at that.

Second, NYC competing with foreign cities for capital, talent, culture, and industry. The most wired cities have an unnatural advantage.

Third, high-speed haves and have-nots. "Having broadband access without affordability is like having a highway without a car: you can’t go anywhere." It's not enough, he says, to offer dial-up to the poor in a broadband world. Universal access creates opportunity and a level playing field for individuals and for small businesses.

So in a Wi-Fi'd New York, everyone can be a Skype user. Mobile and laptop users could connect any time, everywhere. And as we know, the more people in a social network, the more valuable the social network is to its members.

These arguments apply to any metro. To Oakland, California, (are you listening Mayor Brown?). To a recovered New Orleans. To Mumbai and Beijing. New York has a slight edge: lots of dark fiber to create the muni backbone.

I met Andrew at the first Web 2.0 conference just before he launched the Personal Democracy Forum online magazine in Fall 2004. He's smart, professional, cooler than me, and eager to make a difference. Now I don't know him well enough to give him a character reference. And since I haven't looked at the other candidates and no longer live in New York I'm unable to endorse him. But his ideas, his platform, merit every civic minded voter's consideration, wherever you live.