Mediacom Urges Iowa Court to Review Google Fiber Case

Medicom opposed a West Des Moines motion to dismiss the company’s lawsuit claiming the city violated Iowa law when it used bonds for urban blight and poverty to build a $50 million municipal network for Google Fiber (see 2012100030). “A city council may choose to disregard statutes, work behind closed doors, and deprive voters of a voice in the city’s financial decisions,” Mediacom said Thursday at the Iowa District Court for Polk County. “But if a council makes that choice, no mere use of magic words or motion practice ... can dissolve the state judiciary’s authority and obligation to independently review the council’s conduct.”