Hey, you know that municipal wireless system that fair Gavin plans to build here in EssEff? Of course it makes our AirPort Express card drool to think about city-wide connectivity, for free (or basically free, as they'll probably raise the sales tax to pay for it). Of course, in terms of municipal services, we'd really rather have the Mayor focusing on municipal power and shutting down the Hunters Point power plant, but that's so twentieth-century -- and we all know how Gavin likes to be cutting-edge.

But in an article in the Chronicle on Saturday, Verizon's CEO had some choice words to say about that plan.

"That could be one of the dumbest ideas I've ever heard,'' said Ivan Seidenberg, chief executive officer of Verizon Communications, during a meeting with Chronicle editors and writers on Friday. "It sounds like a good thing, but the trouble is someone will have to design it, someone will have to upgrade it, someone will have to maintain it and someone will have to run it."

Of course, that same trouble would befall a company -- say, Verizon -- who can hardly get their cellular service to work city-wide. But maybe that's because of our "unrealistic expectations." "Can you hear me now? No? Well tough s**t."

Chronicle photo by Jerry Telfer.