There is one aspect of the Cisco development that nobody has seemed to address. That is, if the city spends millions of dollars updating the infrastructure around the Cisco campus, what happens if Cisco backs out of the deal? Would the city be stuck with an expensive white elephant? The Coyote Valley property has been vacant for years, even though it was prepared for development a long time ago. For all those years, it has probably been the best landscaped empty field in the Bay Area. Would anyone be likely to move in if Cisco doesn't? Nearby plots of land were supposed to be turned into plants for Apple Computer and Tandem Computer. Business changes caused them to cancel their plans.

The same could happen with Cisco. How likely is that? Cisco is a high-tech company in one of the most quickly-changing areas in the business world: the Internet. Internet companies spring up overnight and turn into billion-dollar powerhouses. They can come down just as fast. Cisco is currently sitting on top of the world with their routers, but they face some formidable potential competition, including some of the most powerful companies in the world. Can they maintain their dominance and growth forever? What if technology makes their products obsolete? Look what happened to many of the mainframe and minicomputer companies. What if they get bought out? Look what happened to Al Shugart's first company after it got bought out by Xerox. Look at all the recent layoffs at Netscape after it got bought out by AOL. What if competition forces Cisco to cut costs by moving its operations off-shore? That's happened all over the Valley and is happening today.

The point is that there are risks involved. If it was all private money, that would be different. But since public tax dollars are involved, the city needs to be careful. They need to consider all the "what-ifs" and have contingency plans. For instance, they could insist that the Cisco campus be built as a series of small independent buildings so that they can be leased out individually if Cisco decides to pull out after they're built. They need to have alternative plans for the land in case Cisco pulls out after the improvements have been made, but before the buildings are built.

Ron Horii