I was saddened to learn yesterday of the passing of Paul Bergman. Paul was a Lake County commissioner and a broadband advocate. I appreciated that no matter what was happening in his world, Paul always had a few minutes to talk to me about broadband, public safety or flooding in his area.

You can read a nice obituary in the Duluth News Tribune. I will borrow just a couple of paragraphs…

Paul Bergman, a Lake County commissioner who advocated for technology and transportation projects on the North Shore, died Saturday in hospice care in Duluth. He was 64.

Bergman, who also owned the Vanilla Bean Cafe in Two Harbors, had suffered from scleroderma, a skin-hardening disease, for several years and required a lung transplant in February. He continued to attend meetings up until a few weeks ago when his condition took a turn for the worse. …

As a member of the board, Bergman was perhaps most vocal on the issue of bringing high-speed broadband Internet service to the small and scattered communities of Lake County.

Sometimes ruffling the feathers of cable companies and sparking a debate about the role government should play in expanding Internet service, Bergman was a key player in establishing Lake Connections, a county-owned entity that is nearing completion of its goal to make broadband available to every home and business in the county through new fiber optic lines.

“His biggest strengths were in economic development, the technology realm,” Sve said. “He made the push behind the broadband project and really made himself the most knowledgeable person on the board related to project.”