Former SPUR board member Wells Whitney died on February 4. When he joined the board in 2000, Wells stood out. He was a research scientist with degrees from Harvard and MIT, where he got his doctorate in materials science and engineering. He wasn’t a professional expert in land use or transportation or good government like so many SPUR Board members. But he and a small group of “techies” had formed a Telecom Technology Task Force at SPUR the prior year.
It was the height of the dot-com bubble, fueled by speculative investment in new technologies as websites were becoming popular. The BlackBerry had just come out, and it would be seven years before the iPhone would debut. The hot item at San Francisco Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors meetings was neighborhood opposition to cell phone antennae, which many saw as visual blight and as health risks from radio frequency radiation. But Wells, and SPUR, saw a different threat: that cell phone service would be concentrated in the high-income northern areas of the city, isolating San Francisco’s neediest citizens through under investment in public services.
Wells’ scientific background enabled him to convincingly counter uninformed fears and begin to turn the conversation to bridging the digital divide by requiring providers to offer affordable access across the city. He and the SPUR Telecom Technology Task Force foresaw that access to information technology was the real planning and good government issue. SPUR stood alone in these debates as the community organization that prioritized fairness and inclusion in providing digital infrastructure.
Wells was not new to community participation. He was past president of the Telegraph Hill Neighborhood Center and active in the International Institute, working to provide legal services, education, and civic engagement opportunities to immigrants and refugees.
When he was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer, Wells learned everything he could about lung cancer, directed his therapy and recovery, and co-founded and headed the Science Advisory Board of the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation. In this role, he became a resource and support for many, including other SPUR members and families facing health challenges. Wells went on to be a trustee of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging and led a men’s groups on health and aging.
And not just incidentally, Wells was married to the late Anne Halsted, long-time SPUR leader, board member, and activist. “I have to join the SPUR board,” he said. “It’s the only way I can get to spend more time with Anne.” Wells continued to work on the board for eight years. Given ten months to live when diagnosed with cancer at age 65, Wells lived to be 91.
*Jim Chappell is the former president and executive director of SPUR.