Becca Vargo Daggett was happiest when she felt she was making a difference, and she wasn't shy about getting involved.
"She'd be the one in the room to notice the person standing in the corner who looked worried, or the child who wasn't playing," said husband Paul Daggett. "She'd draw them out and find out what they needed."
As an activist and researcher, she applied that same sense of concern to a long list of Twin Cities community groups and organizations. Daggett, of St. Louis Park, died peacefully on Oct. 17 after a long illness. She was 43.
Daggett grew up in Mound. She spent her teen years with her family near Heidelberg, Germany, then studied philosophy and social anthropology at the University of Texas, Austin, and the University of Minnesota. She earned a master's degree in public policy at the Humphrey Institute, where her faculty adviser was former U President Ken Keller.
David Morris, a co-founder of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) and director of its Public Good Initiative, hired Daggett fresh out of the U in 2003. Initially, she was charged with working on energy issues, but in 2005 Minneapolis issued a request for proposals to develop a privately owned wireless network. Morris said Daggett was concerned that the city had decided to embrace private ownership without analysis or public hearings, and she plunged into the issue.
"Becca was extraordinary," said Morris. "She was dogged, spirited, dedicated and unafraid of taking on the unknown. She had a … keen sense of right and wrong and an innate ability to empathize with those on the outside."
Daggett believed public ownership was a better option for the city and became an advocate for municipal networks, helping launch ILSR's Municipal Broadband initiative, which has gained international recognition and influence.
"Becca faced significant challenges in her quest to try to change Minneapolis' mind," said Morris. "She had to educate people about a complex and intimidating technology. She had to assure people that public ownership was possible and profitable. And she had to do this in the face of criticism that often bordered on outright condescension from corporate representatives and city officials who dismissed her because of her youth, and possibly her gender. She never lost her poise or wavered in her determination."
