FirstNet gets three new board members, while one spot remains open

Under the 2012 law that established FirstNet, the FirstNet board is supposed to include “not fewer than three individuals to represent the collective interests of the states, localities, tribes and territories.” NTIA officials believe the FirstNet board meets this requirement but declined to identify which board members fulfilled the mandate.

FirstNet’s current board includes Annise Parker, the former mayor of Houston. New board member Richard Ross is with the city of Philadelphia, but some perceive him as a public-safety replacement for Burbank. Like Ross, Stanek clearly has a key public-safety role, but there are questions whether he is a “representative of the collective interest” of the county he serves.

Teri Takai is a former CIO for the states of Michigan and California, but her designation as FirstNet’s state-government representative in 2012 and 2013 drew criticism during that period, because she was working as a federal employee at the time and had not worked in a state since 2010. Takai has not worked for a state or local government since.

Douglas, who was chairman of the National Governors Association in 2009-2010, completed his stint as Vermont’s governor in 2011.

The law also requires that the FirstNet board include at least three members who have served as public-safety professionals. FirstNet Vice Chairman Jeff Johnson is a former firefighter, and board member Kevin McGinnis has been a leader in the EMS field for decades. Both Stanek and Richard Ross are active members of the law-enforcement community.

Meanwhile, Swenson thanked the former board members for their FirstNet efforts during the past several years.

“I want to thank our outgoing members for their service to FirstNet and the public-safety community, including Ed Reynolds, who was a member of the FirstNet board since the beginning and brought extensive wireless and executive-level experience to the Finance and Technology committees; Chief Chris Burbank, who served on our Technology Committee and helped expand our relationships with law-enforcement officials around the country; and Gov. Jim Douglas, who was chair of the Finance Committee and provided expert guidance on our budget and was a valuable resource throughout the state plans and governors’ decisions,” Swenson said in a prepared statement.

“It was an honor to work with all of these individuals during an important time in the history of FirstNet—from our startup days through the growth and evolution of the organization to where we are today. Their contributions to FirstNet were invaluable, and their dedication to public safety unmatched.”

Sources indicated that Reynolds and Burbank did not seek reappointment to the FirstNet board, but Douglas said he wanted to serve a second three-year term. IWCE’s Urgent Communications asked both the U.S. Department of Commerce and the NTIA why Douglas was not reappointed, but neither offered an explanation today.

“I had hoped that I would have the opportunity to serve another term,” Douglas said during an interview with IWCE’s Urgent Communications. “They didn’t [provide an explanation why the reappointment request was not granted]. Of course, it’s the secretary’s prerogative; he doesn’t need to give a reason. I’m disappointed, but it’s his decision.”

Despite the disappointment, Douglas said he was proud of his work on the FirstNet board, which included leading the Finance Committee, seeing FirstNet complete its procurement and select AT&T as is nationwide contractor and interact with former governor colleagues as they decided whether to make “opt-in” or “opt-out” announcements.

 “I was just thinking that, if I could pick the best three years to be involved, that was probably it—while we went through procurement and governors’ [‘opt-in/opt-out’] decisions,” Douglas said. “I feel very good about the progress we made during the last few years and was honored to serve and be a part of it.”