Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker today announced the appointment of five new members of the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) board and the reappointment of retired telecom industry veteran Ed Reynolds.   The announcement included appointments for two more seats than had been expected because it was announced today that board member and former Denver mayor Wellington Webb had earlier decided to step down from the board when his replacement was named and that industry veteran Craig Farrill resigned from the board last month.

The new board members are Chris Burbank, chief of the Salt Lake City Police Department; James Douglas, a former Republican governor of Vermont; Houston Mayor Annise Parker; Frank Plastina, a technology executive from North Carolina; and Richard Stanek, sheriff of Hennepin County, Minn., which includes Minneapolis.

“I greatly appreciate the willingness of these individuals to serve our nation in the critical task of ensuring our first responders have the tools they need to perform their live-saving work,” said Ms. Pritzker. “Over the past two years, the FirstNet Board has made progress toward fulfilling the mission mandated by Congress to create the country’s first nationwide broadband network dedicated to helping firefighters, police and emergency responders to communicate more effectively and keep communities safe. The new members of the board bring great experience to help carry out FirstNet’s important mission.”

“With these new appointments, I’m confident that the FirstNet Board has the right combination of public safety, wireless network, and state, local and federal government expertise to oversee FirstNet as it continues its work to get this historic network up and running,” said Lawrence E. Strickling, head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, where FirstNet is housed. “We are grateful that they’ve agreed to take on this challenge, and welcome the fresh thinking and energy that new Board members will bring to FirstNet.”

The board members who wanted to be reappointed but were not were Chuck Dowd, former assistant chief of the New York Police Department, and Paul Fitzgerald, the sheriff of Story County, Iowa, who raised issues last year with the way the board conducted its business, including its transparency and hiring practices. Former board chairman Sam Ginn had asked not to be reappointed.-

Courtesy TRDaily.  Paul Kirby, paul.kirby@wolterskluwer.com