Decisions are expected to be announced soon on key leadership posts at the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet), including a permanent executive director and the reappointment of board members and/or the appointment of new people.  On the executive director front, acting Executive Director TJ Kennedy has led the agency’s day-to-day operations since Bill D’Agostino Jr. resigned last year (TRDaily, April 14, 2014).

In March, FirstNet Vice Chairman Jeff Johnson said that the authority could hire a new executive director “fairly quickly,” saying the board was interviewing seven semi-finalist candidates (TRDaily, March 18).

Sources said that they had heard that the board has whittled the executive director search down to two candidates, and that Mr. Kennedy was one of them; one source said the other candidate was an industry executive.

But other sources said they had heard that the board was down to one candidate, who was not Mr. Kennedy, and that an announcement was expected after vetting and other hiring procedures were completed. Sources said that the board is hoping to retain Mr. Kennedy, who was Mr. D’Agostino’s deputy before assuming the top post in an acting capacity.

FirstNet officials have often expressed frustration at the cumbersome federal hiring procedures, and they have said that the search for an executive director has been no exception as the effort has run into bureaucratic delays. FirstNet spokesman Ryan Oremland declined to comment on the executive director hiring process, saying only that it is ongoing.

As for board members, the appointments of four members expire this month: Tim Bryan, chief executive officer of the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative; Kevin McGinnis, chief of North East Mobile Health Services in Maine and a leader in the emergency medical services (EMS) community; Houston Mayor Annise Parker (D.); and Frank Plastina, interim executive vice president-power and R&F at Cree, Inc.

“Mayor Parker has expressed an interest in being reconsidered,” Janice Evans, chief policy officer and director-communications for Ms. Parker, told TRDaily.

Mr. McGinnis declined to comment, while Messrs. Bryan and Plastina couldn’t be reached for comment.

Several sources said they believe that Mr. Bryan, who chairs the board’s Finance Committee, doesn’t want to remain on the board, while Messrs. McGinnis and Plastina do.

Mr. McGinnis is an original board member who has spearheaded tribal outreach efforts, while Mr. Plastina has only been on the board for a year, taking over the seat of a member who left. A source said that officials have interviewed people for board positions.

Board appointments are announced by the Commerce secretary. A spokeswoman for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, where FirstNet is housed as an independent authority, declined to comment on the board appointments.

Meanwhile, FirstNet faces other decisions on senior personnel. The chief counsel, chief technology officer, and chief financial officer posts are currently held by acting leaders, including one detailee from the Office of Personnel Management and two people who were already at FirstNet when they stepped into the acting jobs. The job of communications director is also open.

FirstNet recently posted the CTO job and plans to post the chief counsel and CFO posts soon, according to Mr. Oremland. The communications director job was posted some time ago.

In a related development, Bill Schrier, Washington State’s FirstNet single point of contact (SPOC) and chair of the state’s Interoperability Executive Committee, said in a blog posting that “FirstNet needs a Board with inspiring leaders and a proven track record innovating in technology.  [Chairwoman] Sue Swenson and Vice-Chair Jeff Johnson are two examples of that of innovators with an ability to inspire and there may be others on the Board who I’ve not heard or met,” Mr. Schrier said. “But every future Board member should have the time and ability to articulate this vision.”

He added, “Active, engaged FirstNet Board members mean the Fires of FirstNet will continue to burn while the federal bureaucracy grinds through its procurement process.” – Paul Kirby, paul.kirby@wolterskluwer.com