The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) board plan to consider a draft comprehensive network request for proposals (RFP) and a third public notice on the definition of public safety entity during a special meeting to be held April 24 via teleconference, Chairwoman Sue Swenson told TRDaily today. Ms. Swenson also said that the board has narrowed down to “several” the number of executive director candidates it is considering.

Late last month, the board delayed a vote on approving the release of the draft RFP to provide additional time to answer questions raised by members of its Finance Committee (TRDaily, March 25).

Ms. Swenson said in an interview that the board will consider a special notice with the draft RFP at this week’s meeting, in addition to the public notice on the definition of public safety entity.  The meeting is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. eastern time.

Ms. Swenson was asked if she could discuss any more details about issues the Finance Committee had with the draft RFP. “It’s just a real clear understanding of how the issues are getting framed, you know, for the offer community,” she replied. She also stressed that FirstNet has worked to ensure that the RFP is “open enough” so stakeholders are encouraged to share their views.

Ms. Swenson said that at this week’s meeting, the board also plans to discuss efforts to reach out to and interact with the industry and public safety communities about the RFP, including by holding  “as soon as next month” the first of at least two industry days.

As for the public notice to be considered at this week’s meeting, the definition of public safety entity was an issue that drew many comments in a public notice issued by FirstNet last September (TRDaily, Sept. 17, 2014). That public notice sought comment on preliminary interpretations and other issues regarding FirstNet’s authority under the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012. FirstNet officials want to follow up on the definition of public safety entity in response to comments they received from the first public notice. Some parties sought a broad definition, while others wanted a more narrow one.

Regarding the search for an executive director, Ms. Swenson said the board has whittled down the list of candidates from seven last month to “several” today. She said interviews with the remaining candidates are being scheduled.

While there has been speculation among some stakeholders that acting Executive Director TJ Kennedy was no longer in the running for the job, Ms. Swenson said that is not true. “TJ may end up in this,” she said. “We don’t know what the outcome’s going to be. … He’s still a candidate.”

“It’s a tough job to fill,” she added. “We feel very good about the candidates we have.”

She noted that rather than only relying on getting applications through the USAJobs web site, as it did when it hired Bill D’Agostino Jr., whose title was general manager, FirstNet hired a search firm to help it find a leader this time. She noted that the private sector also conducts searches for executives in such a manner, even when it might have strong internal candidates.

The length of time it takes to hire employees has been a source of frustration for Ms. Swenson and other FirstNet officials. But she noted that FirstNet has worked with the Commerce Department and the  National Telecommunications and Information Administration to help streamline the process.

She said that Commerce’s move of all FirstNet employees to an alternative personnel system has been helpful, and she said that FirstNet is focusing on those improvements rather than continuing to hope it gets direct hiring authority from the Office of Personnel Management. “We’ve seen some improvements already, but I expect more,” she added, saying that the alternative Commerce system has helped “alleviate a lot of the issues.”

The first request to OPM for direct hiring authority was rejected and there has been no response to the second request, Ms. Swenson said.

Ms. Swenson was also asked whether she is hopeful that the Los Angeles Regional Interoperable Communications System (LA-RICS) will get the go-ahead to complete Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) grant spending by a Sept. 30 statutory deadline. “I’ve been hopeful from the beginning,” she replied, noting that she is very familiar with the project because she negotiated the spectrum lease agreement for LA-RICS.

Last week, the Los Angeles City Council and the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors approved LA-RICS construction under a revised build-out plan (TRDaily, April 16 and 17) in the wake of the suspension of the LA-RICS project (TRDaily, April 3) after the Board of Supervisors and the City Council voted to halt LA-RICS construction of cell sites on government-owned land in their jurisdictions, including at fire and police stations (TRDaily, March 27 and April 2).

The City Council has also now given LA-RICS permission to deploy facilities at 19 police stations. Fire union officials and rank-and-file firefighters have expressed concern about deploying cell sites at fire stations due to possible adverse health impacts from RF emissions.

Ms. Swenson noted that LA-RICS has provided valuable lessons to FirstNet and others in the public safety community – including on the need for outreach to constituents as well as the difficulty in signing agreements for the use of existing public infrastructure.

FirstNet reversed course after seeing the problems LA-RICS was having and decided not to require states to conduct inventories of government infrastructure that might be leveraged in the public safety broadband network. Instead, any entities that submit proposals to partner with FirstNet can include those assets in their plans if they choose, Ms. Swenson said.

Ms. Swenson was also asked to respond to the RF concerns of firefighters and some residents. Under section 332 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, states and localities can’t reject any cell sites due to concerns about RF emissions because regulation in that area falls solely under the FCC.

Ms. Swenson replied that there are the facts of a situation, but there are also arguments that people will use to make their case. She noted that siting infrastructure has often been difficult for the wireless industry, saying that when she worked for Cellular One, it took eight years to get approval for a tower on the Stanford University campus. “It had nothing to do with the facts,” she said.

Ms. Swenson also said that the siting issues seen in Los Angeles seem to be limited to there. “We’re not having this issue everywhere,” she said. “It’s kind of limited to the LA area.”

Ms. Swenson was asked whether she is relieved that a Commerce Office of Inspector General probe of FirstNet is behind the independent authority. “I was really never concerned, because I knew what was going on internally,” she said, noting that the IG said FirstNet was implementing its recommendations.

In a report issued in December, the IG concluded that there was a need to strengthen the management of financial disclosures by FirstNet board members and how the authority’s contracts were awarded and monitored (TRDaily, Dec. 9, 2014). Former FirstNet board chairman Sam Ginn asked the IG to look into ethics and contractor procurement issues (TRDaily, Oct. 25, 2013) in the wake of complaints leveled by then-board member Paul Fitzgerald, the sheriff of Story County, Iowa (TRDaily, April 23, 2013).

At a Senate hearing last month, Commerce IG Todd Zinser said that all of the recommendations in the report were being implemented (TRDaily, March 11).

As for operational changes proposed by the Government Accountability Office, Ms. Swenson said, “That’s their job – to find all these things you should be doing a little bit differently.” She added that FirstNet is open to considering ways to improve its processes.

At last month’s Senate hearing, a GAO official said that while FirstNet has made strides in planning for the deployment of the network, it “lacks certain elements of effective internal controls” and should do a better job of articulating how it will evaluate lessons learned from early builders. GAO is finalizing a report on its review of FirstNet, the official said at the hearing.

Meanwhile, Ms. Swenson praised the work that acting Chief Counsel Jason Karp has done since Chief Counsel Stuart Kupinsky left FirstNet last month, and she said she was not concerned that any efforts in the legal department would stall as a result of Mr. Kupinsky’s departure. “Jason has not skipped a beat,” she said, adding that he has “great business savvy” and saying there is no timeframe for hiring a permanent chief counsel.- Paul Kirby, paul.kirby@wolterskluwer.com