By Donny Jackson

At least four new members are scheduled to be named to the FirstNet Authority board by the end of the year, according to an announcement issued yesterday by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) seeking potential candidates to fill open positions on the board.

People wanting to be considered by NTIA should submit their expressions of interest via email by Feb. 2, the NTIA notice published in the Federal Register states. Created in 2012, the FirstNet Authority is an independent entity within the NTIA that oversees the deployment of the FirstNet nationwide public-safety broadband network (NPSBN) that is being built and maintained by AT&T, which was contracted to do the job in March 2017.

Directing the FirstNet Authority is a 15-member board. By law, the U.S. Attorney General, the secretary for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) are permanent members of the FirstNet Authority board. The U.S. Department of Commerce secretary appoints the other 12 non-permanent board members, typically to three-year terms.

The NTIA notice in the Federal Register outlines the type of candidates being sought to serve on the FirstNet Authority board.

“The (2012 law) requires each Board member to have experience or expertise in at least one of the following substantive areas: public safety, network, technical, and/or financial,” the NTIA notice states.

“Additionally, the composition of the FirstNet Authority Board must satisfy the other requirements specified in the Act, including that: (i) at least three members have served as public safety professionals; (ii) at least three members represent the collective interests of States, localities, Tribes, and Territories; and (iii) its members reflect geographic and regional, as well as rural and urban, representation.[4] An individual Board member may satisfy more than one of these requirements.”

FirstNet Authority board Vice Chair Renee Gordon is the only current member of the FirstNet Authority board who is assured of having the right to continue serving after this year, as her first term is not scheduled to expire until September 2025. All of the other 11 board members have terms that expire this September, but seven of them are eligible to be reappointed.

FirstNet Authority board Chair Richard Carrizzo is the most notable of the four members who are completing a second consecutive three-year term and cannot be reappointed. Brian Crawford, Billy Hewes and Paul Patrick are the three other board members who cannot be reappointed, according to a FirstNet Authority spokesperson.

Members of the FirstNet Authority board who are eligible for reappointment are:

Alexandra Fernandez Navarro, former associate member of the Puerto Rico Public Safety Regulatory Board;

Kristin Graziano, sheriff of Charleston County, S.C.;

Peter Koutoujian, sheriff of Middlesex, Mass.;

Sean McDevitt, a partner at Arthur D. Little;

Warren Mickens, a retired technology executive;

Sylvia Moir, the undersheriff of Marin County, Calif., and a retired police chief; and

Jocelyn Moore, a board member for Omaze, OppFi and DraftKings.

Although 11 FirstNet Authority board members have terms that are scheduled to expire in September, the NTIA notice states that they are allowed to continue to serve until a successor has taken office or until the end of 2024, whichever is earlier.