New FirstNet board members appointed

The Board of the First Responder Network Authority gained six new members this week, appointed by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross.

Its newest members include Richard Carrizzo, chief of the Southern Platte Fire Protection District in Kansas City, Missouri; Welton Chase, former General officer of the U.S. Army’s Signal Corps; Neil Cox, CEO of Repio, Inc.; Brian Crawford, chief administrative officer of Shreveport, Louisiana; Mayor Billy Hewes of Gulfport, Mississippi; and Paul Patrick, division director of family health and preparedness for Utah. Some, like Cox, have served before, but for most, it will be a new experience.

“I am pleased to welcome our newest members to the FirstNet Board,” FirstNet Board Chair Edward Horowitz said. “Each are experts in their fields – from local leaders to public safety officials and business and technology executives. They join our current members to comprise a full Board with the depth and diversity of experience needed to ensure the success of FirstNet…We’ve made great progress over the last year and half, but there is still much to do to deliver on public safety’s vision for the Network.”

The six appointees join a 15-person board drawn from a variety of sectors with interests in making a nationwide public safety broadband network work. That board was first established in 2012 and boasts among its permanent members the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Attorney General and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.