Committee recommends confirmations of Nicole Kane and Amy Calderwood; approves Wave cable franchise renewal

The King County Government Accountability and Oversight Committee on Feb. 11 unanimously recommended confirmation of two executive appointments and approved an ordinance renewing a cable television franchise with Wave Division LLC.

The committee voted 4-0 in favor of recommending confirmation of Nicole Kane to the Museum of Flight Authority board for a term expiring Dec. 31, 2027. Kane, who worked for 11 years at King County International Airport and served as chief flight instructor for Galvin Flying Service until that company27s closure in November 2024, told the committee she wanted to serve to "share my passion with aviation and also with museums and history." Linda King, listed in the packet as the staff liaison to the authority, told the committee Kane is well integrated with the museum's education programs.

The committee also voted 4-0 to recommend confirmation of Amy Calderwood to the King County Board of Ethics for the remainder of a term expiring July 31, 2026. Jean Paul of council staff summarized Calderwood27s background as a long-serving leader of the King County Office of the Ombuds (director from 2002 until retirement in 2023) and noted her experience handling ethics investigations. Calderwood said she intended to bring that experience to the board and noted interest in reviewing advisory opinions to reflect new technologies and remote work.

On a separate item the committee approved, with technical amendments, an ordinance authorizing renewal of cable franchise 05/2002 with Wave Division LLC (doing business as WAVE Broadband). Brandy Parabella of Council Central staff briefed the committee on the agreement, which runs through July 31, 2033. Key terms include a franchise fee equal to 5% of gross revenues (permitted by federal law and county code), an expected annual franchise revenue to the general fund of about $5,500, maintenance of an institutional fiber network for county uses, 10 PEG (public, educational, government) channels with at least one in high definition, a one-time $25,000 equity and social-justice grant to improve multilingual services for county civic television, and PEG fees of $0.76 per subscriber per month. The ordinance also includes a one-time $1,750 build-out credit and requires an annual September marketing campaign to reach current and potential customers; campaign results must be reported to the county by April 30 each year.

Council staff said the franchise area serves roughly 600 Wave subscribers in unincorporated parts of the county, including areas near Carnation and Fall City. Wave representatives said the company hopes to expand service and noted the value of broadband services during emergencies; Councilmember Perry raised emergency-communications concerns for rural areas and requested follow-up conversations with Wave and county emergency managers.

All three items were approved without recorded opposition and will be forwarded to the full council for placement on the consent agenda at the March 25, 2025 council meeting.