Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Broadband Outreach topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
EAC subcommittee approves updated broadband advocacy letters; asks staff to post final letters online
Summary
At a virtual meeting, the Equity Advisory Committee ad hoc subcommittee on Housing, Infrastructure and Broadband approved a motion to finalize and send updated middle‑mile and last‑mile broadband letters and requested staff post final letters on the EAC website and notify committee members when sent.
Chair Cheryl Vegas Walker presided over a virtual meeting of the Equity Advisory Committee ad hoc subcommittee on Housing, Infrastructure and Broadband where members moved to finalize and send updated advocacy letters on middle‑mile and last‑mile broadband initiatives and to post the final letters on the committee’s website.
Connie Stewart, a committee member, told the group that she had "met with staff earlier... and they did agree to make the updates requested by the EAC and get those letters out." She recommended waiting until early January to send the letters because “we still have one more FCC commissioner that's going to change,” and said she planned to prepare one additional letter related to the BEED program but that federal program changes could affect timing. Stewart said she was prepared to bring an item back for committee consideration in March depending on federal developments.
Chair Cheryl Vegas Walker asked staff to circulate the final letters or links to them once posted and urged follow‑up with recipient offices. "If we launch a letter out there, 30 days later we need to be on the phone with those offices and making sure that the letter was received," Walker said, stressing direct follow‑up rather than sending materials into a "black hole." Committee members also discussed using official letterhead and basic branding so the letters appear professional.
Connie Stewart moved to approve: preparation of an additional letter; updating of existing letters to include a potential future addressee; a request that final letters be posted on the EAC website; and that committee members be notified when letters are sent. Chair Walker seconded the motion. Justin conducted a roll call and the chair announced the motion was approved by roll call. The transcript does not include a complete, named tally for every committee member.
The meeting also recorded the approval of the October and November meeting minutes by roll call earlier in the agenda. Staff was asked to send committee members copies or links to finalized letters and to confirm delivery with recipient offices.
Next steps: staff will complete the agreed updates to the broadband letters, post final versions or links on the EAC web page, and notify committee members when the letters are sent. Stewart indicated she would prepare an additional BEED‑related letter and may return the item to the subcommittee in March depending on federal actions.
