Release of Report on Allegations of Wrongdoing at FirstNet Put Off Until Sept. 23
A FirstNet board special review committee finished part one of a report examining allegations of wrongdoing raised by board member Paul Fitzgerald, but did not release the report Thursday during a brief meeting. FirstNet board Secretary Uzoma Onyeije said the full board scheduled a special meeting the morning of Sept. 23 to receive part one of the report.
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Fitzgerald, sheriff of Story County, Iowa, questioned at the board’s April meeting (CD April 24 p1) whether the board’s workings were open and transparent, including its hiring of consultants. Fitzgerald complained that first responders themselves had been left out of decision-making. Fitzgerald is the past president of the National Sheriffs’ Association.
The special committee held a five-minute meeting Thursday by telephone to receive the first of two reports looking at Fitzgerald’s complaints, focusing on openness and transparency; the first report was originally expected as early as Sept. 5 (CD Aug 14 p2). The special committee was assembled May 8.
"The FirstNet board charged the special review committee with examining whether the FirstNet policies and practices were compliant with federal hiring and procurement laws, statutory requirements for openness and transparency and federal conflicts of interest statutes,” said Wellington Webb, former mayor of Denver and chairman of the special committee. “The special review committee has completed and is reviewing a draft report on phase one.”
Webb said the committee “will hold off making any recommendations to the FirstNet board until the full review is completed.” The committee still hasn’t completed its “due diligence” on the report, he said. “It’s important we dot all the I’s and cross all the T’s.” Webb said the committee has spent “hundreds of hours” on the investigation.
There was no discussion following Webb’s statement. A second report, still to follow, will look at ethics and conflicts of interest in contracts, a second set of concerns raised by Fitzgerald.