Monroe County District 4 Commissioner George Emami has been selected as one of 36 members to a newly-created nationwide task force organized by the National Association of County Commissioners (NACo) to focus on broadband internet.
Emami, who is also the chairman of the county’s Internet Expansion Committee, was notified of his appointment to the NACo Broadband Task Force in an e-mail on Tuesday, Oct. 20 from NACo Associate Legislative Director Arthur Scott and was officially announced in a virtual NACo Policy Summit meeting on Wednesday, Oct 21.
Emami is one of four representatives from Georgia named to the 36-member (representing 21 different states) Task Force. Emami will be joined by John Matelski, DeKalb County Chief Innovation and Information Officer, Scott Johnson, Columbia County Manager, and Jonathan Pitts, Jones County Commissioner.
The NACo National Broadband Task Force was launched this month by NACo President Gary Moore to bring together county government officials from across the country to focus on the challenges and opportunities facing underserved communities and populations, according to a NACo release.
The release states: “The NACo task force will examine the intersection of public, private and non-profit sector efforts to deploy and sustain advanced, affordable, and accessible broadband and other communication technology solutions with the aim of eliminating the digital divide. In addition to reviewing the current federal and state policy landscape, the group will research and showcase noteworthy practices and innovative solutions involving county governments as essential community partners, as conveners, collaborators, policy makers, regulators, investors and even operators.”
The current plan is for the Task Force to convene virtually four times between November 2020 and late-February 2021. The Task Force will conclude following the release of a final broadband report with key recommendations and findings to be shared with federal policy makers, county officials, partners, the general public and the media.
Emami has been a Monroe County Commissioner since 2017. Throughout his tenure as Commissioner, he has championed the expansion of broadband internet in Monroe County. Under Emami’s leadership, Monroe County allocated $700,000 in its 2020 Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) to encourage high-speed internet growth in Monroe County. Monroe County is currently accepting requests for proposal from private internet service providers of how best they can use that SPLOST allocation, and potentially additional public funds, for the purpose of providing high-speed internet to as many Monroe County households as can be reached.
Emami said of his appointment to the NACo task force: “Monroe County is among the worst in the state of Georgia, which makes us among the worst in the country when it comes to access to high-speed internet. My appointment and participation in this national task force will ensure that Monroe County’s voice is heard. The goal is to push and work until our citizens have access to this technology, which has become the most important utility besides electric.”
