⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings 16 findings
F1
Page 14
Recent fires and the pandemic have demonstrated that all County residents need access to fast, reliable, and affordable broadband.
F2
Page 14
The digital divide in the County (and the challenges and inequities it exacerbates), has not been significantly narrowed since the 2017 fires; in fact, it may have widened.
F3
Page 14
While most County leaders interviewed expressed support for fast and reliable broadband for all County residents, analogous to a utility, few articulated any substantive perspective on how to achieve this goal or what steps have been taken to do so. 14
F4
Page 15
In the past year, the broadband funding landscape has changed dramatically with Federal and State governments set to distribute billions of dollars through competitive grants to local governments and private providers.
F5
Page 15
The competition for broadband grants from other public entities and Internet Service Providers (ISPs), whose interests may not complement Napa County, is sure to be fierce.
F6
Page 15
Winning broadband grants will require the County to be prepared to compete. This will take extensive planning, adequate staffing, and coordination with County’s cities and towns and other stakeholders.
F7
Page 15
The County’s leadership has not devoted sufficient time and resources to broadband strategic planning. Leadership is insufficiently aware of the decisions regarding strategic and tactical options and choices that they will need to soon make and has not demonstrated adequate urgency considering how soon the funding process will begin. Waiting for that process to be fully defined before taking action will leave the County even further behind at the starting gate.
F8
Page 15
Despite recommendations urging it to do so as early as 2018, the County has not developed a broadband strategic plan that sets forth its vision and includes priorities, defines the choices that will need to be made, and provides for personnel and a governance structure.
F9
Page 15
The County has not taken steps, as recommended by its consultants, to establish a lead County agency or department to review local policies affecting broadband across various County jurisdictions to ensure they are consistent, sensible, and broadband-friendly.
F10
Page 15
The County has only allocated part-time staff resources (for whom broadband is only one of many important roles), to work on broadband issues, whereas other similarly situated counties appear better prepared, staffed, and are much further along in their planning processes.
F11
Page 15
Unlike neighboring counties, the County, its cities and towns, and other stakeholders have only recently started communicating with each other regarding their broadband needs. They do not seem prepared to coordinate strategies, development, the pursuit of grant funding, or project implementation.
F12
Page 15
The NCBP does not have a clearly articulated purpose or agenda that is understood by its participants and does not yet appear to be an effective stakeholder group.
F13
Page 15
While the County’s involvement with the RCRC, NBNCBC, and GSCA is positive, the speed with which the County is moving seems to be stuck in an out-of-date paradigm, when State and Federal funds were largely unavailable, and local agencies did not play a significant role in efforts to extend fast and reliable broadband availability.
F14
Page 15
There are no established ongoing forums for County residents, businesses, governmental units, schools, medical and emergency response, and others to identify and communicate with County leadership about their broadband needs, except about one-off access or service complaints.
F15
Page 15
The County has no priorities or queue of broadband projects that are “shovel-ready” for implementation, nor any resources available to identify such projects or supervise their implementation if they are funded. 15
F16
Page 16
Without proper preparedness to compete for broadband grant funding (including a coherent strategic plan, adequate staffing, resources, and County-wide stakeholder coordination) the County may not be as successful at acquiring funds as it should be, and efforts may remain ad hoc and passive.
Recommendations 5
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R1Page 16The Board of Supervisors and County Executive should, no later than October 1, 2022, prepare and execute a plan to better educate themselves about broadband issues and the choices that must be made.
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R2Page 16The County should develop and publish a Strategic Plan no later than December 1, 2022, that is not simply a list of possible projects proposed by contractors or private providers, but instead includes, at a minimum, (a) a County vision for broadband that addresses issues like reliability and affordability, (b) the specific broadband access and performance enhancement goals it expects to achieve, (c) the County’s priorities (so that, if needed, choices can be made), (d) how the County plans to accomplish those goals, and (e) the County staffing and governance structure to implement and oversee the plan.
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R3Page 16The County should, no later than October 1, 2022, designate a lead agency or department, staff it with knowledgeable full-time resources, including a broadband project manager, and provide an adequate budget to help the County define its vision and priorities, understand grant authorities’ policies and application procedures, coordinate with stakeholders, and prepare to compete for State and Federal funding in a well-organized, non-ad hoc fashion.
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R4Page 16The County should, no later than December 1, 2022, create an effective and active stakeholder task force with a written purpose, scope, and timeline understood and agreed to by its members. The task force should (a) actively assist the County in developing a vision and strategic plan that addresses the needs of residents, local agencies, and commercial entities, and (b) help coordinate local partnerships to compete for, acquire, and implement grant funding.
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R5Page 16The County should, no later than December 1, 2022, establish and actively foster ongoing forums for County residents, businesses, government, schools, and medical and emergency response entities to provide input and communicate with County leadership about their ongoing broadband access and telecommunication needs.
No Responses Found 2
Government entities assigned to respond to this report. No response documents have been linked in our database.
County of Napa
Agency
Napa County Board of Supervisors
Elected County Office