By Ron Thaniel
January 12, 2004

On December 18, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Michael Powell named U.S. Conference of Mayors Community Development and Housing Chair Charlotte Mayor Patrick McCrory and Little Rock Mayor Jim Dailey to the newly formed FCC Intergovernmental Advisory Committee (IAC). Little Rock Mayor Jim Dailey has been named chair of the IAC.

The mayors will join with 13 other members named to the IAC, including the City of Boston Corporation Counsel Merita A. Hopkins, for a two-year term focusing on a number of topics including:

• Homeland security and public safety issues;
• Cable and local franchising issues, including public rights'of-way matters;
• Barriers to competitive entry; and
• Matters unique to the provision of telecommunications services in rural areas, such as broadband deployment, universal service programs, and deployment of telecommunications services on Native American reservations.

The FCC press release noted that the IAC reflects a balance between state, local and tribal representation, and urban and rural representation, as well as homeland security and rural matters.

The IAC predecessor, the Local and State Government Advisory Committee (LSGAC), was created by the Commission in 1997.