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L 'J <br />parity, and economic development. It will not be about "control," since there is no local <br />franchise. But it should be monitored and commented upon and explored with respect to <br />how we can encourage the outcomes we desire as a community. <br />Mr. Boyarsky said that a citizens committee can promote a concise, well thought out <br />strategy for delivering a particulaz set of goals with respect to residents' access to <br />information technology, given the myriad of options that are available. And a committee <br />can play a role in focusing resources in the direction of community needs, whether those <br />resources are- County funds or County incentives or private investments. Mr. Patrick <br />added that an advisory group could help the County evaluate approaches such as tax <br />incentives for encouraging the private sector to install fiber optics in areas most desired <br />by the County. Mr. Boyazsky said it might be as simple as subsidizing high speed <br />connection fees for new Habitat homes. These sorts of considerations are the next steps <br />in the discussions that this Committee has been having over the past few yeazs. <br />Mr. Johnston added that in Orange County we have a wealth of residents paying a lot of <br />attention to policy and regulatory issues on the state and federal levels. That thinking <br />should betied-in to how those issues impact Orange County and how Orange County <br />should act in order to achieve the outcomes it wants with respect to information <br />technology. Citizen involvement is needed to relate that knowledge to the <br />Commissioners. For example, there are two bills in the General Assembly right now and <br />things happening within the FCC that could impact us on the local level quite drastically. <br />Ms. Harvey noted that public policy analysis and advocacy on the state and federal levels <br />for matters affecting local governments akeady is a function of TJCOG, the North <br />Cazolina .Association of County Commissioners, and the NC League of Municipalities. <br />Those groups send out alerts to make local governments awaze of what is happening. In <br />addition, the Manager's Office has a person who tracks all that's happening on the <br />federal and state levels. Each yeaz the Board adopts a legislative package and holds a <br />breakfast with our delegation to communicate its position on matters that might come <br />before the General Assembly. In addition to this, Mr. Johnston and Ms. Rice are <br />involved in professional associations that organize their members to communicate with <br />local, state and federal officials. You don't necessarily have to have a citizen's advisory <br />committee in order for the Board of County Commissioners to adopt a position on a state <br />or. federal policy issue. However, I can also see where a citizen's advisory committee can <br />sometimes add a little more "umph." Ms. Rice added that sometimes issues emerge from <br />discussions among citizens directly. "Internet neutrality" -the concern about keeping the <br />Internet free of costs to users -grew from citizens directly into a critical mass that <br />afterwazd was picked up by local governments and our professional associations. Mr. <br />Boyazsky added that a citizen's advisory group will be valuable for keeping alive <br />concerns such as "how to get better services up to Schley or out to White Cross in a <br />timely manner." <br />9 <br />