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15 <br /> Page 2 of 2 Tony Blake <br /> Orange County Broadband Task Force <br /> Background, education and experience relevant to this board: <br /> +40 years in the telecommunication business, GTE, Bell System, AT&T, Nortel as well as <br /> contracting with government. Worked on both the equipment provider and the service/network <br /> provider sides. Involved in residential, enterprise and government standards and requirements. <br /> Reasons for wanting to serve on this board: <br /> Broadband access has been a problem in the rural areas for a while. COVID has brought it to <br /> the forefront. Obviously distance learning is on everyone s mind. There are many additional <br /> advantages to broadband from less fossil fuels used in commuting/shopping, to <br /> telemedicine/age in place, community involvement/distance learning, online commerce and <br /> entrepreneurial ideas we haven t thought of yet. We need the infrastructure to enable both <br /> access and competition and stay within the state guidelines on broadband. <br /> Contribution to the diversity of viewpoints on this board: <br /> Spent+40 years both deploying networks on a national scale and writing software to enable <br /> deployments. Participated in the evolution of networking both before during and after the <br /> internet. I have been involved in both the technology and the financial decisions as well as <br /> understanding the political and regulatory issues on a national and international scale. I have <br /> seen both success and failure and understand what it takes to deploy at scale. <br /> Conflict of Interest: <br /> Boards/Commissions appointments: <br /> Orange Unified Transportation Board <br /> Application Date: 12/9/2019 <br /> Background, education and experience relevant to this board: <br /> I have experience managing multi-million dollar Budgets. I work on the technical details and <br /> planning of complex communications networks that have similar characteristics to transportation <br /> networks. <br /> Reasons for wanting to serve on this board: <br /> To serve my community <br /> Conflict of Interest: <br /> Other Comments: <br /> Supported by Judith Wegner and Bonnie Haunser (OCV). Believe we need to tighten up <br /> county zoning in the area of special use . Believe zoning should move toward the goals <br /> and objectives of the OC 2030 Comprehensive Plan with an eye toward specifying areas <br /> with the types of use that encourage economic development that complement the <br /> Comprehensive Plan. Believe we need to protect and preserve the rural character of our <br /> county and especially our watersheds. STAFF COMMENTS: Originally applied for <br /> Orange County Planning Board 1/18/2009. ADDRESS VERIFICATION: 1411 White <br /> Cross Road, Chapel Hill is Bingham township, OC jurisdiction. <br /> This application was current on: 10/13/2020 Date Printed: 1/6/2021 <br />