Commissioner Jackson joins broadband effort

Task force aims to expand internet access

Kirk Boxleitner | Mar 16, 20230

Port of Allyn Commissioner Ted Jackson was appointed to the Rural Broadband Task Force on March 6.

Jackson was invited by Dan Teuteberg to take part in the task force’s work in Mason County on behalf of the United Way and the Port of Allyn. Teuteberg is an associate professor and 4-H youth development regional specialist, and is the director of Washington State University Extension programs in Mason and Grays Harbor counties.

Teuteberg told Jackson that WSU Extension is joining with the Washington State Broadband Office to support the development of local broadband and “digital equity action” plans.

According to Teuteberg, those plans should promote the expansion of affordable and reliable broadband, and ensure everyone has the skills, devices and ability to use the internet. Teuteberg told Jackson he’d been identified as “a key stakeholder in Mason County.” Teuteberg said the planning should help establish a sustainable framework for the community as “unprecedented levels of funding” are made available. The task force had a session March 6 to introduce participants to the basics of broadband and “digital equity planning.” March 13 marked the inaugural Mason County Broadband Action Team meeting at the Mason County Public Utility District 3 building in Shelton to start planning.

Jackson said he would take part in the task force as part of his existing duties with the United Way and the Port of Allyn so the port would not be charged.

“What they’re trying to do is expand our broadband and internet services to our most outlying areas of Mason County,” said Jackson, who had also recommended to the task force that they invite representatives of the Dewatto and Hoodsport ports to the task force’s March 6 meeting, prior to the port commissioners’ meeting later that same day.

Jackson said he’d share with fellow Allyn commissioners and the port’s executive director information he gathered from task force meetings.

Port of Allyn Commissioners John Sheridan and Judy Scott expressed their appreciation to Jackson for stepping into this role before voting unanimously to approve his appointment.Jackson invited Allyn commissioners to attend the March 13 event in his stead because he was out of town at that time. Jackson tested the limits of his own internet capacity when trying to Zoom into the March 13 meeting, reinforcing the fact that internet access is a problem for many people in the community.

In other port news, Port of Allyn Executive Director Lary Coppola reported a Facebook scam in which someone was advertising a shipping container for sale on Facebook, claiming it was at the Port of Allyn.

“We were alerted to this when we got a call from a prospective buyer, who wanted to know why we had a policy that wouldn’t allow people to come on our property and inspect the container until after it had been paid for,” Coppola said. “I assured the person there was no shipping container here, and that it was most likely a scam.”

Coppola alerted Facebook and it immediately removed the ad.

“I also posted that it was a scam on our Facebook page,” Coppola said.