OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Technology and Communications Commission Meeting - March 3, 2026

Town Council & Commissions — Tuesday, March 3, 2026
BodyLeesburg, Virginia
SessionTown Council & Commissions
DateTuesday, March 3, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 44:41

Transcript — Verbatim
0:04

I hereby call this meeting of the Technology and Communications Commission to order on this March 3rd 2026.

0:18

Two, three, four, five, six commissioners.

0:22

I believe we have quorum.

0:26

Could you join me?

0:34

Congratulations to the flag of the United States of America.

0:38

And to the Republic for which one nation with liberty and justice for all.

0:55

Wow.

0:56

Kelly must have said this true at last.

1:04

Sorry.

1:08

Okay.

1:12

As every month we have the previous meeting.

1:20

And the chair is happy to entertain motions on science.

1:27

The minutes from February 3rd, 202 be approved.

1:33

Is there a second?

1:37

All right.

1:38

All those in favor, please signify by saying aye.

1:41

Aye.

1:42

Those opposed by nay.

1:44

And the opinion of the chair.

1:46

The ayes have it.

1:47

Motions carried.

1:48

The meeting Minnesota are approved.

1:51

All right.

1:52

Flying through.

1:54

Old business.

1:56

Public outreach.

1:58

Yay, Amanda's here tonight.

2:00

Do you want to do you want to take a first crack?

2:04

Yeah, sure.

2:05

So we had I had a couple of direct emails that I meant to forward and have not yet, but I will.

2:11

And then I had uh we had a couple emails to the alias, um, overwhelmingly positive feedback with the request for more, um, which is what we wanted.

2:22

We dangle the carrot and they bit the carrot.

2:25

So I think common themes for the for the next class.

2:31

We we probably want to do it sometime in the spring, um, which we're almost there.

2:36

What is it?

2:36

Saturday's daylight savings.

2:38

But um we want to try and do it sometime in the spring when it's a little warmer, a little bit less risk.

2:44

I think we'll get a little bit more more folks out of it.

2:46

There were um a number of folks who I knew that were gonna come, but were deterred by the cold.

2:52

Um common themes.

2:54

Uh there was a a strong request for children's education.

2:59

Um, so cyber security for kids, fishing for kids, um, themes like that.

3:07

Yeah.

3:08

Just my interject quick question like what age.

3:12

Yeah, like there's a difference between a class for like a seven or eight-year-old as opposed to like a high school.

3:20

Yeah, so I thought a lot about that.

3:22

Um, and my gut says we do elementary school first.

3:29

Here's why.

3:30

Um, technology is new.

3:33

They are experimenting.

3:36

They have the most chance of being trained what not to do wrong young or what to do correct, younger.

3:45

Um I also toyed with okay.

3:48

Do we hit that middle school range?

3:50

Um, that's up for discussion.

3:52

Um I think elementary school has better snacks, though.

3:56

The elementary schools have better snacks, and they're a little bit sweeter, and they won't eat me alive.

4:01

Um that being said, I think it's up for discussion, but that was one of the key components.

4:07

Uh, social media safety, um things like that were were a big request.

4:14

Um, so I think you know, if we're gonna target anything next, I think we maybe look at doing something around fishing and social media um for we try and do that joint class, right?

4:27

Maybe we try to teach the parents this is what's happening on social media, this is how your kids are getting fished on social media, trying to stay away from some of the dicey topics.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Technology and Innovation█████████████████████████████████████████████49%
Procedural████████████████17%
Economic Development██████████████15%
Public Engagement█████████10%
Community Engagement█████5%
Public Safety████4%
Summary of Proceedings

Technology and Communications Commission Meeting - March 3, 2026

The Technology and Communications Commission met on March 3, 2026, at 12:15 PM (transcript indicates evening meeting, possibly 7:00 PM start) and adjourned at 7:45 PM. The meeting covered public outreach updates, budget constraints, upcoming events, and cybersecurity preparations. Six commissioners were present, establishing quorum.

Consent Calendar

  • Minutes Approval: The minutes from February 3, 2026, were approved by unanimous voice vote (all ayes, no nays).

Discussion Items

  • Public Outreach Update: Commissioner Amanda reported on feedback from the previous cybersecurity class. Overwhelmingly positive responses requested more sessions, particularly for children. Common themes included children's cybersecurity education (elementary school recommended), social media safety, and phishing/fraud awareness. Commissioners discussed timing (targeting May), venue (Ida Lee library favored over individual schools), and engagement with PTAs. A joint parent-child class on phishing and social media was proposed. Action items: Amanda to develop curriculum for kids and AI topics; another commissioner to check with the Economic Development Commission (EDC) on their AI training content.
  • IT Budget Update: The IT director reported that the town manager's budget is lean across all departments. No new enhancements were approved, including the requested full-time equivalent (FTE) position. Funding for penetration testing remains uncertain, with CISA assessments possibly not continuing every two years. Staff will focus on new tools (help desk system, endpoint management) and align with ITIL. A tabletop exercise with CISA and Loudoun Water on utilities is scheduled for Thursday.
  • Board and Commission Network Event: Scheduled for April 30, 2026, at 6:30 PM at Ida Lee, with 3-minute presentations per commission. Commissioners were encouraged to attend and RSVP for food.
  • Director's Comments: Major network upgrades are underway tonight (10 PM–6 AM) at town hall and police department, including switch replacement and firewall migration (moving from SEGRA-hosted to Cisco). Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East prompted a staff alert for increased cyber vigilance. The IT department plans quarterly drills for utilities after this week's tabletop. A town-wide technology training survey and AI working group are in progress.

Key Outcomes

  • Approved: Minutes from February 3, 2026 (unanimous).
  • Action Items:
    • Amanda to develop cybersecurity curriculum for children and AI topics for adults.
    • Commissioner to contact EDC about their AI training.
    • Amanda to work on phishing/fraud class content.
    • Staff to proceed with network upgrades and cybersecurity drills.
  • Adjourned: Meeting adjourned at 7:45 PM by unanimous voice vote.

Meeting Transcript

I hereby call this meeting of the Technology and Communications Commission to order on this March 3rd 2026. Two, three, four, five, six commissioners. I believe we have quorum. Could you join me? Congratulations to the flag of the United States of America. And to the Republic for which one nation with liberty and justice for all. Wow. Kelly must have said this true at last. Sorry. Okay. As every month we have the previous meeting. And the chair is happy to entertain motions on science. The minutes from February 3rd, 202 be approved. Is there a second? All right. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Those opposed by nay. And the opinion of the chair. The ayes have it. Motions carried. The meeting Minnesota are approved. All right. Flying through. Old business. Public outreach. Yay, Amanda's here tonight. Do you want to do you want to take a first crack? Yeah, sure. So we had I had a couple of direct emails that I meant to forward and have not yet, but I will. And then I had uh we had a couple emails to the alias, um, overwhelmingly positive feedback with the request for more, um, which is what we wanted. We dangle the carrot and they bit the carrot. So I think common themes for the for the next class. We we probably want to do it sometime in the spring, um, which we're almost there. What is it? Saturday's daylight savings. But um we want to try and do it sometime in the spring when it's a little warmer, a little bit less risk. I think we'll get a little bit more more folks out of it. There were um a number of folks who I knew that were gonna come, but were deterred by the cold. Um common themes. Uh there was a a strong request for children's education. Um, so cyber security for kids, fishing for kids, um, themes like that. Yeah. Just my interject quick question like what age. Yeah, like there's a difference between a class for like a seven or eight-year-old as opposed to like a high school. Yeah, so I thought a lot about that. Um, and my gut says we do elementary school first. Here's why. Um, technology is new. They are experimenting.

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