OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Leesburg Technology and Communications Commission Meeting - July 7, 2026

Town Council & Commissions — Tuesday, July 7, 2026
BodyLeesburg, Virginia
SessionTown Council & Commissions
DateTuesday, July 7, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 56:10

Transcript — Verbatim
0:03

I can't count.

1:03

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

1:08

And to the Republic for which it stands one nation.

1:12

Under God.

1:18

Okay.

1:22

In front of you.

1:24

Booming sound here.

1:27

In front of you, you will find the minutes from the previous meeting.

1:36

Anyone feels like offering a motion on said minutes.

1:43

The chair would be happy to entertain.

1:46

I um make the motion to approve the minutes of June 2, 2026.

1:54

Is there a second?

1:55

Thank you.

1:56

Just one step behind today.

1:58

Oh no, that's my I'm apologizing to you, not there.

2:03

Uh okay, all those in favor signify by saying I.

2:07

Aye.

2:07

That's opposed by nay.

2:14

Okay.

2:17

Down to business.

2:20

Public outreach.

2:25

I just want to start by saying again.

2:28

Very well done.

2:30

Fantastic.

2:31

Yeah.

2:32

Thank you so much.

2:33

Bravo.

2:34

Thank you.

2:35

Yeah.

2:35

It was um it was a lot of fun.

2:38

I mean, it's stuff the kids need to know.

2:40

And I think some of them are more advanced than others, but um some of them I think took something away from it, I hope.

2:49

Um so it was well received by the parents in the room, uh, very well received by the parents in the room.

2:57

Um we have requests for uh more advanced training for kids.

3:04

We have requests for something very similar to what we did on cyber, but with AI.

3:09

Um we have requests for keeping data safe, um, which I I think we could do 30 minutes on.

3:19

I yeah, I think we could swing 30 minutes on it.

3:22

Um, but net the parents seemed to appreciate that the town was offering this as a service.

3:29

So I do think uh we keep the kids rolling here and we try and target something in August.

3:37

I've reached out to the library, which was a fantastic venue.

3:43

And they were very grateful to have us do something there.

3:47

Um and it looks like the m the meeting room is open both August eighteenth and August twenty fifth, if we want to target um the next one, and then I'm open for suggestions on um topic you want to approach first.

4:06

I think it was really a mixed bag, and then we had some good suggestions on um topics for adults too.

4:14

So when you say you had uh for for more advanced cyber for AI for keeping data safe.

4:23

That was feedback from the parents.

4:25

Feedback from the parents asking for that for the kids.

4:28

For the kids, yes, asking specifically around AI safety and keeping uh data safe.

4:35

The the one dad wanted advanced cyber training.

4:38

I I would be okay with it.

4:42

I'm I think the m the I'll say the market dwindles a little bit the more advanced you get with the kids.

4:51

I think we had a good level of elementary education for them.

4:56

Um that being said, I'm not opposed to it.

5:00

specifically around AI safety and keeping uh data safe the the one dad wanted advanced cyber training I I would be okay with it I'm I think the m the I'll say the market dwindles a little bit the more advanced you get with the kids I think we had a good level of elementary education for them um that being said I'm not opposed to it so like if someone wants to maybe take on the advanced cyber piece for kids go for it I mean he's talking like coding hacking his kid was really smart so I'm not surprised um oh I think that there probably wasn't a kid in there that was older than 10 yeah um so it was probably six to ten year olds um and um yeah so so my initial gut is we maybe do AI next because that was requested by two parents instead of one um something along the lines of I I have a draft but I can redraft something um but something along the lines of staying safe with AI but also um maybe kind of introducing it to to cool things you can do with AI too so that we balance the fear with the awesome um but open feedback so yeah I so I've been thinking about this I have like there's a couple different levers here that potentially we need to think about about pulling so one is you were fantastic I'd very shut you and anywhere anytime any place to do that class.

6:26

Thank you clearly and and you have great rapport thank for the kids.

6:30

That's good to know I relate to 10 year olds no but it it it I taught fifth grade yeah I I feel qualified to appine on this thank you.

6:44

But we need to think about like where we really want this to go.

6:48

Yeah I think that I I really like this I think it could be a really nice kind of value add you know for the town and you know always in the back of my head I have the strategy of of just simply how do we improve Leesburg how do we make Lisbur you know more attractive to people that might be considering moving here investing here starting a business here.

7:16

Great creating families here all of that and so I and I think this can be a contribution you know that we and the town can make go ahead you can finish um so but we need to think about scaling and and I know you know that oh god yeah yeah and and so the question is do we we've we've well actually let me ask one question who owns the IP for that class me you personally I own that okay all right I just wanted to make sure that yeah as long as you're okay with it with me then okay um so as long as you're okay with that I think we need to in the very near future maybe not the next class but I would say then the next class or the one after that we have to have somebody else teach that I think and see if we can you know expand that um would just be my instincts.

8:20

Yeah and then we have to kind of decide do we want to build a catalog in a way like with okay so we've got sort of an initial class we could do an AI class we could you know we can develop these things and then we can deliver them or do we want to try to scale that intro class that works really well for for broad audiences or do we have you know the capability for doing both and it's kind of a a minimum viable product choice we've got multiple minimum viable products or at least we can have multiple minimum viable products pretty easily so the question is what do you want that product to be you know so we've got a good solid class that we could deliver on a monthly schedule on a you know maybe you know twice a month schedule um you know and so if we think we can generate enough traffic for that and I think we can because we hadn't even really begun to promote that yet I think we could then you know that might be the baseline that we want to go with and then you know in this you know in our Slack we we we pull up you know AI classes and other classes um but I'm very interested to hear you especially but the other commissioners you know also where you guys feel like the right way to head is so it was interesting because the other thing I didn't bring up was that the one guy with the very very smart child um brought up the idea and I thought this was kind of cool maybe November December um not the same as a data thon not the same as a hackathon but solving a town problem with technology um so where I'm going with that is maybe it is a series and then at the end of the year we do

10:00

So it was interesting because the other thing I didn't bring up was that the one guy with the very, very smart child.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Technology and Innovation█████████████████████████████████████████████45%
Community Engagement███████████████████████████27%
Procedural█████████9%
Public Engagement███████7%
Water And Wastewater Management████4%
Data Center Operations████4%
Personnel Matters██2%
Youth Programs██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Leesburg Technology and Communications Commission Meeting - July 7, 2026

The Technology and Communications Commission of Leesburg, Virginia, met on July 7, 2026, to discuss public outreach initiatives for youth cybersecurity education, updates on the AI working group, and the network administrator hiring process. The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance and approval of the previous meeting's minutes.

Consent Calendar

  • Approval of Minutes: A motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes from the June 2, 2026, meeting. The motion passed unanimously by voice vote (all ayes, no nays).

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No public comments were received during the meeting.

Discussion Items

  • Youth Cybersecurity Class Recap: Commissioner Amanda reported on a well-received cybersecurity class for children aged 6–10 held at the Thomas Balch Library. Feedback from parents included requests for more advanced cybersecurity training, AI safety, and keeping data safe. Commissioners discussed scaling the program, scheduling future classes, and potentially developing a culminating event (e.g., a capture-the-flag hackathon or solving a town problem) in November.
  • August Class Scheduling: The group debated dates for repeating the same class. August 18 and 25 were available at the library but conflicted with back-to-school. Preference was given to the first two weeks of August, specifically the week of August 3–7, with a final date to be confirmed by Commissioner Amanda after checking library availability.
  • Promotion and Testimonials: Commissioners agreed to work with the public information office to creatively promote the class and collect testimonials from parents at the next session to build buzz.
  • Network Administrator Recruitment: John and another commissioner reported that the first round of interviews for a network administrator was unsuccessful. A virtual interview with a second candidate was scheduled for the following Friday. The town has a fallback plan with Cisco, their existing engineering firm, to ensure coverage during the transition.
  • AI Working Group Update: The working group has sent communications to all departments to begin workshop processes focused on real use cases. The town has purchased 15 full Copilot licenses and is exploring Claude, which has outperformed ChatGPT and Copilot in some tests. Plans include identifying power users, holding series of workshops, and considering internal hosting for sensitive data. Commissioners discussed the role of AI as a tool to reduce administrative burden rather than replace employees.
  • Commissioner Comments: Members thanked Commissioner Amanda for her presentation, praised the Thomas Balch Library venue, and expressed interest in expanding the program to include topics like AI for adults and more advanced cybersecurity exercises.

Key Outcomes

  • Motion to approve the June 2, 2026, minutes passed unanimously.
  • Decision to repeat the children's cybersecurity class in early August 2026 (specific date to be confirmed, likely between August 3 and 11).
  • Directive to promote the August class more aggressively and collect parent testimonials.
  • Network administrator search continues with a second interview scheduled.
  • AI working group will proceed with department workshops and explore internal models for sensitive data.
  • The meeting adjourned at 7:56 PM.

Meeting Transcript

I can't count. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to the Republic for which it stands one nation. Under God. Okay. In front of you. Booming sound here. In front of you, you will find the minutes from the previous meeting. Anyone feels like offering a motion on said minutes. The chair would be happy to entertain. I um make the motion to approve the minutes of June 2, 2026. Is there a second? Thank you. Just one step behind today. Oh no, that's my I'm apologizing to you, not there. Uh okay, all those in favor signify by saying I. Aye. That's opposed by nay. Okay. Down to business. Public outreach. I just want to start by saying again. Very well done. Fantastic. Yeah. Thank you so much. Bravo. Thank you. Yeah. It was um it was a lot of fun. I mean, it's stuff the kids need to know. And I think some of them are more advanced than others, but um some of them I think took something away from it, I hope. Um so it was well received by the parents in the room, uh, very well received by the parents in the room. Um we have requests for uh more advanced training for kids. We have requests for something very similar to what we did on cyber, but with AI. Um we have requests for keeping data safe, um, which I I think we could do 30 minutes on. I yeah, I think we could swing 30 minutes on it. Um, but net the parents seemed to appreciate that the town was offering this as a service. So I do think uh we keep the kids rolling here and we try and target something in August. I've reached out to the library, which was a fantastic venue. And they were very grateful to have us do something there. Um and it looks like the m the meeting room is open both August eighteenth and August twenty fifth, if we want to target um the next one, and then I'm open for suggestions on um topic you want to approach first. I think it was really a mixed bag, and then we had some good suggestions on um topics for adults too. So when you say you had uh for for more advanced cyber for AI for keeping data safe. That was feedback from the parents. Feedback from the parents asking for that for the kids. For the kids, yes, asking specifically around AI safety and keeping uh data safe. The the one dad wanted advanced cyber training. I I would be okay with it. I'm I think the m the I'll say the market dwindles a little bit the more advanced you get with the kids.

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