Brian C. Wahler

Brian C. Wahler

Mayor of Piscataway Township

Brian C. Wahler, became the Mayor of Piscataway in 2000. He was first elected to the Township Council in 1992 and servedas Vice President and President of the Council.

Mayor Wahler is a member of the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM), and in 2002 was appointed to the USCM Transportation & Communication Committee. He was appointed to the USCM Homeland Security Task Force in 2003, and in 2006 was appointed USCM Membership Chair. In 2010 he was elected to the 28 member USCM Adviosry Board, and in 2011 served on the USCM Nominating Committee.

Mayor Wahler recently served as the President of the New Jersey League of Municipalities and as Chair of the Telecommunications Committee and the Utilities Task Force. He is a member of the Piscataway Planning Board and is on the Executive Committee of the American Parkinson Disease Association-NJ Chapter.

Mayor Wahler is a graduate of Rutgers University. He and his wife, Paulette, have three children, Olivia, B.C. and Michael.

12:30 pm - 1:45 pm
Windson Ballroom

Broadband Deployment in New Jersey and The Federal Incentives Funding Them

Clearly broadband access is not just necessary but required for so many things: information, education, employment, and entertainment. Now that federal money is being distributed to township to provide broadband service to everyone, we at JAG need to understand how this money is being used at the local level and what it means for our stations. There are a variety of programs that are supposed to feed money to New Jersey Municipalities—the BEAD Program, Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), Universal Service Fund, H.R.278 - BROADBAND Leadership Act, H.R. 339 - Broadband Resiliency and Flexible Investment Act. We will find out where things stand with them, how it could affect us directly, and how changes in our nation’s capital might affect NJ’s broadband efforts. Panelists: Robert Boyle, CEO, Planet Networks; Joe Rivera, Manager of Broadband Access, New Jersey Board of Public Utilities; Gerry Lederer, Partner, Best, Best & Krieger LLP; Mike Wassenaar, President & CEO, Alliance for Community Media; Moderator: Brian Wahler, Mayor of Piscataway