Staff Open Meeting - August 12, 2026 - 10:00 a.m. (OR UPON ADJOURNMENT OF THE AUGUST 12, 2026 REGULAR OPEN MEETING, WHICHEVER IS LATER) - Aug 12, 2026

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Arizona Corporation Commission 28 min 7 agenda items transcribed 4 days ago official recording ↗

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What formal actions opened the staff meeting and who moved the first agenda item?

Chair Myers 0:00

All right, now we have all the commissioners here, so we'll go ahead and call the the staff meeting to order. Um I guess to start, Vice Chair Walden, will you please move item one?

Vice Chair Walden 0:13

I move item one for discussion.

Chair Myers 0:16

All right, thank you. Um

Doug Clark 0:19

Mr. Clark? You're up. Uh Chairman Myers, Vice Chairman Walden, Commissioners, I have the privilege of introducing James Cook, Dr. James Cook, who has accepted the position of Director of Administrative Services. And if everything works as I hope it does, he should be able to speak to us uh via WebEx.

Chair Myers 0:45

Great, thank you, Mr. Cook, and I apologize for uh the delay in getting you in here.

James Cook 0:51

That's fine. Thank you, Executive Clark, for the introduction. Good afternoon. Thank you, Chair Myers. Thompson, Commissioner Peterson and Commissioner Lopez. Chandra and I are glad to be returning back to the Valley of the Sun. I'm a born and raised Arizona, and I grew up in Phoenix and went to high school in Glendale. In fact, my mom, my dad, all my aunts and uncles went to high school here in Phoenix. My background includes over two decades of military service as enlisted intelligence and as an officer and an aviator. And I had the privilege of managing complex operations, logistics, and large scale administrative teams, including serving as an executive officer for an aviation battalion. Academically, I hold a doctorate in education with my research focusing on leveraging social capital to escape generational poverty.

James Cook 1:39

After spending a lot of time out east, my wife and I are thrilled to be calling Arizona home once again. Especially because she's been working in Phoenix since May and I get to be bit with her full time. I could not be more excited about this opportunity to serve the people of Arizona as the director of administrative services, supporting the Commission's vital mission. And ensuring operational excellence across all our divisions. Thank you.

Who is the new Director of Administrative Services and what background does he bring to the commission?

Chair Myers 2:02

Great, thank you. Uh Commissioner Marcus Peterson. Comments?

Commissioner Marquez Peterson 2:05

No, just wanna welcome you back to Arizona. Look forward to meeting you once you're all settled.

James Cook 2:11

Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Good stuff.

Chairman Thompson 2:13

Nice to meet you, Mr. Cook, and uh hopefully we'll uh see you very, very soon and um be a pleasure to work with you. Question? Thank you.

Vice Chair Walden 2:23

Yes, welcome. I'm excited uh to h to have that that focus on operational excellence in our divisions. And uh if you have a link to your thesis, I'd love to read it. So feel free to send that my way.

Chair Myers 2:36

She's our local school board uh member as well.

Vice Chair Walden 2:39

That's true. Yes, I am.

Commissioner Lopez 2:41

Uh Commissioner Lopez. Yeah, thank you, Chair. Uh yeah, welcome aboard Mr. Cook and uh look forward to working with you. Uh very soon.

Chair Myers 2:49

Thank you. All right. Again, Ditto, to for all what all my other commissioner uh said, th welcome aboard. Um, we've got a a lot for you to get uh up to speed on, so we look forward to seeing you here soon and and uh there's a a a big lift coming, I think, b even before the beginning of the year. So good luck to you. And welcome.

James Cook 3:09

Thank you, sir.

Chair Myers 3:12

All right. Um I think that's it for the first item.

Vice Chair Walden 3:15

I move item number two for discussion.

Chair Myers 3:18

Okay, and I

Matt Connolly 3:19

guess staff does this one. Yep. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman. Vice Chair and Commissioners. Matt Connolly. On behalf of utilities division staff. On july twenty sixth of this year, the FCC's Wireline Competition Bureau published a public notice seeking comment from interested parties on a direct access numbering authorization application. Filed by a company known as Action Vox Inc. An interconnected voice over Internet Protocol provider. If approved, direct access would give ActionVox the ability to obtain numbering resources directly from the numbering administrator. The Bureau also notified Action Vox that the application was being accepted on a non streamlined basis. And will not be granted automatically as it determined that the application was deemed to require additional analysis and public comment.

Matt Connolly 4:16

Due to evidence the Bureau found that linked the company to past illegal robocalling campaigns. Since Action Fox states in its application that one of the first states it intends to request numbering resources from, should they receive approval, is Arizona.