Five Lorain County FDs plan to reapply for grant

[medic5399]

Ask any chief or firefighter in NR or even from agencies dispatched by LC 911. It's not even close. The level of service from Westcom is FAR superior to LC.

 

[wd8chl]

Ask any chief or firefighter in NR or even from agencies dispatched by LC 911. It's not even close. The level of service from Westcom is FAR superior to LC.

Those are the same people that think they will get better coverage from an 800 Mhz system over the system they have now which is right in their back yard behind the station.

 

[FIRE321FIGHTER1985]

In my opinion they would be better off with a hi-band system. Hi-band is a lot more dependable than 700 or 800. It would work a lot better in buildings if the antennas were carefully placed within the the county.

 

[wd8chl]

In my opinion they would be better off with a hi-band system. Hi-band is a lot more dependable than 700 or 800. It would work a lot better in buildings if the antennas were carefully placed within the the county.

They've been on VHF for decades, and it works quite well. Someone managed to talk a couple of the chiefs that this is better. It won't be, of course. But so many chiefs don't use their radios very much, so they don't really know.
The current system has a main site on a water tank across the street from the Avon station. A 2nd site is in Sheffield Lake at their station, simulcast. There are also a couple of extra receivers around, and it's all voted. The only way 700 will cover as well is with at least 4 or 5 sites, and maybe an extra receiver or two.

 

[N8WCP]

In my opinion they would be better off with a hi-band system. Hi-band is a lot more dependable than 700 or 800. It would work a lot better in buildings if the antennas were carefully placed within the the county.

System design, not band, is the key to good coverage.

 

[rcid1971]

Lorain County Commissioners: Moore accuses Hung, her lover of steering radio system contract
[paywall]

ELYRIA — Lorain County Commissioner David Moore on Wednesday accused fellow Republican Commissioner Michelle Hung of using her elected position to try and steer a multimillion-dollar contract for emergency response radio systems to a contractor favored by her and the county's former 911 director.



He accused her directly of breaking the law by doing so, while Hung declined to address Moore's allegations.



"This is about county tax dollars being misspent. This is about a breach of public trust. This is about a commissioner acting as an advocate for a vendor to secure contracts," Moore said during his commissioner's report at Wednesday's board meeting.



The main issue is over the ongoing efforts of five Lorain County cities and the county to decide on the appropriate radio system for county and city first responders.



Hung and Harry Williamson were, earlier this year, revealed to have been in an inappropriate relationship with each other after they were caught kissing on surveillance video taken inside a county building in February.



Moore alleged that Hung and Williamson "acted as lobbyists for Cleveland Communications Inc.," a Parma-based vendor for the L3Harris radio system. Moore alleged that along with CCI representatives, Hung and Williamson attended various city council meetings this year "in support of this out-of-town company," and that Hung personally called city council members in unnamed communities "lobbying for votes to swing contract dollars to CCI."



Lorain County has been looking at updating its radio systems to ensure emergency responders can communicate with each other, and CCI has been mentioned as a possible vendor. Various police and fire departments have favorites among the systems.



CCI made its case to the city of North Ridgeville to be part of a five-city radio plan with Sheffield, Sheffield Lake, Avon and Avon Lake — four Lorain County municipalities that already have signed contracts with CCI for L3Harris radio systems.



North Ridgeville City Council defeated the resolution, which would have allowed the North Ridgeville Fire Department to upgrade to CCI's L3Harris system.



Meanwhile, more than 2,800 public agencies use the Multi-Agency Radio Communication System, or MARCS, according to the the Ohio Department of Administrative Services. An ODAS employee, Dick Miller, also gave a presentation on the MARCS system to North Ridgeville City Council last summer.



Moore alleged that lobbying by Hung and Williamson gave CCI a competitive advantage. He said Miller, who is in charge of field operations for MARCS, was asked by Hung and Williamson to share information on the pricing and capabilities of that system "that would be extremely valuable to a competitor like CCI when bidding against MARCS."



Moore said he was concerned that revealing the capabilities of the MARCS system to a competing vendor could compromise the bidding process. Miller questioned Williamson what he might use MARCS coverage maps for in an email conversation in May, one that was provided to and reviewed by The Chronicle.



North Ridgeville city officials were copied in that email chain.



Moore further alleged that Vasu Communications of Avon put in a bid for work at the county 911 center worth $103,165.08 on April 5. Two days later, CCI issued a competing bid worth $102,118.08. Commissioners voted unanimously to award the contract to CCI on April 28.



"At the time, I thought the contract had been properly bid. I have since learned that I was wrong," Moore said. "I have now learned this bid process did not follow the county's procurement policy and was not publicly bid with properly sealed bids. ... I do not believe in this kind of coincidence. I believe CCI was given an unfair advantage over another vendor, a Lorain County vendor."



Moore further alleged that during a June 14 meeting to which he was invited, Hung and Williamson made "a pressure play" to award a no-bid contract worth $6.5 million to CCI for emergency first responder radio systems — something an unnamed consultant hired by the county who recommended CCI products also recommended.



"I was very troubled and asked a lot of questions," he said, adding that he refused to award a no-bid contract for that amount of money and left the meeting.



With some exceptions, Ohio law requires most public contracts worth more than $50,000 to go through the competitive bidding process unless an emergency or physical disaster exists, according to an Ohio law Moore cited in his statements Wednesday.



"All of Hung's actions appear to be a clear violation of state statute," Moore said. "In short, a county commissioner is not permitted to leverage her influence to help a vendor secure contracts and revenues."



"I want to be clear: The fire departments and police departments have their own favorite radio systems. I do not wish to be in the middle of that debate. My concerns do not arise based on the merits of two radio systems. My concerns are based on what I consider to be inappropriate efforts to swing over $6 million in a no-bid contract to one particular small vendor outside of Lorain County," Moore said.



Alan Close, owner of Cleveland Communications Inc., said Wednesday that Moore's allegations were untrue.



“What Commissioner Moore is saying is baseless, as far as his concern with Cleveland Communications. I can say that. I have always run an open, honest business. The company has never been deceitful or sought to do anything that is not legal or moral. I think there is a power struggle going on there, obviously. Anyone who has watched some of the county politics over the last 11, 12 months has to see that," he said.



“It’s unfortunate that I’ve been dragged into an internal argument amongst the commissioners, but CCI has always been an honest corporation and I’m not changing that. We do our best to do a good job for our customers and we always will," Close said.

Moore also alleged:

• Hung cast the deciding vote to hire Williamson as the county 911 director on Jan. 4 while engaged "in an undisclosed sexual and (adulterous) relationship with him" that Moore alleged began during Hung's 2020 campaign for commissioner.
  Williamson previously was employed at CenturyTel, a company Moore said worked for the county on systems at the 911 facility on Burns Road in Elyria.
  Hung "has admitted to multiple people that her relationship turns sexual on the 2020 campaign trail and before the November election," Moore said. "However, when (Hung) was the deciding vote to hire Wiliamson on Jan. 4, she remained silent on the disqualifying entanglement."
• Hung and her fellow commissioners voted 3-0 on May 5 to spend $30,465 through December 2021 to renovate the 911 center. That money, Moore alleged, was used "to turn Harry Williamson's office into a quiet soundproof office with zero light penetration."
  An April 27 email from county Facilities Manager Karen Perkins to county Budget Director K.C. Saunders that was obtained by The Chronicle-Telegram confirms Moore's account.
  In the email, Perkins tells Saunders that the work to be performed includes removing drywall, extending interior walls to the building's roof, insulating and providing "sound break drywall floor to ceiling for new wall," installing new room-darkening Draper FlexShades and other work.
  "The project is at the request of Director Harry Williamson to reduce sound and light transmission in to the director's office," Perkins wrote.
  "Why does a county director's office need to be soundproof and shielded from any light?" Moore asked Wednesday. "Why would what goes on in a director's office need to be soundproof?"
• Hung allegedly acted against the advice of legal counsel and fought to pay Williamson unemployment benefits after he was fired from his $77,000 a year job with the county on Aug. 3.
  Moore and Lundy voted to fire Williamson, and Hung abstained. She later claimed that she didn't want to "have my hands in another bloodbath" like that on Jan. 4 when she and Moore voted to fire and demote county employees who served under the previous all-Democratic board and install their hand-picked subordinates, including many fellow Republicans.

"As a commissioner our job is the budget authority for the county and a watchdog over the spending of county funds. Hopefully we can eventually put these latest episodes behind us," Moore said. "When I took office I focused on economic development because Lorain County is growing in a shrinking state. With the right leadership our county can continue to grow and create a healthy family environment."



Moore also noted that he has publicly asked for Hung's resignation and previously made a motion for a vote to remove her as president of the board, which failed for lack of support. Other Republican leaders in the county, including Kipton Mayor Bob Meilander, have joined Moore's calls for Hung to resign.



Hung previously said she does not intend to resign. Barring her removal as a result of being charged with a crime or what would be an expensive, time-consuming recall effort placed on the ballot by her opponents, her position in office appears safe.



"It is my responsibility and what I was elected to do to work for the residents of Lorain County," she said Wednesday. "I have expeditiously worked to interview and fill director positions such as JFS director, 911 director, Crime Lab director and dog warden, and as many of you know, we have a new highly qualified and even-tempered county administrator."



"We have also worked to back-fill over a dozen vacant jobs that for whatever reason were left languishing for months without attention by former management. The public can rest assured that their county government has been working, this commissioner has been at work and will continue to do the work for the residents of Lorain County, and I will not be distracted by (Moore's) comments," Hung said.



Lundy, who has not called for Hung's resignation and declined to second Moore's motion to remove her as board president, said Wednesday that he believed any contracts or agreements between the county and the vendors named by Moore were properly vetted by the Lorain County Prosecutor's Office to "ensure they are legally sound."

 

[wd8chl]

System design, not band, is the key to good coverage.

True enough, but there are vast differences in RF propagation between LB, VHF, UHF, and 7/800, and even 900.
To provide the same kind of coverage of a typical VHF system, you will need many, many more sites. What you can cover with one site on VHF will need 3-5 sites on 800, and maybe as much as 7 on 900.
Those differences need to be taken into account when designing a system. Far too often, it is not.
It still boggles my mind how someone thought they could cover all of Cuyahoga county on 900 MHz with two sites...(*coughcoughrtacoughcough*).

 

[rcid1971]

I-Team: Delay in 911 radio system sparks investigation

They don't come right out and say it, but Avon PD being on MARCS is the source of the body worn camera video.

LORAIN, Ohio (WJW) — The FOX 8 I-Team has learned of an investigation into a battle over a new emergency radio system for first responders in Lorain County.

Lorain County sheriff’s deputies are conducting an investigation.

We’ve reported on so much money involved, so much finger-pointing, and so many delays. Deputies now want to get to the bottom of it.

We’ve shown you problems with the county emergency radio system, which sometimes fails during police, fire and ambulance calls.

The Lorain County commissioners backed out of a contract for a new system, and that led to a lawsuit.

In the middle of it all, we’ve also seen claims of wrongdoing during the process to fix the system.
The I-Team spoke to Lorain County sheriff’s Capt. Richard Bosley. We asked if this is a criminal investigation.

“I think, right now, what we’re doing is, we’re just trying to be seekers of fact. There have been complaints and allegations for over 20 months,” Bosley said. “Just merely: Did someone have something to benefit? Is there something that could be looked at as unethical or illegal?”

The I-Team has also seen a document referring to a grand jury reviewing the case.

We confirmed the Lorain County prosecutor asked the Ohio Attorney General’s Office to step in as a special prosecutor. The county prosecutor is stepping aside, since he represents both the commissioners and the sheriff’s department.

The AG’s office declined to get involved in the case.

But the county prosecutor’s office plans to find another outside prosecutor to be involved with the radio system investigation.

Back in January, the I-Team found the radio system for first responders failed during an emergency call from a home in LaGrange.

The recordings show what went wrong. We’ve learned what happened in this case is not that unusual.

This incident began with a 911 call from a home with a woman reporting, “My 83-year-old dad — he can’t breathe.”

But when the EMS crew got to the house, dispatchers couldn’t make contact.

You hear multiple transmissions including, “911 dispatch. 39 checkup,” followed by a pause.

“911 dispatch to La Grange 39.” But still — no answer.

In this case, dispatchers could only reach the EMS crew by calling back the woman who’d called 911 for help.

“Hi, ma’am, this is Lorain County 911. I am looking to attempt to speak to the LaGrange EMS crew that is on scene,” a dispatcher said.

A crew member then says, “Hi, this is LaGrange 39.”

The dispatcher responds, “I apologize for interrupting while you’re on-scene. We’re just not getting; I don’t know if we’re coming across on yours [radio], but we’re just not getting anything.”

The crew member says, “Yeah, I’m not hearing you on the radio.”

After that call, the I-Team went to the Lorain County Administration building. We took a copy of that recording. We wanted to play it for one of the commissioners — a chance to show why first responders are so desperate for a new radio system. We played some of the recording for Commissioner Jeff Riddell.

“It’s a story that needs to be told, and nobody’s denying the equipment in Lorain County is not in need of upgrading,” he said.

Days earlier, Riddell had voted for the county to back out of a contract for a new radio system. So we asked, why? We also asked how much longer first responders will now wait for another contract to fix the system.

“The contract was poorly written,” Riddell said. “It was done without competitive bidding, and it’s $8 million. And we have to be sure the taxpayer’s money is spent wisely.”

As for how much time now has been added to the process, Riddell said, ” … At this point, I would say we don’t have a timetable.”

In the LaGrange case, the crew told dispatchers, “Go ahead, tone out for additional manpower. This is close to a (cardiac) arrest.” Dispatch recordings show that patient was taken to the hospital.

The commissioner told us county leaders are meeting and trying to move along the process to get a new radio system.

Now, we will also watch the investigation.

 

[W8KIC]

I-Team: Delay in 911 radio system sparks investigation

They don't come right out and say it, but Avon PD being on MARCS is the source of the body worn camera video.

Well, I don’t have a horse in this race as I’m a resident of Cuyahoga County and it’s no great secret that we have more than our fair share of corruption as it relates to how the people’s business gets accomplished within the county (assuming that it ever does) On the surface, it appears to just about anyone with an IQ even remotely north of ninety that a no-bid contract was awarded for this project and at the very least, the optics stink to high heaven! OTOH, the purchase (along with the monthly fee) of new mobile and handheld radios utilized for the Ohio MARCS-IP system are more expensive than the ones used on smaller more regional P25 systems, such as the one that had originally been awarded to the above entity before having the rug pulled out from underneath them. While an open bidding process such as the models that are used in the real world would’ve been far more preferable for obvious (and in some cases, less so) reasons, someone decided they‘d get creative and do things their own way, much to the chagrin of county taxpayers, many of whom already possess a substantial amount of distrust in public officials who engage in BS of this nature. We see it all to frequently in corrupt counties, such as the one I live in just to the east of you and it’s a damn shame that this type of behavior seem to have gained in popularity elsewhere. One things for certain: as a result of additional bureaucratic ass dragging over this process, more lives are going to be placed in peril until a first class communication system is in place. Come on folks, this is 2023 and it’s time to move forward!

 

[N8WCP]

Well, I don’t have a horse in this race as I’m a resident of Cuyahoga County and it’s no great secret that we have more than our fair share of corruption as it relates to how the people’s business gets accomplished within the county (assuming that it ever does) On the surface, it appears to just about anyone with an IQ even remotely north of ninety that a no-bid contract was awarded for this project and at the very least, the optics stink to high heaven! OTOH, the purchase (along with the monthly fee) of new mobile and handheld radios utilized for the Ohio MARCS-IP system are more expensive than the ones used on smaller more regional P25 systems, such as the one that had originally been awarded to the above entity before having the rug pulled out from underneath them. While an open bidding process such as the models that are used in the real world would’ve been far more preferable for obvious (and in some cases, less so) reasons, someone decided they‘d get creative and do things their own way, much to the chagrin of county taxpayers, many of whom already possess a substantial amount of distrust in public officials who engage in BS of this nature. We see it all to frequently in corrupt counties, such as the one I live in just to the east of you and it’s a damn shame that this type of behavior seem to have gained in popularity elsewhere. One things for certain: as a result of additional bureaucratic ass dragging over this process, more lives are going to be placed in peril until a first class communication system is in place. Come on folks, this is 2023 and it’s time to move forward!

"the purchase (along with the monthly fee) of new mobile and handheld radios utilized for the Ohio MARCS-IP system are more expensive than the ones used on smaller more regional P25 systems"

The radios used on MARCS are not more expensive. You'll find Moto, Harris, Kenwood, and other radios on the MARCS system. That's the advantage of a standards based system, any P25 compatible radio will work on the system. With the possibility of MARCS user fees going away in the new state budget, that could make MARCS more attractive.

 

[rcid1971]

Federal lawsuit alleges bribery, extortion in Lorain County radio contract controversy

🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿

A federal lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Cleveland by a former county vendor on Thursday accuses two Lorain County commissioners and their county administrator of bribery, extortion and racketeering during the process of canceling its contract to provide county first responders with emergency radios.

The Lorain County Board of Commissioners, Republican commissioners David Moore and Jeff Riddell and County Administrator Jeff Armbruster were sued by Cleveland Communications Inc. of Parma, according to copy of the lawsuit reviewed by The Chronicle-Telegram.

CCI had dismissed a months-old prior lawsuit against the board in Lorain County Common Pleas Court earlier in the day.

The new lawsuit alleges "a course of unlawful and corrupt conduct involving a contract to upgrade a countywide emergency radio communications system for Lorain County to be paid for by millions of dollars in federal grant money."

Read the complaint at tinyurl.com/3y38d4y5

Chief Assistant Lorain County Prosecutor Dan Petticord, who reviewed the new lawsuit Thursday, said board policy is not to comment on pending litigation.

"Another waste of taxpayer money for a frivolous lawsuit," Moore wrote in a text message to a Chronicle-Telegram reporter on Thursday. "We will vigorously defend against it."

Moore claimed CCI dropped the lawsuit in common pleas court "because the decisions were not going their way," then filed anew in federal court.

Riddell said he couldn't comment on "this obviously frivolous lawsuit" that he hadn't seen, and questioned how a reporter saw a copy before the commissioners did.

The lawsuit is a public record.

Hung said she hadn't seen the lawsuit and was only informed it had been filed as she walked out of her office at the end of the day Thursday.

"I was told CCI's initial lawsuit was dismissed, then was informed at the end of the day that it had been refiled in federal court," she said.

Armbruster said he hadn't seen the lawsuit Thursday and couldn't comment on it. A former North Ridgeville safety service director, Armbruster started as county administrator on Feb. 21 — three months after the contract was awarded and almost six weeks after it was rescinded.

New lawsuit

The civil lawsuit filed Thursday makes a number of serious allegations against current and former county officials.

"Despite the overwhelming support of police and fire emergency responders for CCI to upgrade the radio system with L3 Harris radio products, the co-conspirators and their confederates schemed to steer the contract to Motorola Solutions for reasons other than the public good," according to the lawsuit.

"Their corrupt methods included trying to extort a second county commissioner into voting for Motorola and against CCI, and making false allegations to initiate criminal investigations against the commissioner and CCI which they leaked to the media and in public meetings," the lawsuit alleges.

It further alleges violations of the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations, or RICO Act, against Moore and Armbruster.

The racketeering claim involves allegations that former county administrator Tom Williams, MARCS Field Operations Manager Dick Miller at the Ohio Department of Administrative Services, and Beachwood police officer Dana Gollner "conspired to participate and participated directly and indirectly" in trying to "corruptly control the awarding of contracts and the expenditure of state and federal funds for corrupt purposes ... other than the public good."

According to the lawsuit, Gollner allegedly met with and told CCI staff in June 2021 "that he could gain the support of all three county commissioners if CCI paid Gollner a 'lobbying' fee of 10 percent of the multimillion-dollar contract."

At that meeting, Gollner allegedly provided CCI with confidential communications from Motorola and CCI to commissioners "to demonstrate his real access to Moore, Williams and other decision makers in Lorain County."

CCI declined to pay the fee, so Gollner allegedly told CCI to submit a higher bid "because there were a number of people to get paid and the higher bid would be accepted."

The lawsuit alleges that Gollner solicited what amounted to a bribe "at the direction of Moore and other members of the conspiracy to violate the RICO statutes."

Gollner could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Moore, Armbruster and Williams and others then tried to control Hung's vote "through acts of intimidation," including threatening to expose her extramarital affair with former Lorain County 911 director Harry Williamson, the lawsuit alleges.

Moore and Armbruster allegedly threatened Hung during a phone call in July or August 2021 "if she did not support the MARCS System and deny support to CCI," whose L3 Harris radio system won the contract from Hung and Lundy in December.

That's extortion, CCI alleges. When Hung "failed to submit to the threat," her affair was exposed in August 2021, Williamson was fired and Moore called for Hung's resignation.

Having not yet seen the lawsuit, Hung said she couldn't comment on those statements.

Williams said Thursday that he has been out of county government for nearly two years and claimed Hung is "continuing to make false statements against me."

"Her hatred and continued retaliation will be exposed in court," Williams wrote in a statement to a Chronicle reporter.

Commissioners parted ways with Williams and taxpayers had to foot the bill for his wrongful termination lawsuit, Hung said.

"We have moved on" with new county administrators since Williams was fired, she said. "I don't find relevance in answering or rebutting these types of statements."

Lundy and Hung fired Williams in August 2021, overriding Moore's vote of "hell no" to firing him. Williams then won a $450,000 out-of-court settlement from the county in 2022 after suing Hung and Lundy for wrongful termination in federal court in 2021.

Williams himself sued Hung, Williamson, and Williamson's attorney Brian Bardwell in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court in November, alleging extortion, perjury and other claims.

The case was removed to U.S. District Court in Cleveland in February, then sent back to Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court at Williams' request by U.S. District Judge Donald Nugent in April, according to federal court records.

Moore and others then sent letters to the Lorain County Sheriff's Office and the Ohio Attorney General's office seeking an investigation into Hung's ties to the radio project, according to the lawsuit.

Late in 2022, Moore allegedly lied and told Riddell that Hung and CCI had an "improper relationship" that made her steer the radios contract to the company, the lawsuit alleges.

That caused CCI to be investigated, "defamatory stories to be published, and defendant Riddell to vote to rescind the contract" in January, according to the lawsuit.

Moore also allegedly obstructed the sheriff's office investigation and the defendants "did corruptly persuade the Lorain County Prosecutor's Office not to assist the investigation," allegedly told county employees not to comply with public records requests by the sheriff and allegedly persuaded witnesses not to be interviewed as part of the sheriff's investigation, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also alleges that Moore, Armbruster and Riddell denied CCI its due process and equal protection in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment and breach of contract by the Board of Commissioners when the board rescinded the radio deal, causing monetary damages of more than $1 million.

The lawsuit further demands monetary damages against all the defendants, and that CCI's contract be reinstituted and paid by the county.

Background

Cleveland Communications Inc. won a nearly $8 million contract to provide Lorain County emergency first responders with a new radio system in December, based on a 2-0 vote by former commissioner Matt Lundy, a Democrat, and Hung, a Republican.

Moore and Riddell voted to rescind the contract on Jan. 9. The vote was 2-1 to rescind, with Hung voting to keep the contract with CCI.

The vote angered Lorain County fire chiefs, the Lorain County Deputies Association, Sheriff Phil Stammitti and multiple elected officials in cities including Elyria and Lorain who had been banking on the county to help them replace their aging radios with federal American Rescue Plan Act money.

Moore and Riddell alleged, without providing evidence, that the contract was improperly bid and that there were backdoor deals being done. They called for investigations into the matter.

CCI's bid was the only one received. Both CCI and Motorola Solutions, the vendor for the state-approved MARCS radio system, requested and received a 14-day deadline extension.

Motorola did not end up submitting a bid. A second bid by Avon-based Vasu Communications was incomplete.

The deputies union filed a health grievance with Stammitti, and CCI filed an 18-page lawsuit in common pleas court in January. That lawsuit was dismissed Thursday, the same day the new federal lawsuit was filed.

In the original lawsuit, CCI called the county's decision to rescind the contract "unconstitutional, illegal, arbitrary, capricious, unreasonable and unsupported by the law" and evidence. Its attorneys argued the county was required to give 60 days' notice before terminating the contract.

In a ruling dismissing part of CCI's lawsuit in common pleas court in May, Visiting Judge Thomas Pokorny ruled that commissioners' decision to rescind the radio communications system contract "did not afford CCI the right of relief of an administrative appeal" under Ohio law.

 

[wd8chl]

"the purchase (along with the monthly fee) of new mobile and handheld radios utilized for the Ohio MARCS-IP system are more expensive than the ones used on smaller more regional P25 systems"

The radios used on MARCS are not more expensive. You'll find Moto, Harris, Kenwood, and other radios on the MARCS system. That's the advantage of a standards based system, any P25 compatible radio will work on the system. With the possibility of MARCS user fees going away in the new state budget, that could make MARCS more attractive.

Most recent rumor I hear is that MARCS is going to wind up dropping to $5/mo.

 

[RT48]

The Elyria Fire Department announced Wednesday it will make the switch to the Harris L3 trunking system on Nov. 1.

Elyria Fire Department to switch over radio system Nov. 1

The city appropriated $400,000 to purchase the radios out of the remaining allotment of federal American Rescue Plan Act funds. It follows months of controversy when the Lorain County Board of Commissioners voted Jan. 9 to rescind a contract with Cleveland Communications, Inc. that would have...

chroniclet.com

 

[rcid1971]

Totally addicted to this story…

State auditor and Lorain County sheriff: No evidence of 'rigging or steering' of CCI radio contract

Two parallel investigations into allegations of criminal activity surrounding both the actions of the Lorain County Board of Commissioners and the process of obtaining new radios for the county's first responders concluded this week.

Auditor of State Keith Faber's office confirmed Wednesday that an investigation into possible conflicts of interest and unlawful interest in public contracts in Lorain County that started in August 2021 at the request of a sitting commissioner ended Oct. 10 with no criminal charges.

"In regard to our investigation, at this time no new evidence related to the investigation has been uncovered" in a series of lawsuits filed over the matter. "This case has been reviewed by three legal attorneys for (the attorney general's Special Investigations Unit) with no evidence to confirm the allegations," three investigators with Faber's office wrote in a memo provided to The Chronicle-Telegram on Wednesday.

The audit and investigation were then recommended to be closed "without further … action" and any ethics matters uncovered referred to the Ohio Ethics Commission.

Faber's Special Investigations Unit found "three possible instances of nepotism" allegedly committed by Commissioner Michelle Hung. Those allegations were forwarded to the Ohio Ethics Commission for review, according to the memo.

Commissioner David Moore, a Republican, had requested Faber's office investigate Hung, a fellow Republican, in a letter to the state auditor dated Aug. 23, 2021, according to the memo. Faber's office officially opened a "preliminary audit" and investigation into the Board of Commissioners on Jan. 6, 2022, according to the memo.

Also concluded was a six-month-long investigation by the Lorain County Sheriff's Office into allegations that the county's $6.7 million contract with Cleveland Communications Inc. of Parma to provide first responder emergency radios to Lorain County sheriff's deputies, firefighters and police was improperly rigged in CCI's favor or steered to the company.

Sheriff Phil Stammitti released the results of the investigation, spanning more than 200 pages, to the media and on his website on Tuesday.

 

[mtindor]

Totally addicted to this story…

State auditor and Lorain County sheriff: No evidence of 'rigging or steering' of CCI radio contract

It is quite a saga LOL

 

[wd8chl]

Totally addicted to this story…

State auditor and Lorain County sheriff: No evidence of 'rigging or steering' of CCI radio contract

IOW, "We investigated ourselves and found we did nothing wrong." Far too common in LE...

 

[rcid1971]

IOW, "We investigated ourselves and found we did nothing wrong." Far too common in LE...

Someone didn’t read the article?

 

[wd8chl]

Someone didn’t read the article?

Your statement said that the sheriff and state auditor "investigated". My statement stands.

 

[rcid1971]

Your statement said that the sheriff and state auditor "investigated". My statement stands.

But it’s not really themselves 🙄

 

[wd8chl]

But it’s not really themselves 🙄

Yes it is.