Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Michigan county questions "moral" issue in considering 911 radio system bids

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 19 Jan 2003 12:56:24 -0500

Ingham's 911
upgrade plan hits snag;
County commission may not
want to do business with Tyco
By Hugh Leach
Lansing State Journal
1/19/2003

A long-awaited upgrade to Ingham County's 911 emergency
communications system may not be as near as many police, fire and
medical personnel hoped.

A proposed $9.88 million wireless system approved last week by an
advisory committee may have trouble winning county commissioners'
approval. The committee will meet with the board Thursday.

The system, proposed by a subsidiary of Bermuda-based Tyco
Industries called M/A-COM, would be used to improve communication
between dispatchers at three centers and hundreds of emergency
service workers in the field.

The other proposal considered was one from Motorola Inc. that
would cost about $417,000 less.

"We have to look at the moral issues involved," said Commissioner
Curtis Hertel Jr., D-East Lansing. "Tyco is in Bermuda to avoid
paying U.S. taxes. Ingham County should not reward companies that
do not invest in the United States."

Hertel also noted Tyco's former chief executive officer was
indicted on charges of embezzlement, which he said raises concerns
about the company's business practices. Tyco has since hired the
former president of Motorola as its CEO and replaced most of its
board of directors.

Commissioners Chris Swope, D-Lansing, and Mike Severino, R-Holt,
said Tyco's business practices would weigh into their decision.

Randy Schafer, R-Williamston, said those concerns should not
matter unless they affect the company's ability to provide the
promised services.

Rick Royston, Delhi Township fire chief and a member of the
advisory committee, said the M/A-COM system is best for the
county.

"Tyco's problems were on everybody's mind, but, if that is a
problem, it goes a lot deeper than the radio system," Royston
said. "Tyco owns the companies that make the breathing apparatus
and fire detection equipment that fire departments use as well."

Tyco included extras in its proposal that Motorola did not, said
John Neilsen, deputy county controller.

"It isn't a simple matter of checking the bottom-line price,"
Neilsen said. "This is an incredibly complicated system."

Onondaga Township Fire Chief Gene Tidd, an advisory committee
member, said he has been working with the county for five years
trying to come up with a new communications system.

"One of the problems is we can hear the 911 fire center, but they
can't hear us," he said.

He said although the M/A-COM system is more expensive, it would
better meet his department's needs.

"We would be getting brand-new, top-of-the-line stuff and a more
robust system," Tidd said.

Sheriff Gene Wriggelsworth suggested the county take another look
at a more modern system that state police use. The advisory
committee rejected that system earlier.

"We'll work with what we get, but I think it would be a financial
mistake to buy this aging technology," Wriggelsworth said.

"My thought is, what's another couple of months to make sure we
make the best decision?"

Contact Hugh Leach at 377-1119 or [email-masked].

http://www.lsj.com/news/local/030119_911_3b.html

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