By Doug Dalena
Staff Writer
September 28, 2005
STAMFORD -- Republican mayoral candidate Christopher Munger accused Mayor Dannel Malloy yesterday of dragging his feet on a planned $17 million replacement of the city's outdated emergency radio system.
The system, used by police and firefighters, has suffered from repeated breakdowns, computer glitches and geographic transmission gaps. Munger said replacing the system would be his top priority.
Munger said Malloy, a Democrat seeking his fourth term, finds money for luxuries but fails to adequately fund basic public safety needs.
"We've got a system that was built 18 years ago and has a shelf life of 12 years," Munger said in a news conference yesterday in the police department parking lot. "He's had 10 years to fix this system, and he's neglected this system."
Malloy said many of the problems, including transmission gaps caused by the city's hilly topography, could not be solved without recent technological advances. He said he worked closely with a public safety officials to research a proper solution. "If Chris had truly been interested in this issue, he might have been involved previously," Malloy said.
Malloy said the city will spend $1.4 million of its money this year and $2.6 million of federal and state grants for the first phase of replacement.
The police department requested $8.6 million in this year's budget for the new system. That request was shaved to $1 million by the Planning Board before Malloy added $400,000.
Last year, a consultant recommended the city buy a new system that would include two additional transmission towers to cover about 20 percent of the city where the system doesn't reach officers' radios.
The signal has massive gaps in parts of North Stamford and the East Side, according to city and police officials. The city already has one tower on the Government Center roof and one at the Long Ridge Fire Company on Old Long Ridge Road, but recent power outages have shut down the downtown tower and the system's computer several times. The consultant estimated the new system would cost $17 million.
The city is soliciting bids for the upgrade but has not awarded the contract.
Munger, a retired FBI agent who teaches at the Rockland County, N.Y., police academy, said he knows "absolutely nothing" about the details of the consultant's report, but would halt the procurement process and ask a U.S. Department of Justice technical team that specializes in emergency communications to evaluate Stamford's needs and recommend a new system.
Munger said that despite the delay such a halt would cause, he would aim to have the system in place next year.
He said the federal team could help write homeland security grant applications and keep the recommendation to only the equipment the city needs.
Munger said a friend who is an expert in police communications recommended bringing in the Justice Department team. He would not identify the friend, but said the man is a contracted employee for the federal agency.
Malloy said the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security have been kept informed of the city's plan "and we would not be eligible for federal funds without their approval."
On the current schedule, the new system would not be in place until 2008, at the earliest.
That's too long, Munger said yesterday.
He cited cases in which a police officer attacked in the Cove this summer had to use his cell phone to call for backup because his radio did not work.
"That is unacceptable to the people of Stamford and to the police officers," Munger said.
He also cited the communications breakdown in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina as an example of what could go wrong if the radio system failed during an emergency.
"We've got a lot of nice luxuries in the capital budget," Munger said, adding that he would "either postpone them or eliminate them, or take a percentage off."
He proposed redirecting about $2 million for technology upgrades and $3 million in a fund designated for park and trail construction along the Mill River.
"That technology is for what? Phone system upgrades? Computer upgrades?" he said. The city needs a new radio system more, Munger said.
It is unclear whether the Mill River funds could be diverted. Part of that money comes from real estate taxes set aside for an urban greenway as part of a ordinance championed by Malloy and passed by the Board of Representatives.
Police union officials who attended Munger's news conference praised his statements. The union, which supported Malloy in previous races but has clashed with him over contract negotiations, funding for the radio system and other items, has not endorsed anyone yet, said Officer Michael Merenda, its president.
Merenda, a vocal critic of Malloy, said he had spoken to Munger several times about public safety and liked what the Republican candidate had to say.
"I think his priorities are in a place that Malloy's should have been for a long time," he said.
Other Republicans who attended Munger's news conference joined in the criticism.
"When the mayor wanted an ice rink, in 90 days we had a $6 million request in front of the boards," Republican Board of Finance member Joseph Tarzia said.
"This is political rhetoric from the party that brought you the New Orleans relief program," Malloy said. "We've been engaged in a process with the best minds in the country brought to bear on a competitive basis to find the best solution available."
Malloy said the long time involved was used to find a system with technology that would last for the next 30 years and to obtain the federal grants that he hopes will pay for most of it.
Copyright © 2005, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.