Dear editor:
Today's The Sentinel-Record (March 15 edition) had an extensive article on Garland County's new radio system. It seems probable the need is there, but there are obvious questions.
Some years ago, Garland County held large public meetings about the second vote on funding a new jail. Their first proposal failed at the polls, largely because it was leaked that there were several county projects rolled into the funds requested. At the new meeting the judge and sheriff (although not the present occupants) swore the money for that tax increase was only, and solely, for a new jail. Now, the radio article stated that over $4 million from the jail's "excess collections" was used to purchase radios! Honesty and transparency would be a great part of government, at all levels.
Question two is why does our small county need "466 portable, mobile, and base station radios?" Base stations are about 14, one for each agency listed, leaving 452 portable and mobile units. Would The Sentinel-Record do a follow-up story showing how many of those radios were requested for each department, then correlate that to how many realistic, actual responders/users there are in each department? It is hard to imagine that even a very large disaster would have over 400 individual county employees actively engaged in a disaster response. It also seems that when the new jail was finished there was a large amount of money allocated for radios; surely they are compatible with the state AWIN system? Some information and clarity, please.
Jim Pumphrey
Garland County
Editorial on 03/21/2017