By JACQUELINE DURETT
Correspondent
SAYREVILLE — There was plenty of chaos, confusion and accusations at the July 11 Borough Council meeting. What there was not, however, was a change in the previously selected vendor for the planned emergency radio purchase.
The council has been split along party lines regarding the issue of selecting a vendor for the $1.8 million radio purchase. A month ago, the council voted to award the contract to vendor Tactical Public Safety (TPS), a dealer for the Harris brand of radios. That decision ran counter to what the borough’s consultant V-COMM recommended, which was to use Motorola. Motorola also was the choice of the first responders who spoke on the issue.
Democratic Councilwoman Victoria Kilpatrick has said in the past that she had researched the issue thoroughly and pointed to advantages in TPS’s bid, including its lower price, services such as free roaming, lower installation costs, 95 percent coverage guarantee in the county and failover capabilities compatible with the Middlesex County system.
The disagreements and infighting led to a move at the June 27 meeting to table awarding the contract to Harris. As such, the issue was back up for discussion at the July 11 meeting.
First responders and V-COMM representatives continued to champion Motorola as its choice. Representatives from both vendors were in attendance, defending their bids, and at one point, trying to undercut each other in terms of price.
The Republicans on the council recommended switching vendors to Motorola and supporting the first responders. Councilman Art Rittenhouse also said he did not feel TPS’s bid was completely in compliance, which concerned him. Timothy Sage of TPS adamantly told the council that the bid was proper.
Council President Dan Buchanan said that all along the Democrats had been concerned about how the Motorola radios would perform out of area and whether there would be redundancy issues. He said originally the first responders had told the council that as long as a standalone system was chosen, they would be happy with any brand selected. Buchanan also said many state and federal agencies use Harris and are happy with the product.
Council Democrats did not say they wanted to change vendors, but stressed they did not feel, based on the guidance provided by Borough Attorney Michael DuPont, that they legally even could. Mayor Kennedy O’Brien disagreed, pointing out that if the council ended up also declining to memorialize the TPS resolution, it would die, and there was precedent for such an action. He intimated that DuPont was giving advice based on what would be best for the Democrats, adding that “being with whom you’re associated with, it’s consistent and predictable.”
However, when it became clear that any vote would still go in favor of Harris, a few expressed their disappointment.
“I can’t say that I am appalled, but I am disappointed that you would not take that recommendation, that you would not take that advice,” Police Chief John Zebrowski said. “The confidence that you’re showing us, quite frankly there is none. And I take that quite professionally as embarrassing.”
His comments were followed by applause from the crowd.
Rittenhouse also was unhappy.
“I’m very disappointed in this whole process we’ve been going through,” he said, adding that he had filed a formal complaint with the Government Records Council of New Jersey and notified the county prosecutor and attorney general of his concerns.
“It is a shame that it had to come to something like this,” he said, adding that at the beginning of the process, the whole council had been in favor of Motorola, but he did not know what had happened since that caused Democrats to change their preference.
O’Brien said well before the vote that he was told by county officials that Harris was a lock, “and there wasn’t anything that I could do about it.” He said he did not know why there was such support for Harris, but has said in the past that he has suspected the Democrats were motivated by potential political gain at the county level, something the Democrats have strongly denied.
“Sayreville has been sold down the river,” O’Brien said. “Our choice was taken away from us by the County of Middlesex, and that I’m furious about. I’m absolutely furious about it.”
The memorialization for TPS as the vendor went along party lines, 3-2. Kilpatrick was absent.
“It’s a shameful night for the borough,” O’Brien said.
