City Considers Replacing Aging Radio Communications System at Tonight’s Council Meeting

Pasadena’s City Manager Michael J. Beck has endorsed for City Council approval a request for the city’s Department of Information Technology to enter into a purchase order contract with the City of Glendale for updating Pasadena’s aging radio communications system.

The contract will involve “lifecycle updates” for the radio system and will cost Pasadena $170,331.

In an Agenda Report to the City Mayor and City Council for Monday’s session, Phillip Leclair, Chief Information Officer, said the lifecycle updates are necessary so that Pasadena’ radio communications system will continue to function with the Interagency Communications Interoperability System (ICIS), through which participating cities within the Los Angeles County, and federal and local agencies, can communicate and interoperate in response to emergencies.

Aside from Pasadena, other ICIS participating cities include Beverly Hills, Burbank, Culver City, Glendale, Montebello and Pomona, and members of the East San Gabriel Valley Communications Joint Powers Authority that include Azusa, Covina, Glendora, Irwindale, La Verne and West Covina.

The network also includes various other agencies as subscribers including Alhambra Fire, Arcadia Fire, Bob Hope Airport, Cal-Poly Pomona Police, El Monte Police Narcotics Enforcement, Glendale Community College, Monrovia Fire, Monterey Park Fire, San Fernando Police, San Gabriel Fire, San Marino Police and Fire, Sierra Madre Police and Fire and South Pasadena Police and Fire.

The upcoming lifecycle updates will also optimize the system’s so-called P-25 interoperability – a suite of standards for digital radio communications for use by federal, state/province and local public safety agencies in North America to enable them to communicate with other agencies and mutual aid response teams in emergencies.

ICIS, a California Joint Powers Authority (JPA) agency, has a contract with the Motorola company to obtain the lowest possible costs for lifecycle updates. The City of Glendale, in turn, is managing all contractual payments to Motorola on behalf of the ICIS and all its member cities and agencies.

Leclair said the purchase order contract with the City of Glendale supports the City Council’s three-year strategic goal to ensure public safety by maintaining critical radio
communication infrastructure used by the City.

The proposed action is for a lifecycle update to the existing radio system and will not result in any new development or physical changes, Leclair said.