Los Angeles city, county wrestle over federal grant money earmarked for LA-RICS P25 system

There had been speculation for months that the city of Los Angeles would cease its membership by Nov. 24—the deadline for LA-RICS to pull out of the regional organization without financial penalty. However, the letter indicates that city’s actions related to repurposing of UASI funding earmarked for the LA-RICS P25 system was a surprise, describing them as “unexpected” and claiming that “neither [LA-RICS] nor the county was given proper advance notice that this would be your recommendation at the November 10, 2015, UASI Approval Authority meeting.”

In the letter, the five county supervisors ask Los Angeles city officials to recommend that the $11 million in grants be reinstated to LA-RICS for the P25 network and to promise not to take similar actions with other UASI funds.

“We request that the mayor’s office and the president of the [Los Angeles City Council] evaluate its prior actions and that of the UASI Approval Authority taken on November 10, 2015, and confirm that the $11 million in UASI [2011] grant funds remain eligible for [LA-RICS] to spend toward this very important regional public-safety project,” the letter states. “We also request that you confirm that no further action will be taken with the UASI [2012] and [2013] grant funds already awarded to [LA-RICS].”

A Los Angeles County press release issued today states that county officials believe the city intends to use the $11 million to fund expansion of the Interagency Communications Interoperability System (ICIS). The ICIS network operate on T-Band spectrum, which must be vacated by public-safety licensees by 2022 under the law passed by Congress that created FirstNet.

“We find the city’s actions particularly troubling,” Los Angeles County CEO Sachi A. Hamai, who also chairs the LA-RICS Joint Powers Authority, said in a prepared statement. “We know that it’s not a question of if, but when, the next major disaster will strike Southern California, and we lack a modern communications system that will allow dozens of agencies, including the City of Los Angeles, to talk to other first responders during an emergency.”

Sheriff Jim McDonnell echoed this sentiment.

“LA-RICS will give our first responders the ability to be as effective as we possibly can be when time is of the essence,” McDonnell said in a prepared statement. “We cannot afford financial delays and decisions that could jeopardize the viability of this system.”

Calls from IWCE’s Urgent Communications seeking comment from the mayor’s office were not returned in time to be included in this story.