The DANECOM Debacle
The Dane County Board previously adopted Resolution 88, 2010-2011. It endorsed the implementation of a trunked, digital, standards-based simulcast emergency radio system that features narrow-banding of the county’s VHF system and included modernization of the microwave backbone of the system, thus, creating a county-wide interoperable VHF-based emergency radio system known as DaneCom.
HARRIS Corporation, is an international communications and information technology company serving government and commercial markets and claims, on their web site, to be “dedicated to developing best-in-class assured communications® products, systems and services.”
HARRIS Corporation was the vendor for the problematic implementation of the Milwaukee Police Department’s OpenSky radio system. OpenSky is a registered trademark of Harris Corporation. Since its inception, OpenSky was riddled with problems including faulty equipment, radio dead spots, and complete blackouts for up to 30 minutes at a time. HARRIS Corporation’s implementation of this system has been referred to as an exorbitant failure. In addition, the state of New York terminated a 2 billion dollar contract with HARRIS because their system had unresolved problems - problems with faulty equipment and areas with no signal.
A simple Google search of HARRIS Corporation by any member of the Dane County Board, in 2011, would have uncovered this company’s troubled past. Unfortunately, HARRIS Corporation was chosen to implement DaneCom.
Our previous County Executive, Kathleen Falk hired Mr. John DeJung Director of the Dane County Public Safety Communications Center. Aside from his county 911 center responsibilities, Mr. DeJung was also charged with overseeing the DANECOM project.
HARRIS Corporation’s own presentation, given on March 16, 2012, predicted the DaneCom system installation would be completed between July 02, 2012 and February 01, 2013 and would be ready for final acceptance by Dane County by July 15, 2013. That was 2 ½ years ago!
Mr. Chad Fleck, DaneCom Radio System Administrator, has announced the delay of the DaneCom “go-live” date no less than five times since the previously predicted July 15, 2013 final acceptance date. Mr. Fleck’s last prediction is that DaneCom will “go-live” sometime in August of 2014.
The initial construction costs and maintenance fees, given to the cities, villages and towns, when the DaneCom system was being sold to these various municipalities, have also been off. In a January 23, 2014 e-mail, Mr. Fleck wrote, “I expect the next bill, as previously reported via earlier estimates for DaneCom, to be significantly higher than any you received in the past.” One reason for these higher bills is due to an under estimation of electricity costs.
In addition, during a telephone conversation I had with Mr. Fleck on Friday, May 23rd, 2014, Mr. Fleck confirmed that the Blue Mounds “Eisner” or “Brigham” tower has now been classified as substandard and possibly needing complete replacement. The $300-400 thousand for a parallel monopole tower or $1 million for a completely new tower are new costs, not included in the original proposal given to municipal governments prior to their agreement with the project.
In a email dated December 9, 2015, Mr. Joshua Wescott, Chief of Staff, Dane County Executive’s Office, stated; “The Harris Team is hard at work getting the tower sites associated with “Phase 2” of the project ready to go” Mr. Wescott attached a picture of a concrete slab, as proof of progress being made at the Brigham Tower in the Town of Blue Mounds, with work at the Stoughton and Rockdale Tower sites yet to have started.
According to the joint Harris Corporation/Dane County presentation dated March 16, 2012, all site construction was scheduled for completion between “3/12/12 – 12/20/12”. This construction is nearly three years behind schedule!
After On Thursday, June 26, 2014 the Dane County Board of Supervisors awarded Mr. John DeJung a new five-year contract extension with a 19% pay increase. There wasn’t even a recorded vote, but rather a voice vote was taken. Why was the County Board afraid to take a roll call vote?
In April 2015, County Executive Joe Parisi presented a new 10-year agreement on DANECOM Needs Revisions to the Dane County Town’s Association (DCTA). It does not specifically commit the County to deliver a communications system, which meets measurable performance standards, by a specific date. In addition, the DCTA had no input into drafting this new intergovernmental agreement.
The Town of Blue Mounds and numerous other towns and villages have voted, over time, to withhold any further maintenance payments until the County Executive, or Mr. Fleck can give the municipalities concrete cost information and a real timeline for the DaneCom system to become operational. I have urged all Towns within the Dane County Town’s Association to do the same.
Our current, appointed, District 28 County Board Supervisor remains silent on all of this. Our previously elected Supervisor, Abigail Wuest refused to go on the record when voting a 19% raise for Mr. DeJung, who has, in my opinion, failed to achieve the goals for which he was hired.
District 28 needs a leader who will ask the tough questions and speak out in defense of the taxpayers, as the delays and cost overruns seem to have no end.
John Brixy, Supervisor
Town of Blue Mounds and candidate for Dane County Board Supervisor, District 28
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