Statement From Mayor Gusciora on His Thursday Meeting With Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes and City Council President Kathy McBride on the City’s Emergency Communications System

On Thursday, I met with Mercer County Executive Brian M. Hughes and City Council President Kathy McBride to discuss the public-safety radio system for the City of Trenton.

Mr. Hughes agreed to temporarily loan our city approximately 130 handheld radios programmed to the county’s radio system. While Mercer County’s radio loan is not optimum, it helps carry the city over until a new system is in place. Mercer County’s assistance gives my administration time to work with Council President McBride to work in common cause on an agreement to replace the city’s aging radio system with equipment compatible with Mercer County’s emergency radio platform. This arrangement is the foundation of my permanent proposed solution.

I am very grateful to Council President McBride, who phoned me on Wednesday afternoon. She pledged for us to work together on this critical public safety issue for our residents and businesses.

Previously, a Resolution authorizing $4 million from the city’s American Rescue Plan (ARP) fund to pay for a new radio and 911 systems did not make the docket. Council tabled a Resolution to pay the city’s current police and fire radio-system vendor, MPS Communications, for overdue invoices, an issue headed for litigation. The company will pull the plug on the city’s radio system on October 31, endangering residents and public safety personnel.

Nonetheless, I am very grateful to Mercer County Executive Hughes for meeting with us, his leadership, and his expeditious assistance. And, I wish to thank City Council President McBride for her goodwill and willingness to work together on a permanent solution.