Joint GO/PS Committee Meeting on FY27-32 CIPs and Bill 3-26 (County Values Act) - March 11, 2026
STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
Joint GO/PS Committee Meeting on FY27-32 CIPs and Bill 3-26 (County Values Act) - March 11, 2026
The Government Operations and Fiscal Policy (GO) and Public Safety (PS) committees held a joint session on March 11, 2026, from 1:30 p.m. to 2:19 p.m. to review two FY27-32 Capital Improvements Program (CIP) items and Bill 3-26, the County Values Act, which addresses immigration enforcement guidance at county facilities. The committees recommended approval of both CIPs and recommended enactment of Bill 3-26 with several amendments.
Consent Calendar
- No items were placed on a consent calendar; all items were discussed individually.
Public Comments & Testimony
- A public hearing on Bill 3-26 was previously held and was well-attended; several pieces of written testimony were received, all in favor of the bill. No oral public comments were made during this committee session.
Discussion Items
- FY27-32 CIP – County Radio Life Cycle Replacement: Staff presented a briefing recommending approval of the project as submitted by the County Executive. The CIP includes approximately $13 million in expenditures over four years for replacing voice radio equipment used by first responders. This represents an $18 million (58%) reduction from the previous approved CIP. The program addresses 1,200 radios that have exceeded their 10-year service life (purchased in 2011, reached end-of-life in 2021). A pilot test of alternative radios concluded they are not cheaper and lack key features. Committee members asked about safety; staff confirmed the radios remain safe but noted vendor liability concerns. The committee recommended approval without objection.
- FY27-32 CIP – Public Safety System Modernization (PSSM): This umbrella project, which included computer-aided dispatch, public safety radios, and a law enforcement records management system (RMS), is pending closeout. All sub-projects have been completed except the RMS, which was shifted to a new stand-alone project (Police Enterprise RMS) reviewed on March 2, 2026. Remaining funding of about $1.8 million was transferred to that new project. The committee recommended approval as submitted without objection.
- Bill 3-26 – Administration – Immigration Enforcement Guidance (County Values Act): The bill requires the County Executive to develop and publish guidance on immigration enforcement at county-owned or county-controlled facilities, including signage requirements and training. Council staff and the bill sponsor (Councilmember Mink) presented several amendments:
- Striking lines 35–43 to remove duplicative warrant-access language already codified via Expedited Bill 35-25 (accepted without objection).
- Councilmember Katz’s amendment to establish an online public reporting portal for reporting unauthorized immigration enforcement activity, replacing lines 71–77 (accepted without objection).
- Councilmember Mink’s amendment to update signage requirements for exterior and non-public interior areas, aligning with state Attorney General guidance (accepted without objection).
- A block of technical clarifying amendments defining “county agents,” clarifying “county-owned or county-controlled facility,” aligning signage and training language, clarifying availability of signage templates for private property owners, and removing a second exception under Section 2-164(c) that could undermine the bill’s purpose (accepted without objection).
- The executive branch provided implementation updates: virtual training on the county learning portal, SharePoint resources, pocket guides, and signage. Discussion emphasized limits on county authority due to federal supremacy and the role of police in documenting rather than interfering. Councilmembers noted the importance of documenting incidents and providing resources for private property owners.
Key Outcomes
- County Radio Life Cycle Replacement: Recommended approval as submitted by the County Executive (unanimous without objection).
- Public Safety System Modernization: Recommended approval as submitted (unanimous without objection).
- Bill 3-26: Recommended enactment as amended (unanimous without objection). Specific amendments adopted:
- Striking lines 35–43.
- Replacing lines 71–77 with an online reporting portal.
- Updating signage requirements (Mink amendment).
- Technical clarifying amendments as a block.
- The committee directed that the amendments be incorporated for full council consideration.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to this joint committee session. This is the joint committee of government operations and fiscal policy and public safety. We have three items on our agenda this morning. The first two kind of go together. Um, and we have Dr. Toregas with us and Ms. Farag, and we're going to be discussing capital improvement program. One is the county radio life cycle replacement, and the other is the public safety system monitorization. When we are done with that, we are going to turn to Bill 3-26, which is the immigration enforcement guidance, or better known as the County Values Act. Uh, first, before I turn it over to our team here, I'll see if our my co-chair has anything to add. Nope. No, all right. Ms. Farag, you are up. Good afternoon, everyone. Uh, as you mentioned, this is the recommended FY2732 CIP for general government county radio lifecycle replacement is the first item. Uh, for this, the recommended uh expenditures are about 13 million, and that just reflects four years' worth of replacements. It is an $18 million decrease from the last approved FY25 FY30 CIP, and that's about a 58% reduction. The program provides for the phase replacement of voice radio equipment used primarily by county's first responder agencies, which include police, fire rescue, sheriff, corrections, department of transportation, and the park and planning commission, park police. Uh these radios have reached the end of their expected 10-year service life. They are replacing the radios that have been purchased in 2011. They've reached the end of their service life in 2021, and the executive advises that 1,200 radios are beyond their service life that are still in use as of FY27. There is a replacement scheduled chart on page two for your reference. I also wanted to mention a pilot project in FY25. Uh the council approved 148,000 added to conduct a pilot program to test 20 non-public safety radios from an alternative manufacturer to determine if they meet the county's needs. The pilot tested, they actually tested about 26 other radios and concluded that while other radios do function on the P25 network, they can't use many of the existing system features that public safety staff currently rely on. The radios also were not cheaper than current radios. The pilot advised that they may be appropriate for other non-public safety options in the future. The total project costs for this remain the same at 55.2 million, and council staff's recommending approval as submitted by the executive. Great. Any comments from the executive side of things? No. Chair Gas. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Can we be clear when we're saying that it's that it's gone pay as its uh expected uh life expectancy that that we're still using them, some we're still using for four or five years, PSN. And are they still safe, etc.? They are safe. I was here we go. Jerry Adcock with uh the radio communications group. Um they are still safe uh in the sense that they will still operate. Um however, we get into that area of um, you know, if something were to go wrong and you say, What was the radio's fault? Well, the vendor could say, but you were past the life cycle order. Okay, and that's really the concern that we run into with many products that we have of that nature. Thank you. Not seeing any other questions without objection, we'll recommend this to the full council. Thank you. Next item. The next item is the public safety system modernization project, the PSSM. It was an umbrella project that had several public safety related sub-projects, including computer aid dispatch, public safety radios, replacement of the public safety radio system, and a law enforcement records management system. All of the these sub-projects, other than the um records management system, have been completed.
openpublica.com