Council Puts Deadline on Communications Contract

A long-overdue, far-overspent contract intended to upgrade the Los Angeles Fire Department’s antiquated communications system will be cut off in April, regardless of whether the private firm manages to complete the system.

The City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to amend the contract of Systemhouse Limited, which was initially hired for a 30-month, $12.6-million overhaul of the communications system in 1988. The tab has ballooned to $21.2 million, but the company still cannot promise that it will provide the system that the city ordered.

The city’s attorney’s office advised the council to curtail the contract regardless of Systemhouse’s performance to avoid litigation by the company. But council members did so grudgingly.

“I’m going to hold my nose and vote aye,” Councilman Nate Holden said, “because it stinks.”