In the height of election season, the radio communications system in Shelton has become an issue.
Chris Jones, the Democratic candidate for mayor in Shelton and a volunteer firefighter, says the radio system is old and needs repairs. He cites a grant application the city filed with FEMA to back up the claims. The application says the radio communications fail half the time.
Jones and other firefighters say the radio system has been a problem for several years.
Click play on the video to see Jones’ statement, with clips from a 2008 WTNH news story, about the radio systems.
Read about Jones’ concerns in a Connecticut Post article here, and a Shelton Patch article here.
Mayor Mark Lauretti, a Republican incumbent running for re-election, said the system needs to be upgraded, but disputes that it fails half the time.
Read his response to Jones in a Huntington Herald article here. The article also features a firefighter who spoke out about the radio problems at a Board of Aldermen meeting Thursday night.
Read more about Lauretti’s response in a Connecticut Post article from Saturday.
On Wednesday, Connecticut Post columnist MariAn Gail Brown weighed in.
The paper’s editorial board also weighed in, saying radio equipment should not be a partisan issue.
