They Said It Was Just a Lease—But It Was the Lynchpin
Lorain County Pulls the Plug on CCI Tower as the MARCS Monopoly Becomes Reality
Aug 16, 2025
By Aaron Knapp | August 2025 | Lorain Politics Unplugged
Editor’s Note (August 16, 2025):
After the publication of this article, new documentation confirms that the 2023 allegations against the CCI contract—made by then-Commissioners Dave Moore and Jeff Riddell—were fully investigated and found to be unsubstantiated. The State Auditor’s Office, former Sheriff Phil Stammitti’s department, and federal authorities all cleared Michelle Hung, Harry Williamson, and CCI owner Alan Close of wrongdoing. In fact, evidence now shows Moore submitted misleading information to authorities in an attempt to force a shift to MARCS. These facts significantly strengthen CCI’s ongoing federal lawsuit against the county and suggest the real misconduct lies with Moore, Riddell, Marty Gallagher, and Jeff Armbruster.
Legal Disclaimer:
This article is based on publicly available records, verified investigative materials, and firsthand statements. All individuals are presumed innocent unless proven otherwise in a court of law. Any opinions expressed are those of the author and are presented in the public interest for transparency and accountability purposes under protections afforded by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and Ohio law.
The Tower Vote That Changes Everything
On August 12, 2025, the Lorain County Board of Commissioners did what they long denied they were doing. With a single resolution, they set in motion the dismantling of the CCI-based radio network still relied on by the majority of Lorain County’s first responders. The vote was presented as procedural—a routine notification to terminate a lease agreement with Cleveland Communications, Inc., known as CCI.
But the reality is anything but routine. What the commissioners framed as a simple formality was, in fact, the legal and operational trigger to cut CCI off from the heart of the county’s 911 communications infrastructure.
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The tower at 225 Burns Road in Elyria—home base for the county’s dispatch system—hosts critical Harris radio equipment that facilitates interoperability with police, fire, EMS, and other emergency services throughout Lorain County. Ending that lease isn’t just removing a tenant. It’s removing the backbone of a communications platform that has been tested, trusted, and actively used by over 80% of agencies in the county. This action isn’t about simplifying infrastructure. It’s about forcing the county’s full migration to the Motorola-backed Multi-Agency Radio Communications System, or MARCS, whether local agencies are ready or not.
Public Excuses, Private Consequences
Commissioners David Moore, Marty Gallagher, and Jeff Riddell voted unanimously to issue 60 days’ notice to CCI, effectively canceling the lease just before its October renewal.
Riddell described it as “merely a procedural item,”
while Moore claimed CCI had known for more than a year that the county intended to move in this direction.
Gallagher acknowledged that the county’s MARCS contract requires exclusive use of the towers, stating bluntly, “They’re the only ones on the tower. That’s very clear.”
The message is not subtle. MARCS will be the only game in town, and any vendor or agency still using Harris or legacy VHF/UHF systems will be shut out—or forced to find alternatives fast.
What makes this decision especially controversial is that the Harris system being decommissioned was the product of a vetted, competitively bid process that resulted in a $6.7 million contract with CCI back in December 2022. That contract was approved by a previous Board with bipartisan support and endorsed by virtually every police and fire chief in the county. The new majority—Moore and Riddell—rescinded that contract just one month later without providing documented proof of misconduct, and instead moved forward with a MARCS deal costing more than four times as much.
The Rhetoric vs. The Record
Since then, nearly every step the county has taken contradicts the commissioners’ own prior talking points.
They claimed service would not be disrupted, yet failed to produce a comprehensive plan showing how dispatch will communicate with the 80% of departments still on Harris.
They claimed this was about long-term savings, but the MARCS transition will cost over $27 million when accounting for infrastructure, radios, upgrades, legal fees, and transition expenses.
They claimed the CCI system was inadequate, but the record shows it performed reliably even during severe storms that partially crippled MARCS elsewhere in Ohio.
Sheriff Jack Hall issued a media release attempting to reassure the public, asserting that connectivity would not be compromised and that the Sheriff’s Office remains linked to legacy VHF, CCI, and MARCS systems. He stated that $150,000 worth of equipment was purchased to ensure continued interoperability and that both CCI and MARCS had pledged to support public safety needs regardless of the tower lease outcome. But that optimism sits on uncertain ground. As Commissioner Gallagher himself stated, the MARCS contract demands exclusive control. So how long will the county really allow parallel infrastructure to operate?
Legal Maneuvering at the Expense of Public Safety
The legal context is also unavoidable. CCI is currently suing the county for breach of contract. The timing and abruptness of the lease termination raise obvious red flags. By gutting CCI’s system before the court case is resolved, the county potentially undermines the vendor’s standing and attempts to render moot the very contract at issue in the lawsuit. In political terms, this is a move designed to secure a monopoly by any means necessary—even if it means alienating every fire chief, dispatch coordinator, and patrol officer in the county.
And the technical problems with MARCS aren’t just theoretical. They’re real. Multiple agencies across Ohio have reported weak indoor reception, dead zones in critical buildings, and failures that force responders to exit hospitals or fire scenes just to receive updates. In Boardman and Austintown, Mahoning County officials took nearly two years to plan a MARCS transition. They engaged first responders, negotiated pricing down to $1.3 million, and created a slow, deliberate cutover that prioritized coverage and cooperation. Lorain County did the opposite. They rushed the vote, sidelined their own chiefs, and repeatedly changed their story.
The Sheriff’s Sudden Shift: Accountability or Alignment?
Sheriff Jack Hall, who took office in January 2025 on a platform of anti-corruption, fiscal responsibility, and operational independence, issued a media release within hours of the August 12 vote. In it, he attempted to reassure the public that radio connectivity would not be compromised.
Hall claimed the Lorain County Sheriff’s Office still maintains active communications links with the legacy VHF system, the Harris-based CCI network, and the new MARCS platform simultaneously. To reinforce that claim, he disclosed that his office had spent approximately $150,000 in taxpayer funds to purchase new radio equipment to ensure continued interoperability.
But that optimism is resting on unstable ground.
During the same public meeting, Commissioner Marty Gallagher directly acknowledged that under the county’s contract with MARCS, the towers must be handed over in a condition that excludes all non-MARCS infrastructure. The contract calls for exclusivity. There will be no CCI system operating “next to” MARCS—not legally, not physically, not technically.
What Sheriff Hall described as a cooperative bridge is, in effect, a countdown to disconnection.
The public deserves to ask:
Why is Sheriff Hall backing a transition that his own department—just months ago—resisted under former Sheriff Phil Stammitti?
During Stammitti’s final year in office, the Lorain County Deputies Association publicly supported the CCI Harris system and joined other law enforcement professionals in calling the original contract both superior and cost-effective.
The Sheriff’s Office, under Stammitti, was a key stakeholder in that system. But now, under Hall’s leadership, that posture appears to have shifted—despite no public evidence that rank-and-file deputies have changed their view.
So what changed?
One possible answer lies in timing—and politics. Sheriff Hall has been quietly preparing a public campaign for a quarter-percent sales tax increase to fund jail improvements and department operations.
That measure, if placed on the ballot, will require either direct support or passive cooperation from the same county commissioners now pushing the MARCS system. Aligning with Moore, Gallagher, and Riddell may be more than a show of unity…it may be a calculated bid to protect future funding.
And if the sales tax passes, it won’t just benefit the Sheriff’s budget—it will partially underwrite the very capital projects that Moore and Gallagher have been funneling public dollars into, including the MARCS tower builds and network upgrades.
The result is a contradiction Sheriff Hall has yet to answer.
On one hand, he’s spent $150,000 in taxpayer dollars to extend a legacy system the county just announced it’s terminating.
On the other, he’s echoing talking points from the same commissioners who created this crisis—and dismissing the concerns of departments still relying on Harris to do their jobs.
He says interoperability will continue, but the legal language in the MARCS contract says otherwise. He claims both vendors will maintain service, but one of them—CCI—just got pushed off the tower.
This isn’t prudent fiscal planning. It’s a bet, and a political one at that.
For a Sheriff who entered office promising independence and reform, the public alignment with this rushed and deeply controversial transition is difficult to reconcile. If Hall still believes in transparency, accountability, and evidence-based public safety decisions, then now—during the most consequential infrastructure change in Lorain County’s modern history—is the time to show it.
The Broken Promise: “We Won’t Dismantle CCI”
Moore, Riddell, and Gallagher have spent over a year assuring the public…and especially first responders…that they were not dismantling the CCI network.
Again and again, they said the Harris system would remain intact, that no departments would be forced to switch, and that interoperability would be preserved. In public meetings, press interviews, and private conversations with fire chiefs and police leaders, they painted MARCS as an “optional” supplement—not a mandated replacement.
But with this August 12 vote, the truth finally broke through the PR veneer. By terminating the CCI lease at the 911 tower on Burns Road, the commissioners have done precisely what they promised they wouldn’t: they’ve initiated the first formal step in tearing down the infrastructure that makes the Harris system viable. They didn’t reassign tower space. They didn’t offer a shared use agreement.
They issued a 60-day legal notice to remove CCI from the core tower that connects most of the county to 911 dispatch.
This is not procedural. It is punitive. It is premeditated. And it exposes the central falsehood behind the commissioners’ entire MARCS narrative.
The promise that “we’re not taking anything away” was never true.
The claim that “nothing will be dismantled” has now collapsed under the weight of their own signature on a lease termination notice.
The same tower that facilitated critical emergency communications during the worst winter storms and natural disasters is now being cleared—under contract—for exclusive Motorola/MARCS use.
They didn’t just reverse course. They reversed trust. And now the agencies who took them at their word are left scrambling to prepare for a communications blackout they were told would never come.
The View from Mahoning County
In other counties, the move to MARCS has included extensive public planning, joint infrastructure agreements, and slow phase-ins designed to avoid coverage failures. In Lorain, it’s been a politically-driven collapse of trust between the commissioners and nearly every first responder agency in the county. It’s no longer a debate over which system is better. It’s a question of whether Lorain County can afford to throw away a working solution for a politically convenient one.
Officials in Mahoning County emphasized due diligence and negotiated savings. They held joint meetings, approved formal resolutions, and created a unified communications council. Their transition wasn’t just technical—it was relational. And it stands in stark contrast to what Lorain County just did: rip the core out of its existing system, offer vague reassurances, and push through a new monopoly with little to no agency buy-in.
Final Thought: What Changed—And Who Benefits?
For months, the public was told there would be no vote, no forced switch, no disruption to CCI’s access. The Commissioners deflected, denied, and even gaslit those who raised alarm, suggesting it was premature to say the county was making any decision at all. Yet here we are: the lease has been terminated, CCI is being forced off the tower, and the county’s leadership is marching in full lockstep into an exclusive MARCS arrangement—after pledging they wouldn’t.
But the most jarring shift isn’t just from the Commissioners. It’s from Sheriff Jack Hall, who campaigned on transparency, fiscal accountability, and resisting unnecessary government spending. In his August 12 press release, Hall now appears to support the very move he once questioned. This isn’t just a policy pivot—it’s a political about-face. Why now? What changed between Hall’s prior caution and this newly harmonized tune with Gallagher, Riddell, and Moore? Was it pressure from the Board? A concession in exchange for support on the proposed sales tax increase? Or something else entirely?
Let’s be clear: the Sheriff’s Office just spent $150,000 more of taxpayer money to “maintain connectivity” with a system that the Commissioners are actively pushing off county infrastructure. That’s not fiscal responsibility—it’s doubling down on dysfunction. If MARCS was always going to demand exclusivity, then these interoperability promises mean little in the long term.
The public deserves more than platitudes and late-stage justifications. Sheriff Hall owes the people a full explanation of what motivated this shift—and whether his office will continue to serve as a check on County Commission power or simply fall in line. Because if the sheriff’s badge now echoes the commission’s agenda, who exactly is left to protect the public interest?
Legal Disclaimer:
The contents of this article are based on publicly available records, official statements, and investigative research conducted by the author. All opinions expressed are those of the author and are protected as free speech under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. Nothing in this publication should be construed as a statement of guilt, criminal liability, or misconduct unless already adjudicated in a court of law. All individuals and entities are presumed innocent unless proven otherwise. This article is intended for informational and journalistic purposes only.
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