What were they thinking? Two recent votes by the Loudoun Board of Supervisors – one to spend $36 million to replace a six-year-old public safety radio system, and the other rejecting a proposed marketing partnership with the Washington Redskins – have lots of folks across the region scratching their heads in disbelief. Loudoun County has a $200 million budget deficit and there is talk of raising the property tax rate to offset revenue losses after home prices plunged from an average of $516,000 in July 2007 to $320,000 last month. On the same day as the Redskins vote, Loudou supervisors voted to buy a new emergency response radio system from Motorola – the same company that installed the county’s current system. Only Board Chairman Scott York and Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio, R-Sterling, voted no.

Loudoun’s existing $13 million system was purchased six years ago under a sole-source contract with Motorola. After being told this time around by Motorola that no other vendors could ensure communications interoperability with surrounding jurisdictions, supervisors were threatened with a $5 million price hike if they didn’t okay the new contract by Dec. 31.