Vote Yes to approve King County Prop. 1- an urgently needed investment in public safety.

Our first responders in King County are currently using a seriously outdated radio network to dispatch and respond to emergency situations. This decades-old system was designed in 1992 and built for a county with a smaller population spread over a much smaller geographic area. Capacity of the system can be strained today even in moderately large incidents and large areas of the County suffer from poor or no radio signal. A vote to approve King County Prop. 1 will fix these very serious issues.

When callers dial 911, emergency responders use the radio system to locate them, dispatch support and coordinate response on-site. At every step in that process, it is absolutely essential that our responders have the resources they need to get the job done. Our communities are safer when our emergency personnel have reliable tools.  The emergency radio network is a critical tool that is used by Fire, Police and EMS to do their jobs on every call, every day, across all 39 cities and the unincorporated parts of King County.

A vote to approve Prop. 1 will provide essential equipment that our first responders need to communicate during life-threatening emergencies.  The project will build, improve or replace towers and shelters at radio sites; install all the radio and peripheral infrastructure needed for system functionality; replace all dispatch console equipment; and, replace end user radios for public agencies. Without this network, the safety of our responders and the public will be at risk.

Please vote to Approve King County Prop. 1 for the April 28 election.

Bruce Bassett has been the mayor of Mercer Island since 2012.