Florida Firm Wins $80-Million County Radio Contract : Police: Deal to install high-tech gear in all O.C. cruisers tentatively goes to company purportedly pushed by sheriff.

The county on Tuesday tentatively awarded an $80-million communications contract--one of the largest contracts in county history--to a Florida company that plans to put new, high-tech radios in every Orange County police cruiser by 1997.

Authorities said the new radios will allow police and public works agencies to better communicate from city to city during emergencies, replacing a system that is unreliable and overtaxed.

The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved Harris Corp.’s bid, on the condition that the company can satisfy seven final concerns about the radio system’s performance by late November. Harris, the low bidder, edged out Motorola Communications and Electronics Inc.

The board’s decision comes after a top county official said last week that Orange County Sheriff Brad Gates urged him to consider awarding the communications contract to Harris, which for more than a year has employed the sheriff’s friend and political ally, Gary L. Hausdorfer, as a financial adviser on the radio project.

R.A. Scott, director of the General Services Agency, told The Times that Gates talked to him at least three times about giving Harris “a fair shot.” Scott said that based on the conversations with Gates, he believed the sheriff’s preference was for Harris to get the contract.

Scott, who said the sheriff’s words had no impact in deciding company qualifications, said Tuesday: “The (selection) process has been scrupulously fair and objective.”

But Gates said again Tuesday that he never spoke to Scott on behalf of the company and never expressed a preference. The sheriff said he did speak with Scott and County Administrative Officer Ernie Schneider in August about why it was taking so long for the county to settle on a company.

Supervisors on Tuesday stressed that there was a “level playing field” during the competitive selection process.

During the meeting, Supervisor Roger R. Stanton held up a copy of the Saturday Times article quoting Scott, saying it was “somehow twisted” because Stanton thought there was no hint of impropriety connected to Harris’ selection.

At one point before the supervisors voted, Stanton asked Scott how he and county staff reached a recommendation for Harris.

“Are you doing it because Brad Gates told you to do it or are you doing it because your professional input is telling you this is the way to go?” Stanton asked.

“I never do things because Brad Gates says so,” Scott replied.

Hausdorfer, a San Juan Capistrano council member who said last week that he never spoke with the sheriff about his work for Harris, declined to comment Tuesday.

Supervisors recently approved a new code of ethics that further restricts activities by current and former county officials and employees. An elected official would be barred from making a recommendation to the county on behalf of a particular firm if the official had been hired by the company or had a financial stake in the firm. Gates said he had no connection to Harris.

Harris Corp., if formally awarded the contract, would produce transmission units and thousands of radios for police departments and public works agencies throughout Orange County. The system, which will require some new transmitter stations in the county, will operate on more than 60 channels designated for county use by the Federal Communications Commission.

The current radio system, Scott said, “is almost like a freeway that has slowed to 5 m.p.h. We got so many users on the roadway that in some areas it takes an unacceptable amount of time to get on the air.”

There are about 4,000 law enforcement radios in the county now. That number is expected to rise to about 7,000 by the year 2000, a county report states.

County officials said their preference for Harris was based largely on cost. Motorola submitted a bid that was about $4 million more than Harris’, Scott said.