How Motorola Got Its MoJo

http://www.adn.com/2014/03/29/3393129/how-one-timely-purchase-of-hardware.html?sp=/99/171/

How one timely purchase of hardware bent a radio contract Motorola’s way
By Greg Gordon and Lydia Mulvany
McClatchy Washington Bureau
March 29, 2014 Updated 1 hour ago

WASHINGTON — It was just one piece of equipment in an intricate emergency digital radio network, but the 2005 purchase of a Motorola master controller by California’s Alameda County started an often nasty intra-governmental tug of war that has worn on for nearly nine years.

The purchase all but assured that a new two-county communications system would be built by Motorola.

And those who resisted paid a price.

Three communications specialists in neighboring Contra Costa County were allegedly pushed out of their government jobs when they objected to cities scrapping their fully functioning emergency radio systems to join the expensive new Motorola network.


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http://www.adn.com/2014/03/29/3393118/misrepresentations-help-motorola.html?sp=/99/171/

Misrepresentations help Motorola get a $50 million federal grant
By Greg Gordon and Lydia Mulvany
McClatchy Washington Bureau
March 29, 2014 Updated 1 hour ago

WASHINGTON — As a Motorola saleswoman from 2004 to 2006, Laura Phillips coached local officials on how to secure state and federal grant money to pay for new public safety radio equipment.

Later, Phillips used her knowledge in a much different way.

When she was put at the helm of a government agency overseeing funding for emergency communication projects in the San Francisco Bay Area, her office shepherded an unusual federal grant that handed her former employer a $50 million deal to build the nation’s first regional high-speed broadband network for emergency responders.

The episode shines light on what might be called a reverse revolving door: Instead of leaving government for private industry or lobbying jobs, numerous employees of Motorola and its rivals have quit their private-sector jobs for government positions in which they’ve taken actions benefiting their ex-employers.

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http://www.adn.com/2014/03/29/3393119/motorola-spreads-its-money-and.html?sp=/99/171/

Motorola spreads its money and influence far and wide
By Lydia Mulvany and Greg Gordon
McClatchy Washington Bureau
March 29, 2014 Updated 1 hour ago

WASHINGTON — Motorola executives don’t talk much about their efforts to win friends in high places, but a trail of public records provides the outlines of the company’s attempts to cultivate loyalty and befriend key government decision makers.

The firm has recruited law enforcement and national intelligence chiefs to its corporate board.

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It has contributed nearly $2 million over the last decade to the Republican and Democratic governors associations, which in turn helped foot the re-election costs of governors whose administrations awarded Motorola big contracts.

Motorola, which now operates independently as Motorola Solutions Inc., has spent upward of $60 million on federal lobbying over the last decade and untold sums lobbying states.