The State Controlling Board on June 2 approved a waiver requested by Cuyahoga Community College to continue contracting with a systems integrator for security camera integration and related services.

Sen. Kirk Wilkin asked why part of the work appeared to involve an out‑of‑state vendor and whether the camera hardware had been competitively procured. Lieutenant Reginald Akins and Peter Anderson represented the college. The college said the waiver covers the systems integrator—U.S. Communications Electric—rather than camera hardware. A college representative said the college is transitioning existing cameras to new servers and that U.S. Communications is the systems integrator that will perform the integration, maintenance and commissioning.

Why it matters: Sen. Wilkin said he had not previously seen a sole‑source systems integrator arrangement for a college and asked how the college initially selected the vendor. College representatives said the vendor had been selected after a prior competitive bid and that the college had worked with several vendors over many years before choosing U.S. Communications.

Discussion vs. action: the college explained the integration scope, hardware purchases (servers) and that the vendor would handle migration; the Controlling Board approved the waiver after the explanations.

What’s next: board staff advised agencies bringing waivers to be ready to explain when the last competitive solicitation was held and when a future bid will be expected.