Celebrating 30 Years with MPSCS & Gray Page, Bay City Supervisor

🎉 30th Anniversary Edition podcast with Michigan Public Safety Communications System (MPSCS) and Gray Page, Bay City Supervisor! 🎉 As we mark this milestone, we're proud to highlight one of our dedicated team members, Gray Page - Bay Region Supervisor and a longtime MPSCS employee whose commitment continues to shape our success. At our October Division Meeting, Gray was honored with the Director's Award by Director Brad Stoddard. This award recognizes his exceptional leadership, work ethic, and consistently positive attitude. Most recently, Gray played a key leadership role in the Motorola Virtualized Prime (V-Prime) Conversion Project, a major step forward in modernizing our system. For almost 30 years, Gray has made vital contributions to the MPSCS buildout, including but not limited to: 🔹 Genesee Simulcast 🔹 Saginaw Simulcast & Dispatch 🔹 Tuscola Dispatch 🔹 Lapeer Simulcast 🔹 City of Flint 🔹 Midland Simulcast & Dispatch 🔹 Bay County & Iosco County Dispatch Please join us in celebrating Gray’s incredible work and 30 years of reliable public safety communications in Michigan! 🔊📡 Transcript available here: https://cms.michigan.gov/mpscs/-/media/Project/Websites/MPSCS/Social_Media/Transcripts/Gray-Page-Bay-City-Transcript-Final.pdf

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:05

Well, hello, welcome to our podcast. Tune in with MPSCS. My name is Danielle Stewart. In celebration of Michigan's Public Safety Communication Systems 30th Anniversary, we are fortunate to have with us one of our outstanding longtime MPSCS employees and Bay Region supervisor Gray Page. In October, at our MPSCS annual division meeting, Gray was given the director's award by our director, Brad Stoddard, for his leadership, work ethic, and positive attitude. Gray's most recent leadership was demonstrated in the MPSCS Motorola Virtualized Prime V Prime conversion project. Welcome to the show, Gray.

SPEAKER_03 0:46

It's good to be here, Daniel.

SPEAKER_04 0:48

Could you tell us a little bit about yourself, about where you live, your family, hobbies, what you like to do for fun?

SPEAKER_03 0:54

Sure. I've lived in Midland for 28 years. I've been married for 34 years and happily married. I have a wonderful wife. I have two children and now I have two grandsons, so who have stolen their grandpa's heart. So as far as uh what I like to do, I I really am kind of a family guy. Um I spend a lot of time with with my kids, my grandkids, um, um, my wife, um, also um my church family. I I do a lot of stuff uh at the church. I also uh a lot of friends. So um I like motorcycling, I like hunting, I like fishing, I like shooting, and I'm hoping that when those grandsons get a little bit older, we're gonna do some fishing.

SPEAKER_04 1:44

So that will be great, Greg. I totally identify with some of that. My husband's a huge fisherman himself, and he's gotten our boys into it. So I am sure they will be right there with grandpa in no time. Could you tell us a little bit about what you do as the Bay Region supervisor at MPSCS and how long you've worked there?

SPEAKER_03 2:07

Sure. Um, I really I'm I'm privileged to uh be the supervisor there. I have a uh great team of radio techs um and and just not great radio techs, but just good guys. Um so I I enjoy being there. Um I've been there since um 96. Um, came out of the military and started there. I actually started as um the Bridgeport Radio Tech, um, which um there was no Bridgeport Radio Shop in the 3rd district. Uh so I actually there were two radio shops, the Bay City Radio Shop and the Flint Radio Shop. I kind of split my time between the two. There was two radio shops because the Flint Radio Shop in the 3rd District took care of Genesee County. Genesee County was maintained by MSP, dispatched by MSP. Um, so that that took uh quite a bit of my time. So yeah.

SPEAKER_04 2:59

Absolutely. You've been with us for a very long time, and we're so glad to have you, Gray. Um, what does your area do and cover um in the Bay region? What are some of the specific functions within your section? We know that there are a lot of moving parts that go into what a shop handles.

SPEAKER_03 3:16

Yeah, there is. Um, but really uh like some of the other radio shops or the all the other radio shops, we maintain the subscribers for uh the state of Michigan. Um, you know, the the mobile office equipment that are in the MSP vehicles, the communication stuff in DNR, uh MDOT, you know, anything that state of Michigan, uh communications, um, radio communications we take care of. Um, but also the infrastructure in the third district MSP area. So there's like 12 counties. We maintain the infrastructure. There's probably, I think there's 35 RF towers, and of those 35 towers, there's four simulcast systems, uh, Genesee, Saginaw, the pier, and Midland. So we maintain that infrastructure.

SPEAKER_04 3:58

That's a lot of responsibility, Gray.

SPEAKER_03 4:01

Yes, it is.

SPEAKER_04 4:02

A lot of responsibility. Um when and why did you enter into this type of work at MPSCS? Have you always wanted to do this type of work? Or, you know, how what brought you on this journey?

SPEAKER_03 4:15

Well, um, and I had a decision to make in '96 whether to stay in the Air Force or get out. I spent nine years in the Air Force. Um my dad was MSP. Um when I talked to him, he was like, Why don't you get out and you know, become a trooper? And I said, Well, dad, you know, there was a 17-year-old boy that wanted to be a trooper one time, and his dad talked him out of it. And he said, Well, his dad probably had a bad attitude at the time. So uh I actually took the trooper test. Um, but at the same time, there was a a position opening with communications in MSP. Uh, and I was in com in uh in the Air Force, and um so I took the trooper test. I needed a 98, I got a 95. Um, and so I decided to instead of retaking the test, I I had written a letter to Mr. Harry Warner, who was uh in kind of head of uh the com division at the time, actually, I think Lieutenant Stefel was, but um maybe he was the assistant at the time. And uh I think my journey kind of started from there. I I actually came back to um to Michigan because I was living in Georgia at the time after I got out of the Air Force, and I started at a radio shop uh in Bay City, worked there four weeks in the two-week part, the state called me and they offered me a job. I gave them two weeks' notice. And uh so I've been I've been working here since then.

SPEAKER_04 5:38

That's a great story, Gray. We are so lucky to as a division as a whole, how many wonderful people we've had come to us with that military background and and how working communications in one of the military branches has led them in into you know our realm. Um, very interesting how that's all worked out. So thank you for your service, Greg. And uh that's that's an interesting start to your career. We are going to take a little break and we will be right back.

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SPEAKER_01 6:46

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SPEAKER_04 7:08

Welcome back to our podcast. Our guest today is Bay Region Supervisor at Michigan's Public Safety Communications System, Gray Page. Welcome back.

SPEAKER_03 7:18

Back in the saddle.

SPEAKER_04 7:19

Grey, could you tell us about some of the big projects you have worked on and what sort of improvements have been made to the system in your area under your leadership?

SPEAKER_03 7:31

There's been quite a few projects over the years. So I can think back and uh talk about Genesee, and Genesee uh came on, you know, like I I spoke of earlier. Uh we maintained their high band system. Uh they uh became a member of um MPSCS back in 2005. Um we brought them on as a simulcast. It was a seven-site simulcast system and dispatch center. Um they were the second simulcast system uh to uh integrate into the MPSCS. I think Monroe was the first. So uh they came on in like 05. Um from there they actually added another site, I think in 2008, uh Davison site, to increase portable coverage in that area. Um Saginaw Simulcast and Dispatch came on in 2009. Umulcast system. Um 2011 we brought on an ASR site with Bay County. Also, um I think Tuscola Dispatch came on at that time, integrated. Um wow, it's uh 2012. Lapier Simulcast and dispatch came on and came on the system, and that's a lot of work. The Simulcast systems, you know, that was a six-site simulcast. It's a lot of work bringing those on. You know, it's a huge undertaking. It's a time, a long time period, too. So uh that was in uh 2012. Um we also built out another site in uh Flint. Uh 3509 came on. Flint uh joined with, they weren't part of the consortium in Genesee when Genesee came on, and they wanted to add additional coverage in the city of Flint, so they built a site there that added to the Genesee Simulcast system too. Um that was like 2014. Uh Midland came on in 2015, simulcast system and dispatch. Um after that, we had some dispatch centers like Bay County, uh, I think it was 2018, Iasco County Dispatch, 2019 or so. Then we went into COVID and things kind of slowed down.

SPEAKER_04 9:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 9:40

Um but um it's it's there's been a lot of projects like that. In in between that, of course, there's been big MSP projects of cameras and MBC changeouts and and DNR. Uh so it's kept us busy through the years. Um, you know, I we've increased interoperability, I believe, through through that time period uh I've been there really just assisting locals as they make decisions to whether to come on or not. And then at that point, you know, recommending and working with them on comp plans, storm plans. So there's uh it's been a good ride.

SPEAKER_04 10:20

With all of those projects, I'd suspect that your days go by pretty fast.

SPEAKER_03 10:25

They do.

SPEAKER_04 10:25

They do. Yes. That's that makes work good. It makes work fun. I like it, Gray. I like it.

SPEAKER_03 10:32

Well, the only time is is when I'm sitting behind a computer doing management stuff.

SPEAKER_04 10:37

Then it goes Then time slows down.

SPEAKER_03 10:40

Yes, time slows down.

SPEAKER_04 10:41

I I understand that too. I, you know, busy hands is is the way to go. Um do you have any great stories or favorite memories that you want to share about your career? Um there it's always hard when you get put on the spot with it, but I am sure in your time you just want to do that.

SPEAKER_03 11:04

I mean, through I mean, if I look back, uh, you know, when we did the initial coverage testing for the system and being with like an MS a trooper driving a blue goose going into Godforsaken country, uh, you know, like like uh Camp Grayling up there and them thinking they're gonna make it through, you know, a sand pit with a with a crown Vic, you know, um and have to dig them out later or or during an upgrade like I think from 5.0 to to 6-0, um, you know, when we when we were running site to site, changing out uh SRU boards to HSU boards and in the channel banks and doing that and trying to get it done fast and kind of a competition. I remember Don Schmelzer, he he actually works on Motorola now and has for quite a long time, but he worked on the west side of the state. And uh I can remember listening on the radio as we were going site to site, and I was trying to keep up with him because he was good. He was a good guy.

SPEAKER_04 12:00

Friendly competition to get the work done, right?

SPEAKER_03 12:02

Yeah, you betcha. So um, but in and it seems like in the beginning we had some I don't know, it was more time to kind of play pranks on people, you know. Oh, yeah. The techs kind of, you know, we have the sirens available, and uh every now and then a siren would end up in a in a car, you know, inside the car. Um I can think I can tell you one story of a time um there was a couple radio techs when I first came out at the Bay City radio shop. Um, well, one of the radio techs decided one day he was gonna hook up a siren. He put a little switch on the on the chair of the other tech's chair. And we were in a little 10 by 10. There were three of us in a 10 by 10 room, three workbenches, a little office desk. So it's a closed room. It was in the it was in the big old Bay City Post on in Bay City. And um, so he sets that up and he put up a you know, our our benches were so full of equipment, and he put up the speaker right there. So it's like this close. And uh so the other radio tech comes in and he sits down in that chair and he starts talking and he leans back. And all of a sudden, yes, full siren man. He came up out of that chair and we were laughing. Okay, well, that's not the best part. So the best part is the tech that set that up in the first place. He's like, he had to go out and work on something. So the air tech was like, watch this. So he took the chair and he moved it on the other side, re-ran the cable, and put it on his side. The only problem is he forgot to take the speaker and put it over on the other guy's tech. So he came back in, he sits down in his chair, the air tech's sitting there, and he got blasted again. And I I I could not I was just dying. So, but we did a lot of prank stuff. Uh it seemed like we had more time to back then. I don't know, we just don't seem to have that time now. We're just running. But uh but you know, um I would have to say that we make memories every day. Yeah, you know, the team, we work together, you know. Um we have a we have a guy that comes in and cleans occasionally now, and he told me he told me the other day, he goes, he goes, Man, I love coming in here. When you guys are here, he goes, You're like poking at each other, you guys are laughing. And we do. We work we have a good team, so it's a that does.

SPEAKER_04 14:27

That makes for amazing camaraderie, it makes for a happy workplace, it makes for a good environment. Like you just you you don't get that everywhere, so it's very special when we share.

SPEAKER_03 14:41

We share information, we share, you know, our experiences, we share, you know, family issues, you know. So it's it's good.

SPEAKER_04 14:50

That's great, Gray. Um I've got another great uh couple of questions for you as we work towards wrapping this up. What is a fun fact about you that most people don't know?

SPEAKER_03 15:03

A fun fact. Well, I said I was in the military. Well, I met my wife in the military on the M16 range. She actually outshot me. She got expert, and for the first time I did not, because you've probably never heard of these, but we had these things called BCGs. They were glasses. So if you had to wear glasses, you know, you had to wear these BCGs. They're called birth control glasses. We we call them BCGs because when you put them on, they were like them old 50s black rimmed.

SPEAKER_04 15:30

Oh man. That's what they were.

SPEAKER_03 15:31

So we call them BCGs. Well, I didn't want her to see me in those BCGs, so I kept taking them off when I to impress your your future wife. I did not shoot expert that time, but we actually went out for lunch. I asked her out to lunch and we went out to lunch, and the rest is kind of history. We, you know, that was at Eglin Air Force Base. Um, it was just about a year later that we did a joint assignment to Guam at Anderson Air Force Base. So married.

SPEAKER_04 15:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 15:57

So yeah.

SPEAKER_04 15:58

That is a great story. And the fact that it's your wife that outshot you, even though I know why, and it's because of those glasses. I mean, as as a as a woman, girl power, that is that is awesome. I that is a great story.

SPEAKER_03 16:13

She's good with a she's good with a pistol, too.

SPEAKER_04 16:15

Yeah. That you need to introduce me to your wife. That's awesome. Um, what kind of advice would you give a student um looking into this as a career choice for them, or what is maybe the best piece of advice that you've gotten over your career?

SPEAKER_03 16:35

Um, I would really recommend that somebody go into the military. I, you know, for a student, say serve four years, serve your country four years, learn in in if they want to be in this career field, in this career field. I mean, there's I know in the Air Force there's a ground radio tech position, that's what I was in. There's avionics. Um, we just hired uh Albert Self. Um he came out of the army. He was it was it was called actually an avionics mechanic, but they did all the communications in in in planes and choppers and so forth. So um, you know, there's there's good stuff there to learn, but but not only not only as far as education and experience, but but learn how to follow and learn how to lead because you can't you can't lead without learning how to follow. Um and you learn that in the military, you learn discipline, you you learn camaraderie. If you're normally an independent worker, you learn teamwork. If you're normally a team worker, you learn independence. So that would be my my suggestion. Um, as far as I guess uh stuff I've been, you know, my dad always used to tell me, do right. My grandfather always used to say, well, when I asked him, I told him I was going to the military, he said, go into electronics or computers.

unknown 17:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:59

That was my grandpa. Yeah. So I went into electronics, RF electronics. So that was probably some of the best uh advice I was given.

SPEAKER_04 18:08

Sounds like you had some good role models in in your father and your grandfather.

SPEAKER_03 18:14

My grandpa was Lincoln Park Police Department. He was uh uh retired from there as lieutenant, my dad was 28 years MSP, commander at Bridgeport, retired out of there, and then another 17 years as a chief of police in Carroll. Um so Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 18:30

There's a wealth of knowledge there too. I'm I'm absolutely sure of it. Um so moving forward, uh what plans do you have for your future or what other things do you like to do? Where where do you see yourself going?

SPEAKER_03 18:46

Um well I'm it's gonna be a while before I retire. Uh but it's that's good.

SPEAKER_04 18:53

We need to keep you. We already did an interview. My grandsons are colon. I know they are, but but we still need you here, Gray.

SPEAKER_03 19:03

Well, I'm gonna be here, well, Lord willing, I'll be here for a while. But I I think um, you know, technology is gonna change, because then technology always changes. Uh I think to focus on continuing supporting the team to ensure they have what they need, what we have what we need to do our mission, to ensure uh our first responders have uh reliable communications. Um so push towards that end uh as far as the career side, as far as personal, um those grandsons are gonna see a lot, they're gonna get tired of the grandpa. So and that's a good thing. But uh yes, it is. I I'm looking forward to that. I mentioned about fishing earlier. I do more hunting and motorcycling than fishing, but I did some fishing in the military and so forth, so we're gonna kind of get into that together, you know. But uh yeah, their parents are gonna um be like, you're taking them again.

SPEAKER_04 20:01

Yes. It it helps it helps the young parents out as one myself. I understand. So it's it's the grandpa. I'll remember that. The grandmas, okay? You guys are unsung heroes when it comes to to helping with the kids. That's great, Gray. Um, so this is all the time that we have for today, and we just want to thank you, Gray Page, for being here to tell us about yourself and the MPSTS Bay region as a supervisor and the work that you guys do. So we really appreciated your time today.

SPEAKER_03 20:33

Well, thank you for having me to share. Appreciate it.

SPEAKER_04 20:35

Absolutely. We hope that you've all enjoyed the show and we will be back soon. Thank you for listening. Tune in with MTSTS instant pin and mts 30th universe twenty fifty two podcasts.