Information Technology issues came up at Monday's agenda session in a few contexts. Besides the "other expenses" budget for IT being 100 percent expended a third into the FY 2011 fiscal year, two temporary employees are being added while the administration pursues a shared services plan with the school district.
Readers will recall there had been a shared services plan with the Plainfield school district in 2008 when the city's current IT manager, Chris Payne, was working for the district. The shared services plan stopped abruptly. Meanwhile, the city spent quite a bit of time choosing the right title and salary for an IT manager. Upon coming to the city this year, Payne announced an ambitious IT plan (see Plaintalker's post here).
The three- to six-month timeframe noted in Plaintalker's post is just about up and the general turmoil that has afflicted the city in recent months now seems to be reflected in the IT sphere. Staffing, spending and shared services are issues once more.
"You can't just keep throwing employees at IT without a plan," Councilman Adrian Mapp said Monday.
"The goal is to have a minimal staff in place while pursuing an interlocal services agreement," City Administrator Bibi Taylor said.
Upon hearing Taylor talk about discussions toward making a contract, Councilwoman Bridget Rivers said in the past agreement both the City Council and school board were involved.
Corporation Counsel Dan Williamson suggested the possibility of a joint committee being formed, which Rivers endorsed.
Councilman Rashid Burney asked whether the IT manager had prepared documents, saying before a shared services agreement, "You still have to know what you need."
The governing body requested that Payne come before them next month, but Mapp said he didn't understand how the board could consider a shared services agreement unless the city knows the costs and asked for that information by next Tuesday's council meeting.
The prior agreement cost the city $120,000 for six months.
Williamson said the matter could be discussed on Oct 12 in closed session.
The interface of IT and Public Information, which Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs said would be coordinated under Payne through her office, is also unclear. Councilman Cory Storch said he sees a benefit from IT but questioned Public Information funding. There is no longer a public information officer, but an "other expense" budget line is being used to pay for a videographer and editing.
"We're over-budget on that," Storch said, questioning the benefit.
Taylor said the editing services are for the local television channel as well as for printing of a municipal newsletter.
To read about Payne's move from the district to City Hall and IT plans earlier this year, click here.
--Bernice Paglia
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The city administration seems to invent new ways to waste time, talent and money every week. Or maybe it's the same way, just freshened up a bit. Let's see: fanciful planning; an individual director without support who reports directly to the mayor; severe underestimating of costs; a call by the administration to give them some more time to work it out. Sound familiar?
ReplyDeleteFirst, we all need to acknowledge that the mayor simply isn't any good at leading except for those events where hugging is involved. Second, the council lacks the talent and the spine to find a way to impose their will on what they know, or should know, is an intolerable situation that's getting worse. And third, except for a very few the residents are sheep waggling their way toward their annual shearing, content to be in their paradises far from the high rent of the East Side or the low slum of East Orange.
This is typical of a City Council that doesn't know what it wants and has few means to get it even when it thinks it's on to something. However, even if the Council spent its entire time setting up all the ducks in a row, having an Administration that can't walk a straight line would be no help at all. Our city government is like facing the mess in the kitchen sink after a party that is only a haze of memory. Or some foul-tasting concoction we've brewed up after tossing everything into the blender. The Yuk factor is high, day in and day out.
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