IT Moving Forward

The IT Manager Ordinance has passed on the first reading. While similar to the ordinance that was proposed earlier this year, there are some key differences that I would like to highlight:

1. We are no longer hiring a Director, but a Manager. The difference in title means a difference in salary. We will no longer be mandated to pay a Director upwards of $130,000, a salary that I thought was too high. As it turns out, the salary research that I requested of the administration revealed that a slightly lower salary range was more fitting (70k-110k). While this is still no drop in the bucket, I recognize that we need to pay for talent. We just don’t need to overpay. And we certainly don’t need to overpay without seeing what this person will actually deliver on.
2. An IT citizen advisory committee is being put in place to help steer the development of an IT Department. This Council appointed committee of 14 residents share a background in technology and management. They are charged with using their knowledge to help ensure that an IT Manager is delivering what we need and is not taking advantage of our limited resources. The basic goals have been laid out by the administration already include upgrading and maintenance of existing hardware and software and support of the newly implemented Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) and telecommunication system (VOIP).
3. Shared Services is being considered as a way to save costs city-wide. The Council’s IT sub-committee will continue to look into what type of agreements make the most sense. I believe there will be an opportunity to share technicians/help-desk employees between the City and other local entities (ex: Board of Ed., Public Library) in the near-future.
4. We have an idea of how much money, about $200,000 total, will be spent on an IT department. These figures were provided to the Council by the Administration. The Council will have an opportunity to revisit this issue soon as we are approaching budget season. I am sure that the Citizen Budget Advisory Committee will weigh on this issue as well.

Creating this position is a step in the right direction. I will continue to work to ensure that this is a successful endeavor. Plainfield can now move successfully into the 21^st century. I look forward to seeing City Hall run more efficiently and residents being able to take advantage of our technological advancements.

I would like to thank the outspoken residents, the rest of the Council and the administration for ensuring that my questions were answered and my concerns addressed. I believe that this will be the standard going forward.

.