HomeMy WebLinkAboutSPWS Minutes 1996-04-30SRCC MINUTES (Special Workshop) 4/30/96 Page 1
IN COUNCIL CHAMBER OF THE CITY OF SAN RAFAEL, THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 1996, AT 7:10
PM
Special Workshop Meeting:
Mayor
San Rafael City Council
Councilmember
Data Processing Committee
Councilmember
Gary O. Phillips, Councilmember
Also Present: Suzanne Golt, Acting City Manager
Vaughn Stratford, Library Director
Jeanne M. Leoncini, City Clerk
Present: Albert J. Boro,
Paul M. Cohen,
Barbara Heller,
1.SPECIAL WORKSHOP - DATA PROCESSING - File 4-3-296 x 4-3-117
Acting City Manager Suzanne Golt explained Ed Reed of Wise Consulting Services would
review the report and recommendations, noting several scenarios had been
included, from the ideal through the rock bottom, basic recommendations. She
also noted she had distributed a report prepared by herself and Fire Chief
Marcucci, which included a summary of staff's recommendations which they felt
were the bottom line recommendations if, in fact, the Wise Consulting
recommendations were not implemented.
Ms. Golt stated there would be no final recommendations or decisions made at this
time, noting the end result would need to be considered during the budget process.
Ed Reed, Principal with Wise Consulting Services, addressed the Council, stating
much of his information had already been discussed in an earlier session, and
noting he would cover the high spots and ask for questions of the Council.
Referring to the section of the report entitled "Key Findings", Mr. Reed stated
the City of San Rafael was currently paying BRC $400,000 per year to provide
the majority of its Information Systems hardware, application software, computer
operations, and other technical support. Mr. Reed stated it was the finding
of Wise Consulting Services, including interviews with City staff, that everyone
felt BRC was providing a reasonable service at a reasonable cost, and that they
were doing exactly what the contract provided for.
Mr. Reed stated if there is a problem, it is that the contract does not provide
for BRC offering a total Citywide Information System solution, noting BRC was
here specifically to address Public Safety Systems, Financial Systems, limited
Parks and Recreation support, and whatever other support they might be able
to fit within the staffing level provided to the City, but it was not their
responsibility, nor obligation or commitment, to provide and meet all the City' s
information and technology needs. Mr. Reed stated that because of the
Facilities Management environment, and because the City does not have an
Information Systems Manager spearheading its internal efforts, the City has
little control over its Information System. He stated we do not have a complete,
integrated Citywide service delivery solution, noting what we do have is a
solution that works very well for certain departments, and not so well for a
number of others. He stated Wise Consulting Services felt the City might be
paying more for the services provided than necessary under other delivery
options; however, he felt it was reasonable to expect that BRC, as a "For Profit"
organization, was entitled to make a profit.
Mr. Reed stated the recommendations included their suggestion that the City, over
time, should transition from its current outsourcing arrangement to an inhouse
managed Information Systems function, noting he was stressing the words "over
time", because he does not believe the City is in a position to make that migration
quickly, or without a lot of planning, forethought, staffing, budgeting, and
transition. To help the transition and to take control of its future Information
Systems, Mr. Reed stated it was recommended the City immediately move to hire
an Information Systems Manager, reporting to the City Manager's Office, noting
that would provide a needed element that has been missing, which is to have
someone on the City's staff whose focus is information technology, and is
concerned not just about public safety and finance, but about the needs of all
the departments within the City. Mr. Reed stated they also recommended that
the City should negotiate an extension of the current BRC contract, which
provides for the following: first, phase the replacement of BRC staff with City
staff over a period of five years. He noted there are currently three BRC people,
and Wise Consulting Services is suggesting the City hire an Information Systems
Manager, which would actually constitute a fourth person, so presumably, at
the end three years, there would be four people. Mr. Reed stated it was
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reasonable to think that if three people are needed to manage Public Safety
and Finance, more than three people are going to be needed to handle the entire
City, and that is the basis for their recommendation.
Mr. Reed stated the second recommendation was the transfer of ownership of the Data
General Aviion UNIX Computers from BRC to the City within four years, stating
the reality is that the hardware, at the end of the four-year period, will have
little value to the City or BRC, except to run the applications that we already
have. He stated resale or street value would be virtually negligible, but it
would have value to the City if the City continues to run BRC's Financial and
Public Safety applications, and it would provide for a platform and minimize
the City's future operating costs. Mr. Reed stated Wise Consulting Services
felt the proposal was fair to BRC, and that four years from today would actually
be more than five years from the time the contract was signed and the time the
equipment was purchased, and BRC would have easily recovered the cost of that
equipment during the five-year time- frame. Mr. Reed noted that currently the
contract provides that anytime the City ends the relationship with BRC, the
hardware belongs to BRC.
Mr. Reed noted the current BRC contract expires in September of this year, and while
he acknowledged the Council was not going to make any decisions during this
meeting, he pointed out that he felt it was getting to the point where time
is of the essence, and this issue does need to be brought to closure so the
City can start renegotiations if, in fact, the Council adopts the recommendations
in the report.
Mr. Reed stated the third recommendation was the transition of BRC from a facilities
manager to a software and technical service supplier. He noted Wise Consulting
Services is not saying that BRC is going to disappear, but that their role is
going to change, and the City should take over control of its own future and
destiny. He stated BRC could still be considered as a software supplier, and
as a technical service supplier. Mr. Reed stated Wise Consulting Services has
specifically recommended that negotiations be held, as part of the whole
reprocurement process, to also have BRC design and install a Citywide
communications network at an agreed upon fixed price. He pointed out the
findings in the report should in no way be interpreted as a knock on BRC or
the services they are providing, noting they are suggesting BRC continue to
be used as a supplier of services to the City.
Mayor Boro noted the chart referring to cost shows BRC being phased out after seven
years, and asked what role Wise Consulting Services envisioned for BRC at the
end of that timeframe? Mr. Reed stated the phase out is of the BRC staff, and
the hardware and software cost, and he noted they are anticipating the
replacement of Financial Payroll Systems and replacement of Police and Fire
Records Systems. He stated if BRC is going to remain a future software and
technical service supplier, those are the areas where they would expect them
to step up and offer their proposal for new and improved software, and continue
in their role as software supplier and provide technical support during
installation, training and conversion; however, they would no longer be in the
Facilities Manager role after the seven year period. Mayor Boro asked who would
operate the hardware, and Mr. Reed stated the City's staff would operate the
hardware, noting the hardware pretty much operates itself, with the exception
of some back-up operations that need to be performed to back-up disk files,
and the occasional operating system updates from the vendors.
Councilmember Cohen stated presumably the report should include money allocated
to BRC for the software and technical services, and noted this was not broken
out as payments to BRC. He asked where the report shows the money to BRC for
software and technical services? Mr. Reed stated it was shown in Item #27,
Replacing Financial Payroll Systems, noting the total $360,000 includes
providing for a software license fee, installation, training and conversion
support, and an ongoing maintenance contract at $40,000 per year for BRC to
provide enhancements, modifications, and technical support. He stated there
was a similar function which calls for the upgrading of Police and Fire Department
records and CAD Systems, noting this would have an upfront cost and an ongoing
cost. Mr. Reed stated the Citywide Network addresses the upfront negotiations
with BRC to provide the design and installation support of local area networks
and wide area networks, with a $100,000 initial cost, and then an ongoing
maintenance contract of $10,000 per year. Mr. Reed stated there were a number
of projects under which BRC, if they were selected as the service or software
supplier, would continue to earn revenues from the City that would off -set many
of the revenues they would lose by no longer being in the Facilities Manager
role.
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Councilmember Phillips noted Mr. Reed was recommending the City negotiate an
extension with BRC, and asked if BRC had certain unique capabilities which the
City must look to them to provide, or could the City go to bid? Mr. Reed stated
he felt the City should go to bid, and noted the only item where Wise Consulting
Services was suggesting a "sole source" award be made to BRC would be for the
design and installation of the local area and wide area networks, which are
the communications
systems he has been discussing. He stated that when the City was ready to replace
the Financial and Payroll Systems, or Police and Fire Department CAD and Records
Systems, then Wise Consulting Services believed the City should go out for
competitive bid.
Mr. Reed stated it would be reasonable to expect that BRC would be a very competitive
player, and their knowledge of the City should give them a competitive advantage,
but noted this was not to say the City should not keep the practice open and
honest, and as competitive as possible to get the best deal. Mr. Reed stated
there was a transition downward, and there was still the opportunity for BRC
to continue in the service supplier mode in the future, noting he had every
reason to believe they are making the kinds of investments in application
development that would allow them to be a legitimate contender in the future.
Mr. Reed reported BRC was now in the process of completing the development
of the Public Safety System, and they have made significant investments in
Financial Systems in the past, noting we can expect they will do so again in
the future. He acknowledged BRC has been in business for a very long time,
and was a major player in California and throughout the Country.
Acting City Manager Golt referred to the current contract's stipulation regarding
ownership of the hardware, stating the hardware would, in fact, be the City's
upon completion of five years, and noting the City was now two years into the
five year contract. Ms. Golt stated she had learned BRC was already working
on developing a proposal for the City's consideration relating to E -Mail and
the Network, two of the key elements in the Wise Consultant Services
recommendations, and also two key issues in terms of the Management Team. Ms.
Golt acknowledged she does not have final figures from BRC at this point; however,
they are developing a proposal for the City's consideration which would achieve
those two things for what would probably be a significantly reduced cost over
what was being projected in the Wise Consulting Services report. She stated
it remains to be seen what the final figures will be, but at this point in time
the Data Processing Committee is very optimistic that BRC will be able to come
in with a recommendation that would probably be very worthwhile for the Council
to consider in the budget process, and noted they will be coming back to Council
with more information regarding these two issues.
Councilmember Heller referred to the report's recommendation to direct staff to
budget a minimum of $125,000 to implement the basic recommendations contained
in the Wise Report, developed by the Management Team, for consideration as part
of the Fiscal Year 96-97 budget, and asked if that would still be in the upcoming
budget? Ms. Golt stated the staff report was now somewhat dated, and after
conversations she had recently with BRC concerning E -Mail and the Network, the
staff recommendation to the Council at this time should be to direct staff to
continue reviewing the recommendations of the Wise Report, and to continue
working with BRC. She noted at this point in time the $125,000, which had been
staff's bottom line or worst case scenario, probably could still be reduced
even further, and it was her recommendation that we pursue the E -Mail and the
Networking with BRC and see what kind of a cost savings could be achieved for
implementation during the upcoming budget year.
Mayor Boro asked if staff still recommended the Council authorize staff to extend
the existing contract with Wise Consulting Services to participate in the
negotiation of the BRC contract? Ms. Golt stated she and Chief Marcucci, at
this point in time, are not certain the City would want to entertain an extension
of the agreement with Wise Consulting Services for negotiating the extension
of the BRC contract, although this was not to say the City might entertain using
Wise Consulting Services for future negotiations. She felt at this point staff,
with BRC, needed to look at the E -Mail and Networking, and noted she would also
like to get input from the Management Team members whether there was anything
specific to the contract that we might want to talk about with BRC. She stated
the issue of the hardware ownership was resolved, noting this would be worked
into any proposed extension. Ms. Golt stated she would not be in a position
to recommend an extension of the agreement, noting this may be something to
be addressed in future years, but not at this point.
Following-up on the recommendations in the original report, Councilmember Cohen
asked if the budgeting of $125,000 to implement the basic recommendations
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contained in the Wise Report was changing as well? Ms. Golt stated this was
also changing, noting this would be far in excess of what staff would be
comfortable bringing back to the Council in the Budget Hearing process. She
noted when she refers to staff input during the Budget Hearing, this would include
input from all of the Management Team,
and she and Chief Marcucci would continue to be the lead staff to come forward before
the Council. She stated that if, in fact, the City could implement E-mail and
the Network, that would probably be the maximum recommendation staff would be
bringing to the Council for budget.
Councilmember Heller stated she felt it would be important to include a discussion
during the Budget Hearings regarding Citizen Complaint Tracking, noting she
felt this was something the City really needed to work on, and one of the City' s
departments needed to take on this issue.
Charles Stuckey, Chairman of the Budget Oversight Committee (BOC), stated the
Committee's first overview was that the City lacked a coordinated City view
of its Data Processing situation. He noted this was the single unifying factor
in the Committee's discussions, and was one of the most important things the
City needed.
Mr. Stuckey stated that currently, different departments are developing different
things, and doing it independently of the City as a whole, and that is not
conducive to the way Data Processing works. He noted he was glad to hear the
concept of BRC extending their contract, stating this seemed to be the logical
thing, but still leaves us with the question of what the City is going to do
overall? Mr. Stuckey stated the City was faced with a plan that runs out ten
years, and it was his personal feeling that planning anything regarding computers
more than three years was amazing, because the reality was that if you can buy
it on the market today, it would already be obsolete.
Mr. Stuckey stated he would like to see some consideration given in the overall
coordination of the City's Data Processing function to a knowledgeable
individual who is on the City payroll, as this was something the City really
did need. Ms. Golt agreed this was one of the key points staff would need to
address, and then bring recommendations to the Council, noting she did not
believe there would be any recommendation for in-house staff during this first
year, but might very well have that recommendation come forward during the next
year. In the meantime, something needed to be done to pull together a more
cohesive Data Processing program, because once the City begins renegotiating
the contract with BRC, this was one area where we would need to sit down and
hammer out some changes, not cost changes, but in terms of a change in how we
are operating, asking such questions as "What does BRC provide to the City in
terms of services, and how can they provide a more consistent program operation
for the City?". Ms. Golt stated she believed very strongly that this could
be developed within the contract, noting this was one thing she and Chief Marcucci
would be focusing on when they renegotiate a contract, assuming that is what
happens.
Mr. Reed stated one of the issues Wise Consulting Services had specifically talked
about was renegotiating a contract in which Peg Yeates' responsibilities would
be expanded to encompass the entire City, even though she would not necessarily
be transferred to City staff. He noted that, obviously, this was something
BRC was going to have to buy into, because she was on their payroll and working
to further their interests to a certain extent; however, he felt if it could
be negotiated where her role was expanded and she had a Citywide view, the City
could begin that process prior to actually hiring an Information Systems Manager
for the City. Mr. Reed stated one other concern was that when they recommended
installing the Local Area Network, they also provided for the replacement of
certain PC hardware. He stated it should be recognized that many of the PC's
in place today will not function in a Network environment, and there will have
to be some cost incurred, at some point, to upgrade some of the older PC's,
noting he did not know if those costs were in staff's revised budget forecast
or not.
Mayor Boro asked if Mr. Reed was suggesting that if the City was going to install
the Network, we should be very sure we have the components to drive it? Mr.
Reed stated that was correct, noting some of the older PC's simply would not
function in a "Windows" environment, and they would not be worth upgrading in
an attempt to make them function.
Councilmember Heller asked if Ms. Golt had stated the City was going to look for
someone to hire as an Information Systems Manager in this budget year? Ms.
Golt stated staff may come before Council with such a recommendation next year,
or the year after, but not this year, concentrating instead on revisions to
the contract with BRC, so that BRC's staff better fills that role for us.
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Councilmember Phillips stated he was unclear why staff had changed their
recommendation concerning Wise Consulting Services' assistance in renegotiating
the BRC contract? Ms. Golt stated that recommendation had been changed because
staff believes they are making some serious in -roads on some of the issues we
were going to be negotiating on, and some of these issues have just fallen into
place, such as the negotiating of the ownership of the equipment, and in terms
of the E-mail and Networking. She noted there now seems to be an opportunity
offered by BRC to achieve those things, which everyone seems to concur are two
very key elements. Ms. Golt stated the City could consider using Wise Consulting
Services to negotiate how we might re-form what Ms. Yeates does, for example,
but Ms. Golt stated she did not know the City had a need to do that, nor that
the City needs the outside support we would get from Wise Consulting Services.
Ms. Golt stated she would
like to reserve the option of calling upon Mr. Reed in the future, if the City
continues with BRC, or whoever we might be engaged in a contract with. She noted
Mr. Reed is an expert, he knows the City's system, and is familiar with the
study, and that at some point in the future the City would probably turn to
Wise Consulting Services again.
Councilmember Cohen asked for clarification regarding the proposal for LAN (Local
Area Network), stating he had been particularly struck by Mr. Reed's comment
that if the City were going to sole source anything with BRC, it should be the
LAN. He asked if Mr. Reed had been referring to a system such as Novell, a
commercially available networking software that was going to link the
departments? Mr. Reed stated that was
correct, noting he was suggesting very middle-of-the-road networking type devices
and software. Mr. Reed stated the reason Wise Consulting Services was leaning
toward having BRC do this was because they were already managing the rest of
the City' s hardware, and rather than bring in a third party to install the Network
and be faced with the "finger pointing" kind of problems that are invariably
encountered, such as a new vendor who cannot access the Aviion Data Bases, and
then having BRC saying, "Its not our problem, it worked fine before", and the
new vendor saying, "BRC is not doing something right over there"; therefore,
Mr. Reed stated they felt it would eliminate a lot of finger pointing if the
City just had a single vendor and made it part of the negotiations with BRC,
stating BRC definitely has the technical capability to design an appropriate
Local Area Networking environment, as long as they stick to the proven tools
and software currently on the market. Mr. Reed stated he did not think this
would be a high risk kind of thing, and making it part of the whole negotiations
would seem to be in everyone's best interest.
Councilmember Cohen referred to the Data General UNIX systems, and asked if they
were continuing to move in that direction in terms of software development?
Bruce Manson, with BRC, stated they do not actually do much software development
right now, stating that when he originally met with Mr. Reed several months
ago, BRC was still involved in a number of software development projects;
however, they are not doing very many of those anymore and, therefore, the
"downstream view" Mr. Reed built as a scenario, whereby BRC might bid on the
software, is not something they would really do today, as they are more involved
in Facilities Management business at this time. Mr. Manson stated all of the
systems work they do is aimed toward UNIX and, in some cases, toward Client
Server; however they are trying to get all of their staff on board with various
flavors of UNIX, so they can support most of the popular platforms and software
currently on the market.
Mayor Boro stated Ms. Golt had alluded to the fact that there had been some discussion
of installing the LAN, the role of Ms. Yeates, and the hardware situation, and
he asked Mr. Manson to comment from his point of view.
Referring to the hardware, Mr. Manson stated he felt it was unfortunately ambiguous
in the existing contract as to who would own the hardware at the end of the
contract. He noted the hardware would be of no use to BRC at the end of the
contract, although it would have value to the City, as the City could continue
to run its applications on it. Therefore, as BRC has no use for the hardware,
he stated the City may certainly have it. Mr. Manson stated that when BRC wants
to buy equipment for a City, if they do not own it they cannot depreciate it,
noting they then have to expense it all within that immediate year, causing
them to take a big loss, which deadens their ability to work financially with
the City. He stated this is why they end up owning certain things and
depreciating them over a period of five years.
Referring to Ms. Yeates, Mr. Manson reported she has a tremendous amount of loyalty
to the City of San Rafael, noting she has done a very good job for the City
and has been very well accepted. He stated he would welcome the opportunity
for Ms. Yeates to take on a broader role, noting he felt she would do that very
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conscientiously and do it well; therefore, he felt this could be very easily
accomplished.
Mr. Manson stated that in discussing the Network proposal, part of what they had
considered doing, in brief and conceptually, was to actually put the money
up -front to build these, and to help do that as part of the contract. He stated
that in essence, for approximately $100,000 to $125,000 they could put it in
up -front, and then there would be a dollar for dollar payback, without interest
or any special charges, for the life of the contract. Mr. Manson noted BRC
management has already given approval for this. He stated this money would
be for expanding the current networks and building LANs, providing E-mail to
all the desk tops, major hardware
cabling and software, servers, bridges, routers and hubs. He noted there would
also be some training involved, a City-wide E-mail package that would have to
be purchased with the requisite number of licenses, and their maintenance over
time. Mr. Manson
stated BRC had already done a preliminary cut, both with the cabling vendor used
by the City, as well as several of BRC 's network people in the area, and their
initial
cut was approximately $108,000 without taxes and freight; therefore, $125,000 is
a reasonable number to apply. Mr. Manson clarified that when he stated there
was preliminary approval from BRC, a proposal would have to be taken to BRC's
Network Design Group in Dallas, and they would want to review it.
Mr. Reed asked if BRC uses local contractors at all in their work, and Mr. Manson
stated they use local cabling vendors, and there are times they pick-up a local
contractor if there is some special piece of software they are bringing in;
however, as far as Network design and installation, and Novelle and other popular
packages such as that, BRC has spent a lot of money training people to be
proficient in those, and they typically keep a lot of that work in-house, noting
this would help reduce the overall cost. Mr. Manson stated, fundamentally,
this is a no margin deal, so if they spend a dollar, you see that dollar, and
it is part of the $125,000, noting BRC
does not make any money on that. Mr. Reed asked if the $125,000 was for Items #1
and #2, which Wise Consulting Services had estimated at $130,000, and if BRC
would purchase and expend the $125,000, but not charge the City in year one
and would, in fact, finance it for the City? Mr. Manson stated that was correct,
in essence, noting BRC would not start charging the City until January, so the
City's impact in the current fiscal year would be muted, in half. Mr. Reed
asked if he was correct that when Mr. Manson was talking about less than $100, 000,
or less than $125,000, he was not counting this $125,000, he is only counting
what BRC might pay in year one, and that BRC was not even going to charge the
City in year one? Ms. Golt stated that was not correct, and noting this was
something they had not finished negotiating at this time. She reported the
$125,000 would be spread -out over a five year period, totalling $125,000 and
representing approximately $25,000 per year. She stated if the City spread
the costs, as Mr. Reed has estimated them, over a five year period, it would
be $190,000. Therefore, she stated it seemed the end result with BRC would
be a pretty significant savings. Mr. Reed asked if there were additional first
year costs, and Ms. Golt stated she had not been informed of any. Mr. Manson
stated BRC looked at the highest value item, and what BRC could provide to the
City as a "leg up" in getting toward that highest value item, noting Items #1
and #2 seemed like the best place to start for highest value. He noted when
they look at E-mail and see its impact on other cities, the amount of work
productivity that goes up is very substantial, and he stated this was a good
payback item.
Library Director Vaughn Stratford asked Mr. Manson if their network design took
into account Internet access using E-mail versus standard mail transportation?
Mr. Manson stated they had not looked at the Network as having an Internet
connection, noting the City's Internet access was currently being formulated
up to the County. He stated people would have individual access, but Web pages
would be through the County. Mr. Stratford stated the City had talked about
a PC server connected to the County's MIDAS System, and he asked if the work
stations would be configured to connect to an Internet server and allow E-mail
to come to us? Mr. Manson stated the software Ms. Yeates was considering would
provide that bridge. Ms. Yeates acknowledged there was a firewall problem,
explaining the firewall was a way to restrict access, and to allow in only those
who you want in, noting it was the same as a lock on your front door. Ms. Yeates
stated they have only had a very preliminary meeting, and she was not prepared
to address the subject at this level of detail. Ms. Yeates reported they have
discussed the firewall, they know it is an issue, and they have looked at ways
to solve it; however, she noted they have only had a very preliminary meeting,
and she was not prepared to address the subject at this level of detail.
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Chief Marcucci stated he felt one point was being missed, noting the reason he and
Ms. Golt met with BRC was to discuss this proposal, and look at the City' s budget
and determine how the City could afford this. He noted the City has been looking
at ways in which we could be innovative and also save money, and in looking
at the budget and what could be done with Data Processing, it seemed that Data
Processing was on the losing end. Chief Marcucci stated they felt they needed
to do something that would meet the needs of the City and the department managers,
and met with BRC to discuss ways in which the City could be innovative and find
other ways of doing business. He stated they were attempting to have BRC front
the money, and then have the City pay a pro rata share each year, which would
allow flexibility in the budget process.
Mr. Reed stated Project #15, the Internet Access, was the project that specifically
provided for the firewall and a server that would serve the Internet, noting
discussions indicated this would be closely aligned with the Library's
operations, and they would probably be the City's operator of the Internet host.
Mr. Stratford stated he did not believe this would be the case, noting a report
would be submitted in May that would address that issue.
Mr. Stuckey noted there had been discussion of expanding Ms. Yeates role, reporting
BOC specifically discussed this, and had been in favor of that expanded role.
However, he noted the Committee would be more comfortable if we kept Wise
Consulting Services in some way, advising on the negotiations, not necessarily
sitting in on the basic contract, but to have a review by an outside party who
was familiar with the City, and was also a Data Processing professional who
could give us some insight into what is going on.
Mr. Stuckey noted the first recommendation on Ms. Golt' s list, the Information Systems
Master Plan, was a general overview of the entire issue. He stated we need
some kind of solid, consistent plan that the City, in a unified way, is looking
at dealing with. He noted the current plan was quite comprehensive, but
basically states that if we did everything listed in the plan right now, and
we did it for the next ten years, we would only have one-third of the system
that most large corporations have, and we would still be five years behind.
He stated the City should be working with this plan, going with it and updating
it annually or monthly, as things change, noting at least this would give us
a consistent basis to go forward.
Mayor Boro stated he has had some problems with this report, mainly because it was
increasing the cost of Data Processing over this time frame by 50%, and was
not certain of the value of that, and of the necessity for doing all of the
things contained in the report, particularly taking over the operation, noting
he has a big concern about that. He stated we are going into a holding pattern,
to one extent, if we follow Ms. Golt's direction at this point; however, we
are also attempting to go after the two big issues staff feels they need to
make themselves more productive in the immediate timeframe, so this we are
accomplishing.
Referring to the issue of long term planning and whether or not we should bring
someone in-house, Mayor Boro stated the City would have a new City Manager in
a few months, and this issue would be one of the first things he would want
to charge that person with, because it is a long term commitment. He stated
that at this stage, especially since we were not talking about adding an in-house
person until the tenth or eleventh month of next year, to postpone that decision
for two months does not mean that we are forgetting about it, it just means
that we are not going to do it this fiscal year.
Mayor Boro stated he valued what was in the plan, but he does have some concern
about the increase in the money and what we are going to get for it. He
acknowledged what was being said about where the City will be in relation to
the "real world", and he liked what Ms. Golt and Chief Marcucci had come up
with in meeting with BRC, noting it sounded as though it made sense in the short
term; however, he felt we still needed to address the long term, and it was
his understanding the Council was being asked to accept this plan, and then
review it as we get into the next year.
Mr. Stuckey stated it would be worth it to accept it, although he did not agree
with all the dollars. He acknowledged the City did not have the money to do
everything right now, but noted it was a ten year project. He stated we should
just ignore the dollars and look at the concept. Mr. Manson stated he agreed,
noting when they looked at Items #1 and #2 and thought about being able to put
up $125,000 for next year, they thought this might give the City a little
breathing room to begin to gather the finances to do some additional items,
as well.
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Mr. Reed stated Mayor Boro was correct in suggesting the plan, if implemented, would
increase information system costs by 50%, noting it was currently stated as
$400,000 per year, but he felt there was probably an additional $100,000 per
year in hidden costs, for a total of $500,000 per year. He stated we were not
going to get a full-blown solution for all City departments for less than another
$400,000, noting we are looking at doing a lot of things in the plan that are
not being done today.
Councilmember Cohen stated Mr. Reed was addressing the heart of the matter, noting
this had originally come up through BRC in terms of looking at what the city
is doing with Data Processing, and whether we were getting the most bang for
our buck. He stated that in order for the Council to make a reasonably
intelligent decision about this, the department heads and City staff are going
to have to identify for the Council where this is going to result in savings
and increased efficiency in department operations, or how it is going to result
in an increase in the service level to the citizens of this community, noting
the Council would then have to decide what the City wants to pay for that increase
in service level. Mr. Cohen stated he felt it was a little optimistic to try
to plan for the next ten years for Data Processing, noting any plan developed
ten years ago would not have been able to tell how much would be happening with
computers today.
Mr. Cohen suggested the BOC might also go back and look at what the City was trying
to achieve in doing this, noting it might be money well spent to have a system
that addresses the needs of all the departments in the City, but right now,
while he might agree it would be nice, he was not sure he could state why the
City needs to have every single employee who has a computer have an E-mail address
accessible from the outside. Mr. Stuckey stated that what this will do is change
the way the City operates, noting it will be very hard to pinpoint the exact
benefit back, and put an exact dollar on it.
Mr. Stuckey referred to earlier discussions concerning the management of the system,
and noted the hottest thing right now is not necessarily site management, but
the concept of temporary executives. He stated there were a number of highly
qualified people within the City of San Rafael who rent themselves out, in effect,
as Chief Financial Officers, and also as Senior Information Managers. Mr.
Stuckey felt this was something that should be thrown into the hopper, perhaps
as a service the City offers, and as a part-time thing where highly qualified
people come in and we do not have a permanent City employee, rather we have
someone who is consulting for us, who gives us a sounding board. He noted this
was almost always less expensive that a full-time employee.
Councilmember Phillips noted they had already spoken, to some degree, about
privatization, and this seems to be running counter to that; therefore he stated
he was trying to reconcile those two apparently conflicting positions.
Mr. Stuckey stated this had been discussed by the Budget Oversight Committee, and
reported their thinking on outsourcing and privatization was that privatization
could work in a lot of different areas; however, it must be remembered that
you privatize a function, not the management of it. He stated it had always
been their thinking that what the City needs, and does not have right now, is
its own management of its own Data Processing. He noted right now the City
outsources everything, including management. He stated there was an internal
staff that tries to keep track of it, but there are no Data Processing
professionals on that staff, and all the people involved are already over
committed within their individual departments. He stated there was a big void
in the overall management of the City's Data Processing, and the thing they
were most concerned about was that the Committee feels the City needs that
management.
Mr. Wise stated we have addressed privatization issues, and the final issue comes
down to the question of whether we need three people to support Data Processing,
as this becomes an economic issue from their perspective. He noted Wise
Consulting had stated at the outset that BRC was entitled to make a profit on
the staff they provide the City. He stated there were certainly issues as to
whether or not the City could attract the same quality staff, and retain that
staff; but assuming the City could, as other cities have, Wise Consulting
believes the City could hire them for less money. Therefore, he stated he did
not know where the issue of privatization comes in, noting that if they are
planning and managing a program, and using third parties to provide the hardware
application systems and other support services, then they really are farming
out a good deal of the operation. Mr. Mason stated BRC had found they actually
run a little cheaper than if the City had its own in-house staff, noting they
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have demonstrated this in the past, and he felt it would be worthwhile to
demonstrate that to the City as we pass through the contractual phase, so people
are comfortable with it. He noted that if they are not, then they need to fix
that.
Mayor Boro stated he felt the concept of managing the system with someone who works
for the City, and oversees it from the City, made sense. He noted he had problems
with some of the other issues, pointing out that managing it is one thing, but
then you have to consider where you get the best "bang for the buck", noting
that was what he was not certain of. Mayor Boro stated he would feel very good
if we were able, this first year, to bring these two items we are discussing
online. He pointed out to Acting City Manager Golt that we also needed the
hardware, asking her to consider this, as there was no sense in bringing the
LAN in here if we cannot run it.
The Council agreed, in concept, to accept the report, to ask staff to negotiate
with BRC to discuss bringing in the LAN and E-mail, with some participation
from Mr. Reed in overseeing that process.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:45 PM.
JEANNE M. LEONCINI, City Clerk
APPROVED THIS DAY OF , 1995
MAYOR OF THE CITY OF SAN RAFAEL
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