Are there any other questions from members of the committee? (No further questions.)
MOIS is next to testify. Councilwoman Blackwell?
Thank you, Madam President. I have to leave the chambers for a few moments, but I wanted to say that this morning, we were due to have Judge Seamus McCafferey in to discuss the whole issue of preliminary and misdemeanor cases being moved out of divisional courts to CJC. Apparently, Mr. McCafferey cannot come today, for whatever reason, but we would like to request for the record that we defer judgment on the whole issue of the courts until we can get him in. We have written to the President Judge, asking -- because rumor had it that a discussion would be made, that a vote had not been made from the judges on whether or not that would formally happen, even though Judge McCafferey, as administrative judge, made the decision that it had to be voted on among the judges. 2509 3/18/02 - CONT'D OPERATING BUDGET TESTIMONY - 020001 So we have contacted the President Judge and asked that no decision be made until we had the chance to discuss it. There's an article in today's paper that talks about another $1.8 billion. So we don't know ultimately in Council how that could affect our budget, and so we think that it's worthy of discussion. So I would like to put on the record and request again that the judge contact your office so that we can schedule a date before we pass the budget to have this discussion.
Councilwoman, as I spoke to you earlier this morning, I would like you to communicate me as to a date that you would like to see this public hearing scheduled. I know that our calendars are quite heavy; however, we will make every effort to accommodate both the judge and, I believe, the district attorney to testify at the same time.
Thank you. And I may also note that we've also been in touch with the Police Commissioner, who supports our point of view. So, certainly, we will do that, 2510 3/18/02 - CONT'D OPERATING BUDGET TESTIMONY - 020001 we'll be in touch with you and with the judge. And Thank you very much.
Thank you for your patience. The Chair recognizes Councilman Nutter
-- Miss Neff and Mr. Bortnick. Again, similar to the previous departments that testified, I know -- I think you were here all on the same day and I did not have an opportunity to ask some questions or as many as I would have liked, and I appreciate your returning. Let me ask a couple general questions. The program that is either being implemented, or is soon to be implemented, I think it's called the "Customer Information Work Management System"?
Can you give me a little bit of the history or genesis of that particular project? Where did it come from, how did it get started?
Certainly. For the record, my name is Diana Neff, I'm the Chief Information Officer The Customer Information Work Management System came from a couple of issues. One, I had four departments come to me for requests to have four different work management systems.
They were Streets, the Water Department, L&I and Public Property, Recreation -- I think those -- was it -- it was five. So those were the five departments. The other was that the Mayor, as a part of his e-government program, was looking and asked me to take a look at a customer-centric interface, or a system that would allow the public to call in to take complaints that we would be able to feed in and more effectively take those service requests and be able to process them in a timely manner. So taking the -- 2512 3/18/02 - CONT'D OPERATING BUDGET TESTIMONY - 020001
I'm sorry, say that again. Citizens would call in and do what?
Currently now in the City, you have to know where to go to place the call for the type of work that you need to have done, whether that's in Streets for sanitation or if it's a pothole or if it's, you know, an inspection and so forth.
We'd like to have a single face of government to the public so that you would be able to call in and be able to then have that information directed to the appropriate division, department, and that we'd be able to feed that information back into our work management systems because of the efficiencies.
They can come in through a variety of ways. If they come in through the Mayor's Action Center, a piece of paper is sent, then that has to be entered into the system. They -- some places do it manually, and they cut a 2513 3/18/02 - CONT'D OPERATING BUDGET TESTIMONY - 020001 manual work order. It varies, it's all over the board
Now, did you say earlier that Streets, Water, L&I and Public Property came and asked for this computer information work management system?
They all came in and asked for a separate work order management system. They each had a vendor that they had as a preference.
Okay. And you arrived sometime last fall or last spring?
Last May, okay. And so upon your arrival, you've got all of these departments, and they have their separate ideas or requests or vendors. And what happened then?
Then I took a look at what the costs would be to maintain and support five different work management systems and looked at some of the best industry practices which said that if you truly want to reduce your cost in supporting 2514 3/18/02 - CONT'D OPERATING BUDGET TESTIMONY - 020001 these systems, you should look at, are there a commonality between the needs, and if so, to look at a consistent work management system that could be used across multiple departments. So basing it on the need for looking at citywide applications, we brought on a certified project -- or a software engineer to work with the departments to collect all of their need requirements. And what we found was that there was 85 percent commonality between the requirements on the various modules for the systems.
To work with the different departments. We've pulled together representatives from all of the different departments to do their needs requirements -- we call them "joint application definitions," but they're needs requirements, to then meet with them and diagram the as-is, what we're doing today, and then to put together the RFP, which is out on the streets right 2515 3/18/02 - CONT'D OPERATING BUDGET TESTIMONY - 020001 now, which actually closes today.
And when you decided to go out and get a software engineer, I mean, I wouldn't know where to go look for a software engineer. I mean, what do you do, what's the process, and how do you decide who you're going to bring on, and what are they told in terms of what the job is going to be?
There are actually certain skills for that classification. There's actual certification as a software engineer. I needed somebody that was highly trained in process management that could come in and look at -- be able to audit existing systems, and then work with the different departments. So I defined the criteria, and then I went to different placement companies that specialize in IT resources to find an individual that could meet those requirements.
During this time period, was there contact with the -- you mentioned 2516 3/18/02 - CONT'D OPERATING BUDGET TESTIMONY - 020001 four, but a little while ago, you said five departments, and maybe I missed one. I have Street, Water, L&I, and Public Property; was there a fifth?
And recreation, although it wasn't a part of the first group, but certainly --
Well, you were trying to figure out who your software engineer was going to be. Was there contact with the various departments, again, with regard the what their needs were or what they are looking at in terms of IT systems and getting input from them with regard to a software engineer, or was that a sole decision of yours?
Okay. And how did you end up deciding which software engineer to bring on?
Reviewed resumes, talked on the telephone to some, and brought in others in for interviews.
And these all came through the -- you mentioned something earlier 2517 3/18/02 - CONT'D OPERATING BUDGET TESTIMONY - 020001 about the IT companies or placement people or something?
Janice Davis had worked with Miss Foxworth in another organization, so when she was aware that I was looking for a software engineer, she passed her resume to me, and then Staff Masters was the company that I processed Miss Foxworth through.
All right. So you're talking about Miss Davis, the Finance Director?
Correct. Miss Davis sits on the IT Governing Board, along with Miss Wilkerson and now Mrs. Richman Estelle Richman, as an advisory group to me for IT and use of IT in the organization. 2518 3/18/02 - CONT'D OPERATING BUDGET TESTIMONY - 020001
Okay, all right, last question on this particular area. I mean, is Miss Foxworth just an individual, or does she have a company, or is she --
She is a consultant, and she has consulted with the State of Connecticut, the State of Texas. That's her profession. She's a certified software engineer. She has worked for, I believe, Anderson and one other consulting firm in her background -- not currently.
I don't necessarily know that we want to talk about Anderson at the moment.
She's with Staff Masters 2519 3/18/02 - CONT'D OPERATING BUDGET TESTIMONY - 020001 U.S.A.
They do IT placement. I don't have the exact figures here; I would have to get back to you, Councilman Nutter.
Yes. I believe they're under -- (addressing colleague) what's their line item, 251?
251. I don't see 2520 3/18/02 - CONT'D OPERATING BUDGET TESTIMONY - 020001 it. In '02, it looks like $30,000, ?
In '02 or '03? (Addressing colleague.) Do you have '02 with you? We have '03. At the time that the '02 budget was put together, I wasn't here.
And this position wasn't. So the total for the vendor is $200,000, but that's --
Under "Estimated for FY '02" in the '03 Budget Estimated Obligations.
I'll tell you what I'm looking at and then maybe you can point me in a different direction.
I'm on the Budget Detail Book for MOIS, and there is a minor object code 251, Staff Masters, $30,000.
That was in 2001. Our estimated -- the original, there was no dollars in there. Our estimated for the final year-end 2521 3/18/02 - CONT'D OPERATING BUDGET TESTIMONY - 020001 projection is $200,000.
Okay, what are you reading from that I don't have? Is that from the little green book?
All right, all right. Thank you. We can move from that and you'll come back to that one. So you have your software engineer on and then what happens?
Then we pull together representatives from all of the departments.
We go through a series of requirements-gathering. We then we spend probably four months doing that, verifying the as-is, looking at the to-be models to then put together the RFP. The RFP is issued out on the street. The close is today. We then have formed --
What was the level 2522 3/18/02 - CONT'D OPERATING BUDGET TESTIMONY - 020001 of involvement by the various -- so five departments say, We want our own bank. Five departments come and say, We have our own operation that we want
You say, Well, from a management standpoint, we need, I'm assuming, consistency, flexibility, and a system that cannot not only address your issues, but has the capability, upgradability -- I know you guys have a lot of different words but -- applications that can support other operations, and if we can do it with one system, that's the way it should be done. Is that basically what gets communicated?
Okay. How do their needs or issues that are specific to their departments, how do we make sure that they're being addressed?
We have actually formed -- (addressing colleague) how many working committees, Oliver? Maybe I can have you come up. (Witness comes forward.) 2523 3/18/02 - CONT'D OPERATING BUDGET TESTIMONY - 020001
This is Oliver Thornton, who's the Business Center CIO for Municipal Services, which includes all of the departments, except Recreation, that are involved in this process. Do you have them?
Yes, We have seven working committees that were formed to review the RFPs and evaluate the responses when they do come in after today.
Okay. I guess I was concerned more with the earlier part of the process, and one of the reasons I ask the question is that in any level of coordination between and among departments, the issue always arises as to who ultimately makes the decision about what system is used? is it compatible with the departments' issues and needs? or are we trying to fit, in some instances, a couple round pegs into some square holes and just basically tell people, This is what you're getting, make do with it as, you will, but 2524 3/18/02 - CONT'D OPERATING BUDGET TESTIMONY - 020001 we've got to make these decisions, and that's the end of the discussion? I mean, is there a true level of partnership and coordination here?
We didn't take the top-down approach. What we did was involved people in the committees down to the user level, because, as you know, the people that do the work most times know what they need. And so, we had committees from the user level sit together, talk about what the requirements were at their desktops, and then we worked up from there and came up with the joint requirements and evaluated the requirements from one department across the other. So the committees -- in the room were representatives from all of the departments at the same time so that we could talk about requirements.
And will these systems only be used by those departments, or will other people have access to them?
No, they'll definitely be available to the other departments as well, so if their requirements or needs for -- whether it's 2525 3/18/02 - CONT'D OPERATING BUDGET TESTIMONY - 020001 customer collection of information or it's processing work orders or it's looking at a 3-1-1 call center, those will all be available as a citywide application to any department that can make use of that system.
And will City Council offices, for instance, be able to access any of these systems?
Yes. One of the beauties of this customer-information component is that it comes with what we call "a workbench of tools" that will allow you to see a constituent that may have requests in five different departments that you could pull up and see, you know, at this address or in this neighborhood, this is the type of work that's being done. It will also give us the ability to have much more in the sway of cost-accounting capabilities so that we can find out what our costs are for paving X-amount of -- feet of streets and so forth.
Well, let me ask this question. And I know at the last hearing -- and I was here for a little bit, 'cause you did 2526 3/18/02 - CONT'D OPERATING BUDGET TESTIMONY - 020001 answer a couple of questions that I asked in the first go-around; I think I had planned to come back for a second and wasn't able to be here for the second round. While you don't directly maintain support services, computer-support services for us, and I know the reason for that, what level of contact has there been? Now as you build a larger system that will serve more departments and that Council will have access to, what contact or involvement has there been between MOIS and City Council about these particular systems and how they may either help -- and we'll leave it at that for the moment -- help our employees do their jobs?
Well, I mean if the RFP closes today and you've pretty much kind of designed the system, it doesn't sound like there will be.
As we begin the strategic- planning process, we'll have an opportunity to come and meet with the Council offices to address the different applications and the needs from yours. 2527 3/18/02 - CONT'D OPERATING BUDGET TESTIMONY - 020001 One of the beauties of this system is the flexibility and the ability to get information without having to have a programmer write a program to extract information. So there will be tools, they will be able to access it from the Web to get information. We'll also have internal training opportunities that would include Council staff on how to use a system like this.
All right, so our contact and involvement in this is to come at a future point in time, but for the moment, there has been no contact about the design or implementation of this particular system with our offices.
Okay. With regard to the other five departments, each of them has, I guess, assigned a person that's responsible for IT or computer system work from the departments?
Okay. And they've signed off on this from the different departments?
And they're pleased 2528 3/18/02 - CONT'D OPERATING BUDGET TESTIMONY - 020001 with the product or --
All right. I may have, I think, in response to a question actually that I had asked back on the 19th, the sheet that you were reading from that had some budget numbers in it, I do now have my hands on it, and I think when you were talking about some of the different costs and the vendors, what I see now is this Staff Masters. It says, "current target budget amount $30,000. Projected year-end $200,000." And I think this is possibly all related to the transfer ordinance hearing held back on February 19th? You've got a mid-year transfer ordinance that --
Your department apparently has a variance of close to a half a million dollars in expenses in the current year's budget? 2529 3/18/02 - CONT'D OPERATING BUDGET TESTIMONY - 020001
We had positions to fill, the business Center's CIO's positions, and it took longer to fill than we had anticipated, so we had savings in open positions. And we were then able to use those saving to bring in consultants and contract help where we needed them in areas where we didn't have individuals in place.
No, I understand. But, again, at least from this particular sheet, this is your Class 200 expenditures. I'm not necessarily seeing savings. You have a negative variance of $469,000 that you are over budget.
Well, who wasn't on it at the beginning of the fiscal year, when you had savings?
I had none of the four CIOs. Who else was not... 2530 3/18/02 - CONT'D OPERATING BUDGET TESTIMONY - 020001
Prior to becomING a cluster CIO, Mr. Thornton was over at the Managing Director's Office, right?
Okay, all right. When you were here last year, you talked about the four cluster CIOs. I have them as Mr. Thornton, who I already know, who is in the government; David Lewis. F and ENT, what is that? The Financial and Enterprise Services; Howard Baker Public Safety; and Darryl Hamlin, S.S., and I guess that stands for "social services"?
Okay. And the new people to the government are Mr. Baker and Mr. Lewis; is that correct?
Okay, the others were -- as I said, I know Mr. Thornton, who was here, and I didn't know Mr. Hamlin before. Now, you listed, when I asked back at that time, you indicated that -- is it Mr. Baker that came from New York and Mr. Lewis that came from Massachusetts? 2531 3/18/02 - CONT'D OPERATING BUDGET TESTIMONY - 020001
No, Mr. Baker actually came from Massachusetts, and prior to that, New York.
Okay. I was confused by that because I had had information that, actually, Mr. Baker had come from New York, but my notes indicated State of Massachusetts, so that was somewhat confusing. There was a report in a New York newspaper with regard to some issues in New York in the previous position that Mr. Baker was in. Can you give me a little better explanation as to what that experience was and what happened up there?
I didn't know him, I didn't recognize him. (Witness comes forward.)
Good morning. Howard Baker, Public Safety CIO. Which article are you referring to, Councilman? 2532 3/18/02 - CONT'D OPERATING BUDGET TESTIMONY - 020001
This is from a New York newspaper, I guess, a couple months ago. Who is Inspector James Rim (ph)?
Inspector James Rim was the commanding officer of the MISD section of the New York City Police Department. He's now retired.
No, sir. Mr. Rim was my subordinate. When I went to the State of Massachusetts, Mr. Ari Wax took over my position as deputy police commissioner.
Okay. What was the -- from the news report, I don't know whether this had to do with changes in management at the top, and I know, obviously, there's been a change in administration in New York, but at least this newspaper account seems to have a couple of the people in the New York computer operation moving in different places in different times. Some may have 2533 3/18/02 - CONT'D OPERATING BUDGET TESTIMONY - 020001 been ousted for political issues, although in some situations, there seemed to be some performance issues. Why don't you just for yourself explain what happened up in New York and what was the nature of your leaving?
What happened in New York was, a new police commissioner came in, and all deputy commissioners are subject to reappointment whenever a new commissioner comes in. And the new commissioner did not reappoint some of us and reappointed others. You can appreciate that they want to work with their own team.
Well, I understand that. I guess what I'm trying to deal with is -- and I can certainly give you a copy of this. Were there any performance issues related to yourself in that particular unit in New York?
Okay, all right. As I said, I can certainly give you a copy of this, but there were issues raised at the hearing the other week with regard to the team that's been put together, and whenever there's 2534 3/18/02 - CONT'D OPERATING BUDGET TESTIMONY - 020001 information like this, I think it needs to be checked. Obviously, we want to make sure that we've got the best-level, high-quality folks, and if something is out there and not necessarily in our own press but from a previous location, we need to make sure of what have we have. So now you work with police people, all of Public Safety? What do you have: Police, Fire, anyone else?
Police, Fire, Corrections Department, Courts, District Attorney, and Inspector General.
Okay. And so you're coordinating all of their technology issues?
I'm coordinating all of the issues amongst those department, that's correct.
Okay. We've been, I guess, left with the understanding, at least as the relates to the 800 megahertz system and maybe some other issues, that there has been a fair amount of 2535 3/18/02 - CONT'D OPERATING BUDGET TESTIMONY - 020001 coordination between Police and Fire in terms of communications; is it the same situation with regard to other technology
There's been a lot of coordination on the megahertz because of the necessity to make sure that their (indiscernible) are correct. However, you have to appreciate that that's a Public Property project and doesn't fall directly under my purview.
This is the first organization I've ever worked in where telecommunications was separate from the data services end of the businesses. And one supports the other, and if they're in two different commands, as these are, it's difficult coordinating and getting priorities exactly in alignment. 2536 3/18/02 - CONT'D OPERATING BUDGET TESTIMONY - 020001 So I think they should be under the same agency.
Well, sir, I would think that would be a matter of the Mayor's Office getting it resolved.
One of the things that we're looking at as a part of the IT strategic plan is the organizational structure, and that would be one element that will be reviewed as a part of that plan.
We're looking at how IT personnel are deployed across the City, the control of IT resources, planning, and budgets.
Okay. Now, when you were last here, you made reference to, and we didn't go too much in depth. There was a discussion about an executive order that you had written and submitted to the Mayor.
What's its status of 2537 3/18/02 - CONT'D OPERATING BUDGET TESTIMONY - 020001 that? And I'm also left with the impression that -- did you want basically all of the IT people from the different departments and agencies to report to yourself?
The executive order is in the Mayor's Office at this time. The initial proposal that I was brought on as the City's CIO was the centralization of IT dollars and personnel, not physical centralization, but the control and the planning of IT dollars and resources. And it's one of the things that we'll be doing as a part of the strategic plan with a committee comprised of -- I think 15 representatives from the departments will be 16 looking at, how do you move towards that type of a 17 structure? 18
Say that again for 19 me. You either lost me somewhere or -- you said 20 that you wanted control over them at some level, 21 but not physical control. What -- I mean, what 22 is -- is it like a virtual control or... 23
There are needs for IT personnel to be associated with the departments and the deployment of the business analysis and 2538 3/18/02 - CONT'D OPERATING BUDGET TESTIMONY - 020001 understanding the business in which they support. There are other technologies, such as desktop support, network support, that can more effectively and efficiently be done through a centralized. Those are the different elements that we need to look at and come up with a plan on how we would go from where we are today to a desired state.
They would report up under the various business-center CIOs, and they would have a dotted line responsibility to their departments, depending on the function.
So they would report to their cluster CIO and ultimately to you?
With regard to this particular initiative, how much will that cost?
Excuse me? 2539 3/18/02 - CONT'D OPERATING BUDGET TESTIMONY - 020001
What's the cost associated with the reorganization plan?
One of the things that we'll be doing as a part of the strategic plan is to take a look at all of those and what the reorganization structures and funding would be to cause that to happen. The strategic plan itself is a half-a- million-dollar project.
And is that being performed by yourself or by a consultant?
It's a combination of consultant, myself, the senior IT staff that you see here, and the departments.