08-02-04 - Laserfiche WebLink

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"---. ._. MEMORANDUM VIII-C-l TO: FROM: DATE: SUBJECT: Honorable Mayor and City Council members Dave Osberg, City Administrator July 29, 2004 Authorize Advertisement and Hiring of IT Staff Person Recommended City Council Action The City Council is asked to take action authorizing the advertisement and hiring of an Information Technology Department staff person to assist the current IT Director Steph Nornes, with Staff granted certain flexibility in determining the employment status (part time or full time), based on the number and quality of candidates who become available. Backaround Prior budget allocations in 2003 and 2004 have included funding for a Yo time Staff person in the IT Department. A part time person worked for the City for a short period of time in late 2003; and early 2004 but did not successfully complete the probationary period. Recent efforts to advertise and recruit for the same Yo time position were unsuccessful, as the pool of candidates to meet our needs, and yet remain at part-time status, was not acceptable. The Yo position remains vacant, yet the work demands placed on our current IT Director Steph Nornes, remain extremely high. Furthermore, the City's need for IT support staff has also surpassed what a part time position could provide. In May, 2004 the Administrative Committee conducted a brief discussion on this topic and suggested that consideration be given to hiring an intern. Due to the staff oversight and training needed for internship programs, Staff feels we would be taking a step backward step in seeking to meet the growing demands on the City's IT Department, and not recommend such a program. Furthermore, the availability of such a program is limited. Currently, Steph Nornes is the only employee in the City IT Department. Tasks that Steph completes consist entirely of responding to requests for service, such as; recommendations, purchases, configurations and installations, troubleshooting and repair, instructional questions, performing scheduled tasks (record systems management for the Police Department and web site maintenance.) Failure to provide additional staffing support will continue this trend of responding to problems, rather than completing tasks in a more proactive manner; resulting in the IT Department falling further behind. Network maintenance needs attention; service calls are delayed and system improvements are delayed.