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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018 Information and Technology �SpU T$ � - d h 7, U C W PEACE �a� ■ s 1865 OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK KAREEMAH FOWLER,CITY CLERK INFORMATION & TECHNOLOGY MARCH 5, 2018 4:33 P.M. (ORGANIZATIONAL) Committee Members Present: Tim Scott, Sharon L. McBride (late), Derrik Campau (citizen member), Charles Barbour(citizen member) Committee Members Absent: Gavin Ferlic, Dr. David Varner Other Council Present: Karen White Other Council Absent: Regina Williams-Preston, John Voorde, Jo M. Broden, Oliver Davis Others Present: Santiago Garces, Kareemah Fowler, Graham Sparks Agenda: Information and Technology Committee Organizational Meeting (Kickoff) Miscellaneous Committee Chair Tim Scott called to the order the Information and Technology Committee Organizational meeting at 4:33 p.m. He introduced members of the Committee and proceeded to outline topics of interest for the Information and Technology Committee for the coming year. Information and Technology Committee Organizational Meeting(Kickoff) Committee Chair Scott stated, I have a few items that will not be discussed in as much detail at this meeting. We can start scheduling these items in the coming meetings throughout this ye . I had some personal things go on in my life and everything came to a grinding halt about mid- summer last ye ar. We certainly didn't accomplish all I wanted to. I have eight(8)things on my list we will go over and we will then go around the table to see if there is anything else we would like to discuss. Committee Chair Scott continued, The main thing I wanted to accomplished last year was solidifying our electronic filing. The biggest issue is that people can file electronically but the biggest sticking point to that is the legality of electronic signatures. We've all talked about that and I want to get that accomplished this year. I know Santi and Kareemah have talked about that. 455 County-City Building•227 W.Jefferson Boulevard•South Bend,Indiana 46601 Phone 574-235-9221 •Fax 574-235-9173•TDD 574-235-5567•www.SouthBendIN.gov JENNIFER M.COFFMAN BIANCA L.TIRADO JOSEPH R.MOLNAR CHIEF DEPUTY/DIRECTOR OF DEPUTY/DIRECTOR OF POLICY ORDINANCE VIOLATION CLERK OPERATIONS Santiago Garces, Chief Innovation Officer with offices on the 12�' floor of the County-City Building, stated, I like that we started investigating this. There are a lot of questions in terms of the specifics of what electronic filing means. There are different levels of intensity of what is required. We also need a system that supports the complex workflows of some of these processes. We are looking at the legal obstacles and we've also put together a spreadsheet to keep track of the projects we have ongoing between the Council, the Clerk and IT. Kareemah Fowler, City Clerk with offices on the 4d' floor of the County-City Building, stated, Matt is looking at a platform to see exactly what the cost is associated with electronic filing. It wasn't in the budget this year. We are looking at that but also trying to create a workflow chart to break down some times and how we can attack our objectives. If we start there, we can use some techniques as a pilot. For instance, we may choose alley vacations as the thing to pilot our new technology on. Right now, we are just looking at the platform for electronic filing, not so much the workflow piece. Committee Chair Scott stated, I don't know if anybody has looked at what the State government has done on any of this so there might be something out there that we could replicate. That is definitely something I want to accomplish this ye . The verbage on the ordinance will be the easiest part but the real challenge is the actual implementation of that. Committeemember Sharon L. McBride arrived at the meeting at 4:38 p.m. Committee Chair Scott continued, Do we have a timeline on this or do we need to sit down and break it down? Clerk Fowler replied, We started working on some stuff like what it would look like. Committee Chair Scott stated, We will have separate meetings on all these issues. Mr. Garces stated, Hopefully by the next time we meet we will have a pilot for that and what it would look like. Committee Chair Scott stated, Next thing I would like to cover this year is an update on where Landlord Registration is at. We don't have to get into details now but I heard it is going better. Mr. Garces stated, We've incorporated feedback from residents and we've tried to make it a little bit better. We made some changes to the interface so that when people are adding a property it says `Add a Property' instead of `Add a Row,' which seemed to be a source of confusion. We worked with the vendor to resolve receipt printing issues as well. We've also been working with Code Enforcement to think of new ways to get data of enforcement. Committee Chair Scott stated, Another thing I would like to discuss is the PSAP Center. It is still an issue and was on ABC57 on Friday or Saturday. I talked to Ray today and I know IT has gone above and beyond to help them. I am going to talk to the Mayor a little bit more about that. The biggest issue we have is the addresses in the system. AT&T has had a lot of issues with this. Just this weekend we had an argument in my neighborhood between two people where a gun was 2 pulled, neighbors called 9-1-1, they all took off, and 9-1-1 had the wrong address for the house that called in. We are having GIS issues which Ray explained to me but I think we need to dial into that. I know Mishawaka is helping out too but there is something with GIS. Mr. Garces stated, There is a combination of setup issues and process issues. We have Rene who is the Director of Applications. There is a Director of GIS and Data Management and then I think there is another Application Developer working hands-on with New World software.We have also been trying to work on the backend to help the County improve their process. Committee Chair Scott stated,I commend you guys for all the extra work you guys are doing with that. The next thing I would like to discuss is a brief update on the new City website rollout. Mr. Garces stated, We had done an initial assessment with the South Bend Code School. We are trying to have the initial design work done independently from the group that is going to build it. We have gotten some great feedback from the Council and the community to be sure the new website is inclusive to the needs of everyone, specifically elderly and disabled folks. We are under agreement with Pathfinders to design and build the new website.They are currently in that process and I think by June or May of this year we should see the new website. Committee Chair Scott stated, Great. Next, I would like to discuss training. We have the new Smartboard and we will be training Councilmembers on all that technology. Clerk Fowler stated, The vendor will come back and train on the Smartboard free of charge as that is part of the purchase agreement. There are other things, too, that the Council need to be trained on. Miscellaneous Committee Chair Scott opened the floor to the Committee for further discussion. Committeemember Derrik Campau stated, I've just been trying to make sure the 9-1-1 issues are not the fault of our own PSAP Center. I think they truly are AT&T's fault. Committee Chair Scott stated, It seems like we have an AT&T and a New World software issue. Mr. Garces stated, It is very complex how that works. We need to make sure nothing falls through the cracks and all the pieces are in place correctly. Committeemember Charles Barbour stated,Well,and especially schools because right now I can't think of anything much worse than not being able to get emergency personnel to the correct school if something, God forbid, would happen. My daughter is a senior at Adams and my son is a freshman and they've had all manners of threats. Committeemember Campau stated, The thing that really scares me is Dianna Scott ran a report one week ago and found that nineteen (19) or twenty (20) of our sites were showing incorrect addresses. It was showing an address for one (1) of our admin buildings. Then four(4) days later, 3 i i three (3) or four (4) of the addresses were magically fixed and AT&T claimed they hadn't done anything yet. This data is changing and AT&T is claiming they are not making any changes so that is what concerns me. Is our PSAP software doing something wrong? I don't know where those data sources coming from. I know it is very complicated. Mr. Garces stated, There are a lot of pieces but one (1) of them is a file that has the addresses that are associated that get sent to 9-1-1 and AT&T. There is some level of work that needs to be done to maintain those up to date. There is an issue that sometimes the billing address could be in. Committeemember Campau interjected, Is there a data import issue, potentially? Mr. Garces replied, I don't want to comment on it because I am not aware of the specifics. There are a lot of pieces that are at play. There is a standard format to this. Committeemember Campau stated, I have yet to have AT&T tell me why they are changing. They keep saying they are making the correct changes but they are not. I will tell them to do it four (4) times in a row and it won't get changed. Or they make it worse. I just don't know where the problem lies. Mr. Garces stated, I know the Mayor is putting a lot of pressure on AT&T to be sure they get they're part right. Committee Chair Scott stated, This is serious stuff and I will be talking to the Mayor about this. He and I have not connected. I want to get a weekly update until it gets resolved. Safety is crucial and we all know that. I also may have a way into AT&T. Mr. Garces stated, This week, we have the vendor of the software on site working with our GIS teams both in the City and the County. That is a four(4) day all-hands meeting so hopefully a lot of these issues get resolved. There are so many pieces that can go wrong. Committeemember Barbour asked, Will AT&T be there? Clerk Fowler stated, I think we should be able to get someone from AT&T at that meeting. Committeemember Barbour stated, This is an issue of public safety. Committeemember Campau stated, All the AT&T techs I talk to say it's an important issue and that they've submitted changes but then I go back and check and nothing has changed. Committeemember Barbour stated, They are in violation of their contract if they are unable to provide accurate 9-1-1 information. Mr. Garces stated, The Mayor has been talking with AT&T to the highest people available. Committee Chair Scott stated, Well, if it is not fixed today then it is a problem. 4 Councilmember Karen White stated, I think it is a serious issue. I think this is number one (1) of all the items you listed. When we think about public safety and the current environment, what would we say if the mistake is on us? Committeemember Campau stated, About one (1) year ago, we turned up a bunch of new phone numbers for the South Bend schools. I had to provide a list of addresses that correspond to each phone number and it has been a problem to keep those updated. It seemed to all have sparked with the changing of the name for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. That is where our main admin building is located and AT&T may have just defaulted to that address. Committee Chair Scott stated, My concern is how wide-spread this issue is. I asked Ray this and even he is not sure with GIS and New World software. He then went around the Committee to see if anyone had any other comments. Clerk Fowler stated,We have a working list of things and all is going well. We are getting charging stations as well as the mobile equipment. We are looking to update our copiers. We have to follow up on the YouTube quality and now we have the new cameras,we are going to follow up on that. Committee Chair Scott stated, I want to do a training for Council members on Laiserfiche. I know Dr. Varner is going to turn back in his surface. Mr. Garces stated, We are piloting a new program City-wide for all employees. We conducted a survey first to see what types of IT skills employees are looking to receive. We just launched a program where we train thirty(30)people across almost all Departments. This will be available to all employees including Council members. It will be demand-based. The response rate was great. Committee Chair Scott then opened the floor to members of the public wishing to speak on matters related to the Information and Technology Committee for the year 2018. Sue Kesim, 4022 Kennedy Drive, stated, I'd like to give some enlightenment on the PSAP. When all the call centers combined,they didn't all enter their addresses the same way. So, some of them might have put Dr. for drive and others. The data integrity is compromised. Committee Chair Scott interjected, We know, and that is what we are going through now. It is down to the GIS talking to the software of which they are dealing with and there seems to be a problem with that. With no further business, Committee Chair Scott adjourned the Information and Technology Committee Organizational meeting at 5:03 p.m. b 'tted, Tim Scott, Chairperson 5