Travis County Commissioners Court
Tuesday, March 15, 2011,
Item A1
A-1, consider and take appropriate action on information and telecommunications system, its subcommittee recommendations regarding a, change management, program and process evaluation within its and b, utilization of interim external advisory board.
we'll get to your other item in a minute, ms. Fleming.
>> I have laryngitis, so tonya will do most of the talking and maybe Commissioner, you could chime in here too.
>> I think we've had a preliminary meeting with our selective members of the board to get organized and I think we're off to a pretty good start.
I think the main objective today is to let the court now that we are trying to put together a change program.
and that we've selected some members from the outside to assist in that process.
if you don't mind --
>> would you all like to present or should I present the memo?
whichever.
I'm good either way.
the background on this is in November we established a -- the Commissioners' court voted favorly to create the executive manager of its and then later on in January of this year we named a subcommittee of the Commissioners' court to take a look at the external advisory committee that had been suggested, how the manage am team could provide input on the work plan.
and how other i.t.
users could also provide input on the work plan.
and what the charge the external advisory committee would be.
minutes of both of those meetings are attached.
the November meeting as well as the January meeting of the Commissioners' court are attached to the memo.
the subcommittee met three times as a committee and then we also met additionally one other time with the external advisory members that joe harlow had selected.
the attendance at the meetings have included mr. Harlow, mr. Acevedo, Karen Huber and myself, cyd grimes, sigh an blank enship and roger jeff riz also represented as a member of the management team so that all the county executives would be represented at least through him.
mr. Denny ham he will, who is one of the folks interested in being in external advisory also came to one of the meetings to provide us some additional unput.
last week -- input.
last week various other individuals who had presented themselves as interested in providing their expertise to mr. Harlow also attended the meeting and really really, useful and very engaged.
through these subcommittee meetings, however, these three meetings that did not include in large measure any of the outside sources, it came up pretty quickly that there was consensus around the utilization of a change manager in our transition to a new executive manager for its.
it was firely weekly -- it was fairly quickly -- it sort of caught fire that through the utilization of the change manager in the interim, moving to a change manager very quickly would assist us in an in-depth assessment of our its capabilities both at the central level and in our its satellites since so many of these -- of our other departments outside the Commissioners' court column have independent its departments, but it was important for us to take a look at the whole shebang as far as workforce, software and facilities to develop a framework for the county wide technology strategic planning, including the convening and facilitating of internal advisory committees as well.
and we thought that probably a change manager would be the best facilitator of those internal advisory groups as well.
so that we could have that change manager, whether it's an individual or a firm, being able to listen with new ears to all of the concerns and the fears and the successes and be able to give us the most unjaundiced assessment of where we are and where we could go.
also to have that change manager assist in transitioning the i.t.
county executives over to -- from the current cio -- is that the correct word?
that position into a county executive position, looking at salary position, likely salary range, a recruiting strategy, participating in vetting the candidates.
and in that change manager participating in the vetting of the candidates we anticipated that that would include the change manager looking at the utilization of our internal advisory committee and stakeholders and how they would be included in that process.
so the first recommendation of the subcommittee was to pursue a contract with the change manager for its to perform these functions.
the second recommendation of the subcommittee is to appoint an interim external advisory committee to craft a change management contract and assist in the selection of the contractor.
we felt that the subcommittee in conversation with these other participants in the subcommittee meetings, we felt that actually joe was well within his authority to utilize these external advisors.
they're not in a paid circumstance.
they are volunteering their time.
and that he was well within his authority in any case, even if the Commissioners' court didn't name an official external advisory committee, he was within his authority to call these folks together and ask their opinion and help him in moving forward with the change management contract.
but we thought that it would be most useful if the Commissioners' court blessed that group that joe has already selected and has already reached out to and used at least on one occasion last week.
that I know of.
the idea would be that the Commissioners' court would appoint the interim external advisory committee, consisting of denny hamill, keith hig knight, dis, adam hamilton and any other private sector volunteer identified by joe with applicable skills and knowledge.
as I said, joe has already received out to these folks and has already tapped their expertise.
their biographies are attached.
then we also suggested the following would continue to participate and advise as necessary, the subcommittee of the Commissioners' court, the hr department, the purchasing department and the management team.
all of those folks have made themselves available and it's proven quite useful.
and we would also suggest that the charge to the interim external advisory committee -- again, joe could charge these folks himself, we believe, but we thought that it would have more weight if the Commissioners' court provided the charge.
the charge would be to advise the interim county executive of its in developing a high level overview of the workforce software and facilities of our i.t.
departments, plural, multiple, I suppose, and the idea is that that's a high level assessment whereas the change manager would do the in-depth assessment.
we felt that it would be difficult to ask these external folks to spend a lot of their time, energy and expertise on an in-depth look.
but we could certainly ask for their assistance in a high level just to get the patterns down, understand where our resources are going and how the organization works or doesn't work to make recommendations of the Commissioners' court on the scope of the change management contract, make recommendations for Commissioners' court on the likely cost of a change mmg.
contract, to make recommendation to Commissioners' court for the recruiting strategy of the appropriate candidate or firm and to provide input on the ranking of the change management proposals.
it was anticipated by the subcommittee that this external advisory committee's work could be completed in about three months in a meeting with the external folks that joe had selected, they all seemed to agree that this could be accomplished in three months.
that their mission could be accomplished in three months.
this three month time frame of course did not include the time necessary for the purchasing departments to put a competitive bid for services on the streets.
so we were just looking at the activity of the external advisors, not the activity of the purchasing agent.
and then at the bottom of the really long memo, and I apologize for its length, but we wanted to get everything in.
we did put a table of issues and opportunities that were presented and explored through our conversations.
so it recap -- as far as fiscal impact, it was anticipated that the fiscal impact would be similar to what was discussed when a county executive for i.t.
was originally discussed.
that the source of funding would be the same.
it would just be utilized perhaps soon.
>> remind me of how much that is.
>> the source of the funding at the time the executive manager of its was discussed would be the administrative operations, salary -- permanent salary savings as well as general funds to augment if necessary.
>> remind me of how much money that is.
>> of the permanent salary savings and --
>> do you know, mr. Harlow?
>> we had funds budgeted last year or we budget understand this year's budget for the actual assessment that could be allocated for the change management --
>> approximately?
>> 200,000.
>> 200,000 is what we budgeted.
>> $200,000 for this position?
>> no.
to do the assessment of the position.
I don't recall what the administrative operation salary was for -- but that was how the funding was --
>> in other words, the administrative operations salary was whatever it was, we're looking at a salary that was last looked at during the last budget cycle.
that's what the administration of operations salary was andrew mcintosh that was well over $100,000.
I don't recall what it was, but it was up there.
but you're saying 200 and I don't think it was that high, but it was somewhere -- over 100,000, I know that.
>> I believe there are two separate pots of money that we're talking about.
one was money identified for salary of a new executive director of its, which does contemplate that administrative ops salary position that's been sitting there.
I don't know how much that is.
there's another pot of money, however, that has already been budget understand its for the assessing of our current capabilities, and that is around 200,000.
but that is not salary.
that is for assessment -- contracting for assessment assistance.
>> I guess what's the bottom line as far as the amount of money?
>> well --
>> what is the bottom line?
>> the bottom line on the cost of the change management contract, we don't know.
and that's why we were going to utilize this external group to find -- to rough out the size of our issues, why would inform the scope of the change management contract.
and then through working with the external group and purchasing we could come up with a much more knowledgeable estimate of what a change management contractor would cost.
at this time the rough guess, and it's a very rough guess, is 200 to $250,000.
>> 200 to 250,000.
>> and that would include the -- but its scope would be broader than the 200,000 already budgeted in its for assessing the its central and ancillary departments.
so we have already budgeted 200,000.
the idea is that we would not just do an assessment, but also do change management and essentially the succession plan moving from joe harlow as our chief information officer to an executive manager of its.
which is broader than just an assessment of its.
>> so we will have the scope and related information for review prior to handing the matter to purchasing too issue an rfq, r.f.p., whatever purchasing issues.
>> that's correct.
>> we are presenting this in a backward way.
the subcommittee is presenting in a backward way.
the first recommendation spho a change manager and the second recommendation spho utilization of an interim external team to help us craft that.
from a timeline standpoint actually, you reverse it, though.
from a timeline standpoint we -- joe would utilize these external advisors to get a broad brush overview of its to develop a scope after change management contract and to work with purchasing to thresh flesh it out.
then the Commissioners' court would look at that scope and see if we want to go forward, depending on what the price tag was.
>> but the cost of the external and internal teams' work is zero.
>> zero.
>> that's the part I like.
>> [ laughter ]
>> but this is a big bite to chew as far as policy, as far as procedure because there are a lot of stakeholders involved and as far as change.
there's constant change in its, and it's right there.
so we thought by taking this incremental approach, but taking an incremental approach with as much speed and momentum as possible that we would be able to make some more mindful decisions quicker.
one that's looming particularly is the jp decision with regard to facts.
that is a prime example of why it would be good for us to utilize the external folks who are willing to volunteer their time to help facilitate that -- those internal stakeholder conversations as well as the broad brush assessment moving into change management and its.
this really is a succession planning issue and we're trying to utilize monies that already been identified for things that have already been approved in order to make that change management as smooth as possible.
>> so we've already approved the internal team of managers working on this project, right?
>> that's correct.
>> and we have five persons to recommend as external.
do we have a number six?
>> we have a number six that came up after the backup was sent out, thomas sparks.
>> yes my apologies for not including him.
that's totally my oversight.
>> that's why we're here, Commissioner.
>> [ laughter ] I move that we accept those as the external team?
>> I'm kind of confused, not unusual.
when you first set this up and the committees were set up, the county auditor was on that.
and there's an important reason for that because statutorily -- first of all, the financial system is a 10,000-dollar gorilla, but furthermore, statutorily that system is part of the financial system and therefore is, for lack of a better word, controlled by the auditor.
but what we have done because it's the best thing to do is our people have kind of controlled the inside part and then the outside part i.t.
has worked on.
we think that that's the most cost efficient.
but I have the significant interest in i.t.
because of that and was somewhat surprised when meetings were going on and we were not included, particularly when we're bringing up this new financial system.
we are kind of on the committee until the subcommittee was put together and then we kind of disappeared off of it.
but I don't know what that means.
does that mean moving on their own or what?
>> no.
>> it's a huge issue, particularly given we're right in the -- well, the infant stages.
>> the charge to the subcommittee and the Commissioners' court was to look at the interim external advisory committee.
so that's what we looked at.
>> is the auditor on the internal management team?
>> the internal team.
>> you just haven't met?
>> right.
>> I'm all right with that.
I just don't want that to get away.
that's worked well in the past, the cooperative arrangement we have.
it's certainly the most effective.
but it also makes me very, very interested in what i.t.
is doing.
>> as far as change is concerned, it will be a huge change to the county and the way we do business.
is there going to be a following charge to the subcommittee?
if there is, then I would think that maybe the auditor should be a part of that.
>> as far as my understanding was, the subcommittee of Commissioner Huber and I were only charged with coming up -- with assisting i.t.
in developing a strategic procedural framework for change management and this external advisory committee.
and I think the subcommittee of the Commissioners' court as far as I can tell is done.
although part of the recommendation was with regard to utilization of the external group, if it is mr. Harlow's wish for members of the Commissioners' court to be included as a -- to assist him in making his case to the full Commissioners' court, is there any issue with the Commissioners' court on that point?
>> I have a couple of issues.
(indiscernible).
I'm not going to support it today.
Commissioner, I think you have done a good job.
it's not to knock what you're doing.
but it's that where your level of support is.
and of course it still goes back to the position of where we didn't fill a position that I felt we should have felt and that was the administrative operations position.
now we're going back and using salary savings from that position, still haven't failed it, still looking at it, still a vacancy.
so this particular department came up under there.
come up under that department.
and of course, you know I'm a big supporter of be fit.
susan, you and everyone else know that.
we want to make sure that gets off the ground right.
but it's a procedural thing and a process as far as how you get there.
we don't agree maybe on how we get there.
getting there is where we're all trying to go.
but the way we get there is sometimes we disagree.
and I'm disagreeing today because don't know as far as expenditures, we're talking 200,000-dollar range, be don't know.
at the end of the day how much do we know exactly how much it's going to cost?
and that's big opinion in my opinion.
of course, then (indiscernible) I stay consistent as I normally do.
Commissioner Davis will vote no.
I want to let you know Commissioner Davis is consistent as far as his position and the reason why my position is as it is.
so thank you, though.
>> now that you've got good news for us that you -- you ran down here to bring a good surprise.
>> I just wanted a little clarification.
the 200,000 that we've been talking about that's budgeted in fy '11 is actual in the general administration budget.
so if -- wherever the court would like those funds for the purpose of this study, if you want to do it out of general administration or if you want to do it out of i.t., then we need to transfer the money and we can bring you a transfer.
>> do we describe the purpose of that money?
>> in the adopted budget it says an increase for the i.t.
strategic planning study and assessment, 200,000.
>> I would suggest that we -- actually I'm going to put this out to joe.
it seems like if we could have at least a couple of weeks of meetings with the external advisory committee.
and again I want to make it clear to auditor, the external advisory committee, that's all this item depose to.
-- goes to.
the external advisory committee to work with joe on the likely price along with purchasing so that we could then come with a more mindful request to transfer that money over, because that's the likely result, but we might as well go ahead and bring these folks in to discuss price tags.
>> I think the court wants to see the scope of work at the time that we see the price tag.
>> absolutely.
>> it is good news that the money was set aside for this purpose.
and so I'm open as to what it should cost.
but if we spend $200,000, we need to be satisfied that we're getting $200,000' worth of work.
and I think the scope will drive that.
>> absolutely.
>> I think we need to keep adding money.
if this is a really important thing to do, I think we need to get the money from the general fund.
I would not be in favor of taking the money from salary savings to apply to this field.
that's one that still is vacant and we still need to address it.
>> I second judge Biscoe's motion on the external advisory committee.
>> six members and if we find one, two or three others that we think should be appointed, we'll do that.
I would bring them back to court if I could to give them the additional status.
you see, these are important decisions we're asking them to work with us on.
>> thank you very much.
that it?
>> uh-huh.
>> so keep up the good work.
key y'all soon.
-- see y'all soon.
>> do we need to vote that?
>> are you going to vote on that?
>> [ laughter ]
>> it's a three-one vote, mr. Nellis.
all in favor?
show Commissioners Gomez, Eckhardt and yours truly voting in favor.
Commissioner Davis --
>> voting no.
>> voting no.
>> thank you so much.
>> I would like to say thank you, Commissioner and Commissioner Huber too for working with us on this.
>> it's been a pleasure.
and really a pleasure.
>> thank you.
>> thank y'all.
>> ms. Fleming, are you nearby?
>> always.
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Last Modified:
Tuesday, March, 2011 2:19 PM
