Travis County Commissioners Court

July 24, 2012 - Item 3
Agenda

Number 3, consider and take appropriate action on proclamation recognizing Joe Harlow upon his retirement after 13 years of dedicated service, and let me just announce our intention to call up item a1 which is related next.
And joe we have a proclamation here too and we have some of your staff here?

>> Just a few.

>> If you would like to come forth and stand behind you, that would be fine.
They may be moved to give comments before we're over here.
It reads: whereas service, dedication, commitment and compassion should always be recognized.
Whereas joe harlow has spent the last 13 years in service to the residents and employees of Travis County through his performance in the information technology services department.
Whereas joe has demonstrated his commitment to service and to his duties in a fashion that has made him known and respected by his peers and technology users of Travis County.
Whereas joe's efforts have successfully helped guide and pull Travis County from shadow to the light with the technological advances including first integrated court case management system in the country and served as a model to state and local agencies, personal computers on all desks with secured network infrastructure and server based print and file system.
Secure internet connection and infrastructure.
Brought in the, quote, 854, end quotes, telephone system exchange for Travis County offices.
Established and expanded the Travis County internet and intranet.
Expanded the high speed network to many Travis County facilities.
Hundreds of applications developed for departments and constituents such as our jury mobile jury computing for public safety, court efilings for the citizens of Travis County, conversion of email systems from groupwise to exchange.
And leading the effort to transition to a state-of-the-art data center.
Whereas he transitioned the department from just delivering technology to Travis County departments and offices to delivering services to Travis County county departments and offices.
The emphasis there being on services and not so much technology as a reflection of this leadership, i.t.s.
No longer stands for information telecommunications systems but information technology services instead.
Whereas joe is retiring from county service and is beginning a new era of life.
Now therefore be it resolved that the Travis County Commissioners court of the state of Texas grateful fully recognizes the contributions of joe harlow, jr., to the residents and employees of Travis County and wishes him continuing success in his much deserved retirement, and I move approval.

>> Second.

>> Good morning.

>> Thank you.
Well, I'm looking forward to starting another career after this one so it's been a pleasure to work for Travis County and to try to bring some technology to the table that we implemented over the last few years and so I'm looking forward to my staff to continue that legacy and to continue to provide good services to all the departments in the county.

>> Thank you so much, joe, for your service to Travis County and to the people of Travis County.
Absolutely.
And I'm really thankful for you being there.
I think you were always very open to answering questions and I think that's -- that communication, you know, between people is just extremely important as we try to deliver services to our taxpayers.
Understood that very well and I totally appreciate it.
And I wish you all the best.

>> Thank you.

>> I know things change and time goes by and people need to move on to another stage of their development, so wish you the best.
You deserve the best.
And thanks for leaving a good staff behind that we can rely on to answer our questions, again, you know, in their process.
Thank you.

>> Thank you very much.

>> [applause]

>> Mr. Davis, any comments?

>> Judge, we have come a long way since you started and we have had our differences and we have spoke openly about them, but trying to benefit Travis County as a whole, I think both of our interests has been really dedicated to Travis County.
It's good to be able to sit down and discuss issues with persons whether they agree with you or not, but to flush things out where you come with a good resolve I think is really a great attribute that you have because you listen and you take note of what's being said.
And I just think anyone that's in any of this business needs to really do listen to keep the line of communication open.
And you have definitely have done that.
Let me ask you this, are you going to stick in town or move out?

>> Well, I'm going to do a little traveling.
The first place is napal.

>> Oh, really?
Goodness.
I wish you the best in whatever you intended to.
I wish you the best, but I know you are going to stay busy because that's the kind of person you are.
Of course, you've put together a good team and I wish you well.
Thank you so much for your service to Travis County.

>> Thank you, sir.

>> Your network systems operation director.
I worked for joe since 2001 I came on board.
One of the things we didn't put in that proclamation which hit me a couple of days ago.
When I was first here, we had a tokenry network and we started that project so we also -- that list which is huge, we also converted our network to our ethernet which allows us to have the high speed.
Joe understands the service that we're trying to provide not only to the citizens but the departments who do what, serve our citizens.
And he has transitioned i.t.s.
To be totally focused on the business and the service and not just the technology because that's what we're delivering.
We're just delivering services and joe has put i.t.s.
On the right band width, on the right direction and the future is bright.
Thank you, joe.

>> Miss acevedo?

>> Joe, I can't believe today is here.
Tanya acevedo, over project management for the information technology services.
And it's been wonderful.
Last couple of years we delivered several projects on time and within budget and it's been fun, fun, fun.
And we wish you well and all the best.

>> Are you mr. Brown?

>> I'm mr. Brown.

>> Do you want to be next?

>> I've worked with joe with joe and it's been a pleasure working for him and I'm going to miss him in his retirement.

>> Thank you.

>> Judge, planning manager for i.t.s.
And I have a personal gratitude to joe I'm sure along with most of us who are standing here, but for me he gave me the opportunity to come into the department and use my previous skills and analyze things and suggesting and implement emerging technology.
That's my personal thank to you joe.
But also I want to say something that I think has failed to be mentioned during all the lauding here, very appropriate lauding, is joe is not one to toot his horn.
So what you've heard is just a brief example of all of the positive things that definitely are happening within our department.
Part of it -- most of it obviously to his leadership but he definitely has left that part of the leadership in place where so much growth in the technology area is happening.
And it's all through the result of his lieder ship and the great managers that he's got here with him, so thank you again, joe.

>> Open mic.
Anybody else?
Open mic closed.

>> Now, judge, that will teach you.

>> I received advice for both of us so I'm going to give it to you as you and I are good friend you will take it and receive it well, I think.
But here's retirement that we need to think about.
Retirement can be a great joy if you can figure out how to spend time without spending money.
Retirement is when you sit around and watch the sun set if you are able to stay up that late.

>> [laughter] the worst thing about retirement is having to drink coffee on your own time.
And one wife's definition of retirement twice as much husband and half as much income.
Retirement is wonderful if you have two essentials, much to live on and much to live for.
But you and I have been blessed because we are going to have both of those and we're going to have friends and we're going to -- that's one thing I think that we all will miss when we all do retire.
And by the way, it's all going to happen sooner than you think.
But joe and I will tell you that it goes by quickly, doesn't it?

>> Absolutely.

>> But the one thing we have is the friendships that we'll always have.
Joe, thank you for being a support to me and my division, emergency services.
When I first came to the county, if you remember, you were one of the first stops I made, I wanted to be a partner with you both in service and in friendship.
This is still true and been a blessing to me.
You are a good man, you are a good father and you are a good friend.
And I wish you the very best.

>> Thank so you much.

>> [applause]

>> And if I can add, judge, one expectation, don't be a stranger.
Our office is always open.
Any time you want to come back and give advice or make a call.

>> Thank you.

>> You bet.

>> I feel like I've worked for joe for the last 13 years too.
I don't know that we had any differences.
I thought we worked well together and there were a lot of technology changes.
It's a challenging area and I guess it will continue to be that way in the future.
But I think you leave with us a fine staff and I personally appreciate all you have done.
We understand you are having a big going away party tomorrow.

>> I think so.

>> I'm not sure I understood that Commissioners court was invited.

>> [laughter]

>> You are always invited.

>> If not just send refreshments to my office.

>> Joe, it's been a lot of fun.
Really, a fine person and a lot of knowledge and I respect that about your field and about the area you are in.
Like I'll say again, I'm going to wish you well and we have been well served by you and I wish you the best and enjoy your retirement, man.
Enjoy.

>> I intended to that.

>> Last opportunity.
Anybody else?
All in favor?
That passes by unanimous vote.
And we do have -- you deserve a rolex watch, however, it would not be legal for us to do that.
However, we have a beautiful proclamation we can give you and our problem with us doing that, you don't have to keep this forever, but you have to except it today.

>> I can do that.

>> Anybody bring a camera?
Maybe we'll do some picture taking tomorrow afternoon.

>> Somebody got a camera?

The Closed Caption log for this Commissioners Court agenda item is provided by Travis County Internet Services. Since this file is derived from the Closed Captions created during live cablecasts, there are occasional spelling and grammatical errors. This Closed Caption log is not an official record the Commissioners Court Meeting and cannot be relied on for official purposes. For official records please contact the County Clerk at (512) 854-4722.

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