6 responses to findings and recommendations
F1
The Board of Supervisors approved the purchase of the 10-acre parcel near the town of El Dorado without recognizing that only about 7 1/2 acres of the parcel are usable due to a seasonal creek flowing through the property.
Response: Disagree Partially
Score: 0
a.: The respondent disagrees partially with the finding. Since the document referenced in the finding as “The Future of El Dorado County Information Technologies and the Information Technologies Department, Draft” was written, IT has reduced its workforce by a net of 17 positions. This has resulted in a net county cost reduction of $1.2 million in salary saving per year (FY05/06 dollars). While these reductions were forced by budget constraints they have resulted in greater efficiencies as departments and central IS have had to work more collaboratively to insure vital services continued. Any ...
R1
The Board of Supervisors should require a detailed, written cost analysis for any contract greater than a set dollar amount that it considers for approval.
Response: Implemented
Score: 0
b.: The recommendation has been implemented. The Interim IT Director, appointed February 2005 conducted a review of the delivery of IT services in the county. All three alternatives listed in the recommendation were considered. Outsourcing remains a valuable tool for IT. IT will continue to seek and implement outsourcing contracts for various types of service. Equipment maintenance is an example of one outsource contract currently in place. Discussions with outsourcing vendors indicated a direction of gradual “service by service” outsourcing as a more cost effective strategy rather than a “who...
F2
The Board of Supervisors approved the purchase of the 10-acre parcel near the town of El Dorado without recognizing that the cost of improving access to the parcel and adjoining parcels as specified in the purchase agreement could be as much as $1.5 million.
Response: Disagree Partially
Score: 0
a.: The respondent disagrees partially with the finding. It is agreed that the policy does not currently “require” IT approval prior to a department purchase of particular software or hardware. It is not accurate to characterize IT’s review and recommendation relating to all IT purchases as “routinely ignored”. The vast majority of all IT purchases (98%+) are reviewed by IT. When IT has raised an objection to a purchase nearly every case (an exception can not be recalled) was resolved by mutual agreement between IT and the department. This has been true for at least the past 2 years. 2b. Recom...
R2
The Board of Supervisors should give appropriate deference to experts, both in and outside the County, in matters of property acquisition and building construction, and should not ignore those recommendations without compelling reasons.
Response: Unknown
Score: 0
b.: The recommendation has not yet been implemented, but will be in the future. Within 3months IT will seek Board approval to revise Policy A-10 to require IT approval of all software and hardware purchases. Exceptions will have to be approved by the IT Steering Committee. 3a. Finding: Departments acquiring or producing information or data that could be used by other county departments are sometimes reluctant to freely share that information or data. The public is not served well by these reluctant departments. As an example, the Building Department could better coordinate with the Assessor’s ...
F3
The Board of Supervisors approved the purchase of the 10-acre parcel near the town of EI Dorado without requiring the Sellers to contribute to the costs of the improvements specified in the purchase agreement. Those improvements will greatly benefit the privately-owned parcels adjacent to the required roadway, which are still owned by the Sellers.
Response: Disagree Partially
Score: 0
a.: The respondent disagrees partially with the finding. The respondent cannot comment on the generality that “departments are sometimes reluctant to freely share that information”. However, with regard to the example of the Building Department (now a part of the Development Services Department), the respondent disagrees that past lack of information sharing was due to reluctance on the part of the Development Services Department. The department’s digital images have been available for several years on a networked server for viewing by any county agency with the OTG software used to index thes...
R3
The lead County Department in each case, and the CAO, should provide the Board of Supervisors with all pertinent information, including financial cost, for all aspects of a proposed property acquisition and improvements.
Response: Requires Analysis
Score: 0
b.: The recommendation requires further analysis. The Information Technologies Director will assist the CAO in identifying additional areas where a cost effective method of information sharing between departments will help foster inter- departmental communication and help eliminate any duplication of data collection. This analysis will require approximately six months. 19 of 38
