Managers Fail To Use Potential Editor's note: The Lee County site is not working this morning. It may be down for maintenance. The intention had been to give an example of the subject of this column. It must be a bad day for systems--Blogger is still having problems. Lee County had difficulty in getting a web site online, but now has one that has the potential to be of real assistance to citizens but it is going largely unused by the county. Lee County had a troubled history with its ability to bring even a basic site online until the then county manager, under severe pressure from then commissioner Chad Adams, finally recognized that the Information Technology director serving at the time was unable to complete the job. Then we see one of those aspects of government that makes it so ineffective and taxpayers so skeptical. (See yesterday's Uncommon Sense column) A new high level position was created with tax dollars to move the former county Information Technology Director aside. This is government's classic way of dealing with high level employees who cannot do their job that causes tax payers to resent the stewardship of their tax dollars. Often it is just moving incompetence from one area to another. That "made up job" is now taking $76,000 of tax dollars. My observation is that the individual is even less accountable now for the outcome produced. Then Lee County promoted Ryan Draughn, who became Information Technology Director in May of 2005 and made great strides. Draughn took an entirely different approach. He would bring in a contractor and create a system that would put the website content in the hands of the line departments. This allowed each department to maintain its own portion of the website and better use it to serve the public. It was a brilliant strategy change. He engaged Kelly Marcom to assist in deploying what is called a content management platform--a more innovative approach than the traditional web site -- for $15,440. No information technology deployment is without challenges but the speed and ease quickly made the new site available. (Jamie Kelly was not a commissioner at the time, and when he was elected the contract with his firm was phased out to avoid any appearance of impropriety.) The challenge was to get the departments to use it. Shortly after the new system was brought online it appears that the county manager at the time was interested in other things until Draughn [important correction: should read David Smitherman] was allowed to resign with much less fanfare than the school superintendent. Draughn left to become the Chief Information Officer of the North Carolina League of Municipalities in July. The progress Lee County made so quickly with its web site and other initiatives led to his becoming one of the best of the field in the state. Editors Note and Commentary: A future posting will discuss the unprofessional manner in which Mr. Draughn was treated by Robert Rieves in a finance committee meeting. When private citizens have taped recent finance committee meetings, this kind of conduct has been subdued. The next time you see Jerry Lemmond ask him why the county does not record and play Finance Committee meetings on its web site like the City of Sanford does?
Friday, August 8, 2008
Current County Web Site Underutilized
Managers Fail To Use Potential Editor's note: The Lee County site is not working this morning. It may be down for maintenance. The intention had been to give an example of the subject of this column. It must be a bad day for systems--Blogger is still having problems. Lee County had difficulty in getting a web site online, but now has one that has the potential to be of real assistance to citizens but it is going largely unused by the county. Lee County had a troubled history with its ability to bring even a basic site online until the then county manager, under severe pressure from then commissioner Chad Adams, finally recognized that the Information Technology director serving at the time was unable to complete the job. Then we see one of those aspects of government that makes it so ineffective and taxpayers so skeptical. (See yesterday's Uncommon Sense column) A new high level position was created with tax dollars to move the former county Information Technology Director aside. This is government's classic way of dealing with high level employees who cannot do their job that causes tax payers to resent the stewardship of their tax dollars. Often it is just moving incompetence from one area to another. That "made up job" is now taking $76,000 of tax dollars. My observation is that the individual is even less accountable now for the outcome produced. Then Lee County promoted Ryan Draughn, who became Information Technology Director in May of 2005 and made great strides. Draughn took an entirely different approach. He would bring in a contractor and create a system that would put the website content in the hands of the line departments. This allowed each department to maintain its own portion of the website and better use it to serve the public. It was a brilliant strategy change. He engaged Kelly Marcom to assist in deploying what is called a content management platform--a more innovative approach than the traditional web site -- for $15,440. No information technology deployment is without challenges but the speed and ease quickly made the new site available. (Jamie Kelly was not a commissioner at the time, and when he was elected the contract with his firm was phased out to avoid any appearance of impropriety.) The challenge was to get the departments to use it. Shortly after the new system was brought online it appears that the county manager at the time was interested in other things until Draughn [important correction: should read David Smitherman] was allowed to resign with much less fanfare than the school superintendent. Draughn left to become the Chief Information Officer of the North Carolina League of Municipalities in July. The progress Lee County made so quickly with its web site and other initiatives led to his becoming one of the best of the field in the state. Editors Note and Commentary: A future posting will discuss the unprofessional manner in which Mr. Draughn was treated by Robert Rieves in a finance committee meeting. When private citizens have taped recent finance committee meetings, this kind of conduct has been subdued. The next time you see Jerry Lemmond ask him why the county does not record and play Finance Committee meetings on its web site like the City of Sanford does?
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