A plan to share computer and technical services touched a nerve in Akron City Council as some members suspected the deal would give more control to the county, which already runs the city’s health and buildings departments.
“My concern is that this is the same thing,” said Councilman Russ Neal, who led a small group of council members in sharply scrutinizing and eventually delaying the plan Monday. “What I don’t want to do is lose control of something else.”
The deal, put forward by Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan and given a favorable recommendation Monday by Summit County Council, would set the rates for the understaffed city to look to the county for help with everything from rebooting computers to more costly technical services. Project consulting, for example, could cost $150 to $250 an hour if the city hired a private firm, the city’s IT managers said. The county, however, would charge $90 for that service and about half as much for workers who handle the day-to-day computer issues that city employees encounter.
The agreement would work both ways, with the city and county charging each other for borrowing employees, software and expertise instead of hiring or buying their own. Workers would remain employees of their respective county or city government.
But with 30 information technology employees, the county appears better positioned to lend a hand than the city, which has eight technology workers — down from 18 in 2008. In January, the city’s IT staff will fall to seven with an expected departure. How to do more with less, especially amid an expensive sewer project, is top of mind for Horrigan.
The mayor’s staff said the city would pay no more than $100,000 a year for county help. It’s not meant to be a money-maker for the county, Horrigan’s staff said. What it could do is free up limited city staff to take on more innovative and complex tasks than resetting passwords and responding to computer crashes.
“We’ll have seven people running around helping people with their login and passwords,” said James Hardy, Mayor Horrigan’s chief of staff. “We’re just putting out fires each day.”
For $40 an hour an employee across the street at the county could be helping with those mundane tasks as the city sets its sights on moving its services into the 21st century.
Hardy tried repeatedly to dispel concerns by Neal and fellow council member Linda Omobien that the proposed agreement would shift more power to the county.
“We’re not giving away the house,” said councilman Bob Hoch, who joined Mike Freeman in supporting the plan to reduce costs and provide a wider range of services.
Hardy made the argument that shared staffing would allow the city to free up its limited IT department to dream big, developing an Akron of the future.
Traffic lights with smart technology would inform frenzied drivers of empty parking spaces. Little sensors could relay rainfall measurements to the director of public services, “who would love to know” such things as he remakes the city’s sewer system, Hardy said, noting that these bold plans require doing more with less.
The city, which plans to move its 3-1-1 informational system online in a few weeks, could plow through projects in half the time, IT managers Malcolm Valentino and Bill Fatica said.
Someday, Hardy continued, residents might be able to upload photos of potholes with a smartphone app monitored by the city. A work order to fix the chuckhole would be placed in real-time, and a record of the interaction could help guide city planners as they allocate resources for longer term infrastructure repairs.
Hardy said these lofty goals can not be accomplished without finding innovative ways to reduce costs and boost man hours.
“This is exactly what taxpayers are looking for. They’re paying county taxes. They’re paying city taxes,” a passionate and apparently frustrated Hardy said after council agreed to table the proposal for a week to study the contract language.
Doug Livingston can be reached at 330-996-3792 or dlivingston@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow on Twitter: @ABJDoug .