Under a proposal, the Information Systems Department would be disbanded with employees moving to Public Works and Planning and Zoning departments.
MANITOWOC – The county board will consider a resolution to disband the Information Services Department and create a new Information Systems Division within the Public Works Department.
The current IS Department is home to eight employees under Director Robert Blashe, who will retire April 20. Six of those employees would be restructured into the Public Works Department under an IS manager, while the GIS coordinator position would become part of the Planning and Zoning Department and the financial systems support analyst would become part of the Comptroller’s Office.
According to the proposed resolution, the restructuring could result in $23,113 in savings for the county.
The IS Department was created in 2000 to “provide a centralized and independent source of data processing support services for all departments,” per the county website. The department provides technical support to the entire county, as well as to municipal police departments and the Joint Dispatch Center, among many other information technology related tasks.
The issue came up when the county began interviewing candidates to replace Blashe as IS director. After a joint meeting between Finance, Personnel and Public Works committees March 14, a resolution to restructure the IS Department was forwarded to the county board for the March 20 meeting.
Behnke said someone in the current IS Department was offered an IS manager position before the resolution was considered, but that person turned down the offer.
The resolution was tabled during the March 20 county board meeting after Supervisor Paul Hansen told the board he received calls from county employees who had concerns about the restructuring.
County supervisors voiced differences in opinions. Some felt the matter needed to be dealt with so the restructuring could happen before Blashe left. Others felt it was worth the time to consider concerns brought up by county employees.
Swade also said he was afraid that by putting another division under the Public Works Department would overload Gerry Neuser, director of Public Works.
The website currently shows four divisions under the Public Works Department — Buildings & Grounds, Solid Waste & Recycling, Communications and the Expo Center.
Supervisor Dave Nickels was also concerned about Neuser’s workload and expertise in running an Information Systems Division. He said he felt the county needed to place a person with experience and expertise in information technology to run the IS Department.
Other supervisors, such as Don Zimmer and Rick Gerroll, said they are completely confident Neuser would be able to competently oversee an IS division.
Another joint meeting between the Finance, Personnel and Public Works committees was held April 3 regarding the resolution and the county board will reconsider the matter during the April 17 meeting, which will take place at the Heritage Center at 5:50 p.m.