McMillan Working to End City’s Paper Chase : Simi Valley: He plans computer system overhaul to spur efficiency. Colleagues have long recognized his ability to improve government operations.

Simi Valley has a paper problem, and John McMillan is determined to fix it.

As director of the city’s General Services Department, McMillan’s main job is to act as the city’s fiscal officer, accounting for every penny that goes through the city’s coffers.

But since McMillan, 53, took over the department 15 months ago, he’s been spending about half his time concocting a new computer system for the city.

Within five years, McMillan says the $780,000 plan will transform city operations from a jumbled mass of duplicated reports to a smoothly interconnected system. He says the plan, MIS 2000, will curb the city’s massive paper habit and save a bundle of cash for taxpayers.

These days, the city’s 10-year-old mainframe computer system leaves city workers toiling over 123 snail-paced desktop computers that frequently break down. As Simi Valley’s population of 102,000 continues to grow, so does awareness among workers and city leaders that the outdated computers are not keeping up with the demands on government.

Even when they are up and running, the computers are not linked to one another, so workers are forced to share information the old-fashioned way: carting sheaves of reports from one building to another.

“The way things are right now, it’s very cumbersome and ineffective,” McMillan said. “Once the new system is in place, things are going to be a lot easier for everyone.”

McMillan’s plan has won praise from city leaders, who are impressed with the work he’s done in his short time with the city.

“When the last director left, we really were concerned that those were shoes that wouldn’t be fillable,” Mayor Greg Stratton said. “John has done a good job of stepping up to that level of expertise and service.”

Although McMillan is new to Simi Valley, his knowledge of city operations is extensive. He held similar jobs for 15 years with the city of Ventura.

Former Ventura City Manager Ed McCombs hired McMillan after working with him in the Peace Corps during the 1960s. McCombs was an administrator in Sarawak, Malaysia, where McMillan was teaching English and mathematics.

While in Malaysia, McMillan delved into the local culture, making friends with students and other teachers and organizing soccer games.

“I was impressed because, in a completely different culture, he was able to carve out his own support system,” McCombs said. “He was a natural leader who was well-liked and effective, and he carried that over to his work with the city.”

When McMillan worked in Ventura, McCombs remembers his uncanny ability to come up with funds for projects whenever the City Council made a request.

“Of course, John was very concerned about maintaining a solid cash reserve,” McCombs said. “But he always seemed to be able to come up with the money, and it got to the point where the council recognized this and started saying: ‘John, we need you to find us another can of money.’ ”

In these tight fiscal times, McMillan is equally good at finding ways to cut back and save cash, Simi Valley City Manager Lin Koester said.

“He’s a quick study,” Koester said. “He knows this field, knows where there’s waste and where things can be tightened.”

McMillan relishes the number-crunching part of his job, which he says keeps the work interesting after all these years.

“The thing that I enjoy most is looking for different ways of doing things,” McMillan said. “Looking for improvements, ways to save money and cut costs.”

The new computer system, the biggest cost-cutting measure McMillan is working on, could save thousands of dollars each year in filing and processing time as well as improve the city’s response time in emergencies such as the Jan. 17 earthquake.

One phase of the program, which will superimpose street names and property descriptions on computers displaying the location of water and sewer lines, could help the city pinpoint leaks and breaks, and respond more quickly.

“Right now, all the maps are on paper and in separate places, so during the earthquake, we had to go through a tedious process to find out what was wrong and where,” McMillan said. “This is going to change all that and put us on the scene 10 times quicker.”

Once the system is installed, McMillan says his biggest challenge will be persuading workers to overcome their fear of relying on computers.

“There are still a lot of people who feel much safer with a piece of paper in their hand,” he said.

But if anyone can persuade employees to trust the new system, it’s McMillan, said Ventura City Manager John Baker, another former boss.

McMillan exudes confidence, Baker said, and is able to set goals and get things done.

“He’s incredibly reliable--rock-solid even,” Baker said. “He projects stability and part of that, I think, is his physical presence.”

A man of impressive girth, McMillan enjoys whipping up gourmet meals for his wife, Marty, and their two children. He specializes in spicy dishes he’s tested during his travels to Mexico, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

Leisure travel, McMillan said, gives his daily life a sense of freshness.

“You go away and see all kinds of amazing places, and then you come home and look at things differently,” he said. “You appreciate them more.”

Profile of John R. McMillan

Age: 53

Education: B. A., English literature, Villanova University, Pennsylvania; master’s in public administration, USC.

Career: Personnel officer for city of Ventura, 1971-75; director of management services, 1976-86; deputy city manager, 1986-87; international management consultant in Sarawak, Malaysia, 1987-88; consultant for Shannon Associates, Sacramento-based firm that works for city governments, 1988-93; director of general services for Simi Valley since 1993.

Salary: $97,381, including benefits.

Family: Two children, ages 12 and 19; wife, Marty, works at a floral shop in Thousand Oaks.

Hobbies: Golf, tennis, cooking, travel.

Quote: “The thing that I enjoy the most is looking for different ways of doing things--looking for improvements, ways to save money and cut costs.”