O.C. in Costly Computer Jam

Orange County’s massive computer system is rapidly approaching overload, but county supervisors said Tuesday they were caught by surprise at the need to immediately spend $2.5 million to solve the problem.

Without quick action, the county is expected to face major problems preparing for the June 30 end of the fiscal year and the annual preparation of property tax rolls.

Supervisors reacted with frustration, saying they were kept in the dark about the problem. They said they learned only Monday in individual briefings that a computer contractor working for the county had bought a $5.8-million computer and was now seeking $2.5 million in lease payments.

“We should have been told about this months ago,” said an angry Supervisor Lou Correa.

This is the latest in computer problems plaguing the county in recent years. Information managers have repeatedly sought more money for upgrades, such as $630,000 to lease an additional IBM processor.

At issue now is the newly bought IBM mainframe computer that county experts say can handle most of their computer needs. It was bought by Dallas-based Affiliated Computer Services Inc., which would then lease it to the county. An ACS spokesman could not be reached for comment.

Some supervisors said they wanted time to debate whether the county needed such a large computer. They also said they wanted to know whether the job should have gone out to bid, and determine whether more oversight was needed in the county’s relationship to the vendor.

“I have a lot of questions,” said Supervisor Chris Norby, “and hopefully we’ll have some answers.”

The lease will come up for approval at Tuesday’s board meeting.

Dan Hatton, county deputy CEO and chief information officer, offered an explanation. In an interview, he said the county’s Information and Technology Department failed to anticipate the huge and growing demands for computer services and, as a result, the county sometimes reaches 100% capacity.

The popularity of Internet transactions and upgrades in the county’s accounting and personnel systems have slowed computer response times for county employees, he said.

For months, Hatton said, a county steering committee had been reviewing software options and whether to buy or lease a new mainframe computer. The committee also reviewed the company’s contract and discovered that it allowed the county to lease a mainframe with additional software, and that made the choice simple, Hatton said.

Getting the new computer through ACS is the only smart option, Hatton said, adding that the company would also provide system security.

“It’s in the interest of the constituents to keep this in the same hands of the existing vendor,” he said.

But Correa argued that it seemed most of the decision-making was taken out of the hands of supervisors, who are being given little choice but to lease from the firm.

In addition, Correa said, Hatton could have provided supervisors with updates about the lease option procedures rather than in a briefing a week after the company bought the mainframe computer.

“I would suspect this sticks in the craw of all five of us” supervisors, said board Chairman Bill Campbell.

“It probably was a good decision, but this is a multimillion-dollar decision,” Campbell said. “We’re not happy about this.”

He has asked the county’s top executive to provide an explanation as soon as possible.

The issue is sensitive for supervisors because they have tried to closely monitor the county’s finances, especially after their decision to pay off the debt from the county’s 1994 bankruptcy by 2016, or 10 years early.

The board doesn’t have its hands tied, Hatton argued. “They can say no,” he said. “If the board decides they do not want to approve this, we will go back and do whatever it is that has to be done.”

In an interview Tuesday, county Auditor-Controller David E. Sundstrom said he understood the need to expand the system’s capacity, but as auditor-controller he questioned the procedure.

“I know this has surprised the supervisors, and it’s surprised me,” Sundstrom said. “I’m not pleased about how quickly this was done.”

Sundstrom says the county is facing two major deadlines that will tax its computers: a new tax roll from the assessor’s office and preparation for June 30, which creates heavy demand because it’s the end of the fiscal year.

“It’s my understanding we’re at 100% capacity, and we’re having issues already where we’re crawling at times,” Sundstrom said.

Correa says he wants to appoint a stakeholders commission, to provide additional oversight by members who could include vendors along with professionals in industry, marketing and accounting.

“There’s a need here to have another look.,” Correa said. “When you have a piece of equipment that’s sitting on your docks, you question the checks and balances.”