There isn’t much about information technology that’s flashy, but it’s one of the most important parts of any organization, and especially city government, with functions like 911 and 311 that are critical to public health and safety.
Dallas needs a great leader for its IT department to keep things running smoothly and to prevent disasters. With Chief Information Officer Bill Zielinski’s departure earlier this week, the city must find a successor with the skills to lead Dallas forward.
Brian Gardner, the city’s chief information security officer, will be the department’s interim director. Whether Gardner is the best choice for the permanent position, we can’t say. But he should compete with the best an open market can offer. This selection process must include a genuine comprehensive search.
A ransomware attack last year proved how important good IT management is when it affected police, courts, 311 and multiple city websites. The deletion of millions of police files in 2021 did the same.
Inefficiencies and under-investment have left the city with a backlog of projects to address, and Dallas needs someone who can handle it. There are over 100 approved projects in the IT pipeline, according to the March Technology Accountability Report, at a cost of around $396 million.
Among the most critical is a new fire station alert system. The city has known about the problems with the existing one at least since 2021, according to a city memo, and they’re serious. The outdated system hadn’t been well maintained and was experiencing delays.
A fix is in the works, expected to be complete by October, according to the March technology report. But three years is far too long when we’re talking about a system needed for saving lives.
Other important projects include an electronic citation system for the Code Compliance Department and a new system to improve the permitting process labeled DallasNow, according to the March report.
It’s not as if the city is doing nothing. There is $5 million in proposed borrowing in the 2024 Dallas bond for the city to upgrade its data center. A plan to deal with a “debt” of inadequate systems has also been developed.
But managing the city’s exploding IT needs has to be top priority in every budget cycle. We understand that Dallas has many needs, but getting technology right affects every part of how City Hall operates.
The city has an interim city manager right now. Ideally, that job would be filled with the right person before placing a new IT director, assuming Gardner can handle the job in the interim.
The important thing is to get this right, not to get it done right away.
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