County committee authorizes two new IT positions after staffing analysis

The Mecklenburg County personnel committee voted unanimously on Aug. 11 to authorize two additional positions for the county Information Technology department, funding the hires from a dedicated IT reserve. The committee based its recommendation on a July staffing analysis and the county's recent experience responding to cybersecurity threats.

Committee chair Brenda Blackwell and members Claudia Lundy, Sterling Wilkinson and Tom Tanner attended the personnel committee meeting where Alex Gottschalk and Alex Wells reviewed the county's IT capacity. Gottschalk said the county's IT department currently had three full-time positions, one vacancy, and was supporting nearly 250 full-time county employees. He said the department spends much of its time on crisis response, which has hindered long-term projects.

The July report, produced for the county by the contracted consultant, identified a multi-year set of recommendations and urged immediate additions. The report recommended three positions in the short term: an administrative coordinator/tier-1 tech support, a public-safety support specialist and a security specialist. Committee members noted one of those functions could be folded into the existing vacant position, so the committee moved to add two positions immediately and defer any further hires until after the county's public safety building opens.

Claudia Lundy moved the recommendation; the committee voted unanimously to authorize the two positions and to fund them from the $250,000 IT reserve set aside in the FY2024-25 budget.

The committee recorded concern that limited staffing had left county systems vulnerable because of aging infrastructure and gaps in routine updates. The committee's action directs county staff to implement the immediate hires; final job descriptions, classification and pay will be completed through the county's human resources process before recruitment begins.

No legal statutes were cited during the discussion; the committee anchored its decision on the consultant report and the county's internal budget reserve.

The personnel committee adjourned after the vote. The board will receive implementation details and recruitment timelines in future staff reports.