Acting IT director asks for server replacement plan, cybersecurity staffing and service‑desk support after 2023 flood and ERP impacts

Angela Martinez, acting IT director, told the Budget Advisory Board the department is operating lean and requested several decision packages to modernize servers, tighten endpoint and account governance, expand cybersecurity professional services and augment service-desk and asset logistics staffing.

The request is framed against the department’s recent modernization work and the April 2023 flood that accelerated migrations to cloud and forced immediate equipment moves; Martinez described a two‑year replacement plan for on-prem servers with FY26 end-of-life dates, an endpoint-management purchase to identify unmanaged devices and administrative access, and cybersecurity professional services to reduce successful phishing incidents.

"We have produced 11,355 phishing emails. Out of 11,355, 1,460 were recorded as failures in a period of six months, of which 480 are associated with individuals entering their password into a link," Angela Martinez, acting IT director, said. She said the department has identified repeat clickers and plans targeted training, including partnering with community organizations for cybersecurity awareness work.

Martinez proposed hiring temporary service‑desk augmentation to reduce average call handling time and fund analytics and automation (for example, self‑service password reset). She also requested a part‑time asset-management/logistics position to reduce engineers’ travel time to a remote storage yard and to implement barcoding and chain-of-custody scanning for high‑value equipment.

Other requests included Esri/GIS professional services to optimize citywide mapping applications, continued funding for radio-shop preventive maintenance (previously contracted and now proposed to be brought in-house), and modest funding for endpoint and identity controls. Martinez emphasized that IT supports roughly 3,000 active employees and operates at about $9,000 per employee in staff-cost terms compared with typical market ranges of $12,000–$15,000.

Board members probed the phishing metrics, training and timelines. Martinez said targeted department-level training will begin immediately if funding is approved and that professional services would help stabilize controls in 6–12 months. She noted the IT move to a leased facility after the 2023 flood and explained the part-time logistics role is intended to cut repeated engineer travel and associated labor cost.