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City council hears demonstration of electronic forms pilot; CAO staff seeks $187,000 to keep program alive
Summary
City Administrative Officer staff and Information Technology Agency staff demonstrated a pilot electronic forms repository and requested $187,000 in next year’s budget to maintain the software license and continue the pilot of 35 internal forms and one public form.
On May 2, 2000, the Los Angeles City Council received a demonstration of an electronic forms pilot and heard a budget request to maintain the program. Councilmember Chick presented the item and introduced staff from the City Administrative Officer’s office and the Information Technology Agency (ITA).
The pilot, developed by the CAO in coordination with ITA and the Department of General Services, put 35 internal administrative forms and one public form (the application for employment) into an electronic forms repository accessible to city employees on the intranet and, for the public employment form, on the Internet via the city website. Laura Guglama, a staff member with the City Administrative Officer’s office, told the council the CAO had absorbed the pilot software cost and ITA loaned a server and staff time to develop the repository. Richard Tom of ITA participated in the on‑screen demonstration.
The project allows forms to be filled out online, printed, and saved; both the template and the contents are stored so data “remains in the original context,” Guglama said. During the pilot phase, the forms are not linked to database applications, she said. Councilmember Chick framed the project as a step toward modernizing city operations, saying, “We want to be the digital coast. We want to compete with Silicon Valley.”
City staff and the CAO estimate productivity improvements and savings from reduced printing, storage and duplicate forms. Chick and CAO staff said the pilot’s current software license will expire unless the program receives funding in the upcoming city budget. The CAO’s office proposed a phased approach and identified $187,000 as the funding amount needed for the next year to maintain licenses and keep the pilot active.
Council members noted the item as a budget note and indicated they would raise the funding request during the council’s budget process. The council accepted the demonstration as a note on file; there was no recorded objection.
The pilot remains limited in scope during the demonstration: 35 internal forms and one public form, no database integration in the pilot, and reliance on CAO and ITA resources to implement. Staff said the public employment form will be posted on the city website after approval by the personnel department.
