IT director outlines $3.3M annual program, cybersecurity upgrades and NextGen 911 transition

Mike Cook, the city’s IT director, told the Budget & Finance Commission on April 15 that the Information Technology internal‑service fund runs approximately $3.3 million a year, supports roughly 700 user accounts and eight full‑time IT staff, and covers a 10‑year replacement plan and day‑to‑day operations.

Why it matters: IT operations underpin city services — from permitting and finance systems to police dispatch and the NextGen 9‑1‑1 transition. Commissioners said they wanted clearer data integration and easier public‑facing search on the city website.

Key items from the presentation

Budget and staffing

Cook described two core budget buckets: the IT replacement program (periodic, lumpy costs tied to hardware lifecycle) and the annual core operating budget. He said the city smooths large replacement costs by leasing major items (computers, servers, copiers) and by projecting replacement needs up to 10 years ahead. He reported roughly 550 heavy IT users and roughly 650 desktops and laptops in inventory.

Cybersecurity and backups

Cook outlined the city’s cybersecurity program: quarterly training and monthly phishing exercises for staff; third‑party audits; antivirus and gateway protections; FortiGate firewalls and a cybersecurity partner (Tech Refresh); and a recent investment in Rubrik backup appliances that replicate servers between City Hall and the police data center and backup encrypted copies off‑site. He said the combination of layered tools, training and an incident‑response relationship with consortium partners reduces risk.

NextGen 9‑1‑1 and dispatch

Cook said the city is replacing legacy 9‑1‑1 equipment and will be among the first local agencies to move to voice‑over‑IP NextGen 9‑1‑1. He explained that the state (Cal OES) funds primary 9‑1‑1 circuits and that the city’s dispatch computers and CAD systems interface with the city network; Cook said the planned VoIP migration will enable automatic failover and more flexible routing of 9‑1‑1 calls across the state in a major outage.

Applications and services

Cook listed major systems the city depends on: Microsoft for email and Office licensing, Tyler ERP (Munis) for the city’s general ledger and permitting, a content‑management system with about 3 million documents, outdoor Wi‑Fi coverage at the lagoon and boardwalk, and 17 facilities linked by a city dark‑fiber ring. He said the city averages roughly 200 IT service requests per month.

Commissioner requests and next steps

Commissioners asked for improved data‑integration tools for cross‑department analytics and easier public website search. Cook said the city is piloting and evaluating analytics tools — an example he cited was a police analytics platform (Peregrine) that aggregates many datasets for operational use. He also said the city is exploring light project‑management tools to help coordinate contractors on large capital efforts.

Cook summarized risk: “55% of information security incidents are caused by people,” he said, and defended the city’s blend of training, monitoring and third‑party partnerships as a practical defense against phishing, ransomware and other threats.

Ending

Commissioners unanimously moved to receive and file the presentation; Cook said he would follow up with the commission on specific items — a template for CIP data, website search improvements and any further requests for analytics or project‑management tools.