Minutes

Minutes for first meeting of the Iowa County Information Technology (ICIT) group (proposed new ISAC Affiliate Group) on Tuesday, August 14th, in Des Moines.

In attendance:

Ken Agey, GIS Manager (Polk)
Robert Canney, MIS Director (Black Hawk)
Wayne Chizek, GIS Director (Marshall)
Micah Cutler, GIS Administrator (Harrison)
Dean Neal, Deputy Auditor/Recorder (Woodbury)
Jim Rice, MIS Director (Cerro Gordo)
Jason Siebrecht, GIS Coordinator (Linn)
Scott Williams, IS Director (Marshall)
Ray Willis, Mapping Specialist (Polk)

We opened the meeting by discussing our meeting of August 3rd Bill Peterson and David Vestal and agreed that we do want to proceed with efforts to become an ISAC Affiliate group. Wayne Chizek handed out copies of the bylaws from Iowa Association of Assessors, Iowa County Attorneys Association, Iowa State Association of County Community Services Directors, Iowa Association of County Conservation Boards, Iowa Emergency Management Director’s Association, Iowa County Engineer’s Association, Iowa Environmental Health Association, Government Management Information Sciences user’s group, State of Iowa County Recorder’s Association, Iowa State Sheriffs’ and Deputies’ Association, Iowa State Association of County Supervisors, and Iowa State County Treasurers Association. Wayne had taken the time to build a spread sheet breaking down the key elements of each associations bylaws.

Discussion centered around whether to being by defining our group’s mission statement, purpose or goals. We developed a list of statements, some taken from the sample bylaws and some from group suggestions:

Continuing education

Enactment and Revision of Iowa Laws

Promote orderly, efficient, uniform administration

Harmonious and cooperative effort

Perpetuate and improve the performance of County Government

Increasing the effectiveness of County Government

Promote better working relationships

Promote education

Micah suggested using some of the points as “goals” under objectives. Dean suggested presenting our proposed bylaws at the fall ISAC conference.

Further discussion lead to picking a name for our group. We decided to avoid using ISAC in the name since this might be viewed as presumptuous by the other ISAC affiliates when we are trying to get their support for affiliate status. The name Iowa County Information Technology (ICIT) group was the unanimous choice.

Advantages of incorporating the group were brought up; limiting liability of officers and members, and being able to get a federal ID for collecting fees. We decided to leave the issue of incorporating until we see how the ISAC affiliate process goes.

Bob brought up the question of whether our group should include city information technology and not just county. The concern raised over including cities was that we might actually be at odds with some of the cities’ goals, also that there probably wouldn’t be enough city representatives to be an issue.

List of goals/ objectives of ICIT in order of priority:

Education
Communication
Standards for sharing (both information and projects)
Addition potential goals/ objectives:

Influence/ advise the legislature on new laws impacting county IT

Increase effectiveness/ efficiency of county government

Provide assistance to other counties on IT/ GIS issues

Networking

Provide vision

Tentative statement of purpose for ICIT:

The purpose of this organization is to promote professionalism, cooperation, mutual assistance and sharing of experiences; committed to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas, information and technology as they relate to county government activities and legislation; formed for the benefit of participating county technology representatives.

Break for lunch. Ken brought a copy of the bylaws for the Missouri Mappers Association. Wayne started the discussion after lunch with the issue of putting together presentations for the fall ISAC conference. The entire group agreed that we should put something together to begin letting the other affiliates and potential members know about our group. Initial discussion centered around a presentation by Wayne and Micah on “What is GIS” and a panel discussion by IT people.

Jerri Noboa indicated that there are four time slots available for our group to present; 9:00-12:00 & 1:00-4:30 Wednesday, November 14, 1:30-4:00 Thursday, November 15 and 9:00-12:00 Friday November 16. The whole group decided to not try to fill the Friday spot but concentrate on the three other times. Bob suggested getting a panel to discuss the current status of statewide services being provided by various state departments (DOT, DHS, other e-commerce). Bob and Scott felt they had enough contacts to get a good panel together. The tentative schedule for the three spots are:

Wed. 9-12 – ICIT panel discussion made up of Wayne, Ken, and Jason (moderator – Jim Rice) present bylaws and open IT issues

Wed. 1- 4 – GIS presentation by Wayne and Micah (moderator – Ray Willis)

Thur. 1:30 – 4 Panel discussion of statewide services by state departments, possibly e-commerce (panel to be identified by Bob & Scott)

Outlines of the programs need to be turned in to ISAC no later than September 7th in order to be included in the ISAC newsletter and conference announcement.

Scott volunteered to set up an ICIT list serve at www.co.marshall.ia.us/icit . Micah volunteered to put together the by-laws. Discussion about ICIT membership. Members should be county employees and a significant portion of their job duties are GIS/ IS. Ken suggested the idea of a student membership status.

Next meeting 10:00am, Monday August 27th in the Polk County Administrative Building, Assessor’s Office.

Wayne suggested using the Community Services bylaws for membership description and using the phrase “including, but not limited to”.

As a group we decided to defer the issue of membership dues until we see what develops with the ISAC affiliate status.

Wayne suggested that the list serve could possibly be broken into two groups; members and interest groups.

Action items:

Wayne – call ISAC to confirm that our group will be putting together presentations for the ISAC fall conference.

Jim – put together the format for the ICIT panel.

Bob & Scott – work on putting together a panel of state agency representatives.

Dean – get a representative for the County Recorders.

All – review ICIT purpose and objectives.

Minutes for first meeting of the Technology Committee (proposed new ISAC Affiliate Group) on Friday, August 3^rd, in Des Moines. Notes from meeting with ISAC are attached.

In attendance:

Ken Agey, GIS Manager (Polk)
Robert Canney, MIS Director (Black Hawk)
Wayne Chizek, GIS Director (Marshall)
Micah Cutler, GIS Administrator (Harrison)
Joyce Horner, Business Liaison (Marshall)
Dean Neal, Deputy Auditor/Recorder (Woodbury)
Jim Rice, MIS Director (Cerro Gordo)
Jason Siebrecht, GIS Coordinator (Linn)
Scott Williams, IS Director (Marshall)
Ray Willis, Mapping Specialist (Polk)

Wayne Chizek initiated the meeting and developed the agenda based on input from the group prior to the meeting. Wayne had also scheduled a meeting with Bill Peterson, ISAC director, to discuss the possibility of establishing a new affiliate group within the ISAC organization that would focus on the IS/IT/GIS functions of county government.

1. Introductions and opening comments about the need for a county level technology group and whether established organizations such as IGIC, GMIS or existing ISAC affiliates could meet the group’s needs.

Jason: IGIC has been failing to provide a structure that fosters the sharing of technology and sharing of common day-to-day experiences and stories.

Dean: Had tried several times to get Ann Peton, former State GIS Coordinator, to present at ISAC. He had also tried and been unsuccessful at getting answers to specific GIS questions.

Ken: Thought that a county level group would be the best suited for establishing GIS standards for sharing of data. Polk now has several cities that are struggling with combining GIS data from two, or (in the case of West Des Moines) even four counties.

Micah: Sees IGIC as dealing with more of an academic level of GIS. There is a need to have a group that can act as a repository for more detailed information.

Jim: An ISAC Technology Affiliate could help to even out the knowledge base between the technological have/have-not counties. Counties who have succeeded in establishing web sites, for example, could give advice to those trying to establish web sites without the bias introduced from the vendor community.

Scott: ISAC can give the group immediate access to the state legislative process. Feels that GMIS (Government Management Information Sciences, an international group made up of State, County, and Local government agencies and educational institutions) is functioning at a certain level to coordinate city and county level GIS efforts.

Joyce: Joyce agreed with Jim about the larger counties who have been involved in technology providing support to smaller counties and also looking to each other for support.

Bob: Indicated that he had been involved with GMIS from its beginning in Iowa. Has been trying to get ISAC interested in a Technology affiliate for many years. Noted that there had been a Technology group meeting at one of the past ISAC conferences.

Ray: Agreed with Micah about IGIC having more of an academic slant. Noted that Alan Jensen, the new State GIS Coordinator, has not had much time yet to establish himself. Feels that there are rolls to fill for both IGIC and an ISAC affiliate.

Wayne: ISAC would give the group an immediate legislative presence.

2. Determine Committee Structure.

Wayne Chizek – Chairperson

Jim Rice – Co-chair

Ray Willis – Secretary

3. Review current lists of County IT & GIS professionals.

Excel file developed from earlier efforts by several of the members attached.

4. Discuss statewide organization alternatives. (Can one new affiliate cover both IT and GIS or should we be looking at two new affiliates?)

General consensus that one new affiliate should be able to provide for both since there is so much overlap between IS and GIS interests.

General discussion about the merits of ISAC, GMIS, IGIC and forming a new independent state organization. All agreed that it would be too difficult to start an independent group.

Bob noted that there is a current effort to establish a new ISAC affiliate for county zoning officials.

General discussion and agreement that ISAC seems to provide the most benefits to a new affiliate in terms of professional, full-time staff, established structure for lobbying efforts and county government focus.

5. Discuss aspects of an ISAC Technology Affiliate.

A) Positive – A technology affiliate could bring first hand experiences and knowledge into ongoing county level discussions by other affiliates on issues like e-commerce.

B) Negative – Concern that one more affiliate might spread the ISAC staff and funding too thin.

C) What can we provide ISAC? – Technology affiliate would make ISAC more inclusive of county functions since no one office in county government is consistently responsible for IS/GIS functions; provide a body of knowledge on technical IS issues when new legislation is being introduced; provide other affiliates with sources of contact with IS technicians.

D) What can ISAC provide us? – ISAC would give IS/GIS technicians good exposure to the political side of county business; a forum for sharing practical GIS concepts, approaches, and solutions between both the technology have and have-nots; potential for grant applications on joint county IS/GIS projects; potential savings from bulk purchases of hardware and software.

6. Discuss what this committee would like to accomplish from our meeting with ISAC this afternoon.

A) To present our desire to becoming an ISAC affiliate.

B) To present our reasons for wanting to become an ISAC affiliate.

C) To obtain a thorough understanding of the process to become an ISAC affiliate and the

required time line for such a process.

D) To individually and as a group, get a feel for ISAC’s feelings toward a Technology Affiliate.

7. Next meeting date and Adjournment.

Tuesday, August 14^th, 10:00 AM.

Location – Polk County Assessor’s Office conference room in the

Polk County Administrative Building at 2^nd & Court, Des Moines.

Notes from meeting of afternoon of August 3^rd, with Bill Peterson, ISAC Executive Director and David Vestal, Deputy Director and general council.

Introductions followed by Dave reviewing the current efforts by county zoning officials to establish a County Zoning Affiliate (COZO). There was an effort in the 80’s to establish a zoning affiliate which was voted down. The newest effort started in earnest last January. They met with other ISAC affiliates at the March conference to “lobby” for support from the other affiliates. Dave noted that the Board of Supervisor’s affiliate is a key affiliate for support.

The process Dave described is:

1. Make presentation(s) to the ISAC Board of Directors. (Made up of 14 affiliates and the past ISAC president, the Iowa Director of NACO and also members from the National Association of Counties, 19 voting members in all. Note: The Supervisors have 3 voting members on the board.)
2. Lobbying of other affiliates for support. (Generally includes presentations at ISAC conference.)
3. If Board agrees, the issue is put to a vote of the general membership in attendance at either the March or November ISAC conference. (Everyone registered for the conference that is in attendance gets to vote. Must have a 2/3 majority for the issue to pass.)
4. ISAC Articles of Incorporation would be changed to reflect the new affiliate. (Currently lists each affiliate and the total maximum number of board members (19) on the ISAC Board of Directors.)

Bill pointed out that our group could take advantage of many of the services provided by ISAC without becoming an affiliate. He told us that two groups, Public Health Nurses and Environmental Health Officials, had been established as affiliates and then asked to be removed. He told us that the membership structure was established so that each county paid the same dues no matter what its population size. This was a positive because no county had more influence than another but was also a negative because the dues are a significant budget burden for the smaller counties.

Bill and Dave gave us several suggestions about how to proceed if we wanted to become an affiliate. They strongly suggested that we establish bylaws that would be compatible with the current bylaws of other affiliates. The ISAC Board meets 6 to 7 times a year, usually once a month from September through March. We should put together a 45 minute to 1 hour presentation for one of the board meetings and be prepared to give it more than once. They indicated that there might be some resistance by affiliates made up of elected county officials to vote in a new affiliate made up of non-elected county employees. The perception being that having been elected and subject to being defeated in the next election, they are more directly accountable to the citizens of their county than non-elected county employees. Dave also pointed out that some might feel that the legislative concerns of a technology group are already represented by existing affiliates.

Bill repeated his comments that our group would not need to be an affiliate to take advantage of some of ISAC’s services. He suggested that we set up a separate Technology track at their 2002 conferences, possibly both the January meeting for “newly elected” county officials and the March conference. He thought a 1-day track specific to IS/GIS would have several benefits; helping us to identify potential members, consolidating the groups efforts on education and training, developing structure for the organization, helping us to formalize the process, subtly convincing the other affiliates that there is a need for a Technology Affiliate. ISAC can provide us some of the same benefits as the existing affiliates such as coordinating the two conferences, sending out newsletters, dealing with conference registration fees (currently $65 per registrant). Dave mentioned that ISAC’s new facilities on SW 7^th will be available to not only current ISAC affiliates but any county group that would want to use the new conference rooms for meetings.

Dave observed that there are positive reasons for establishing a new affiliate. He thought bringing the technology side of county government into the ISAC group would be beneficial for all the affiliates. In particular the Recorders, who tend to be less technology oriented, but are trying to deal with the e-commerce issue. He saw our group as a great resource for the ISAC lobbying efforts as a pool of knowledge on the impact of new legislation on county operations.

Dave pointed out two obstacles that our group needs to overcome in order to get approved as an affiliate: first, the problem with the nebulous definition of a technology affiliate. Are we programmers,

cartographers, GIS specialists, or are we a combination of auditor/network specialist, assessor/ mapping specialist, planner/GIS coordinator? The second obstacle is the resistance to change by other affiliates. There might be concern over spreading the ISAC staff and resources too thin and diluting their focus.

Wayne asked about the possibility of adding a session to the schedule for the November ISAC conference. Bill said he wanted to visit with Jerri Noboa, the ISAC meeting administrator, about adding anything to the schedule before he could say one way or the other. The general discussion around the table was that November might be too soon to put together a separate track. Everyone agreed that we want to put together a quality session rather than just throwing something together. We left it that Bill will check with Jerri on scheduling and Wanye will check back with Bill.

Bill offered to let our group continue using the conference room to finish our group’s discussion. Everyone agreed that we want to continue with our efforts to establish an ISAC Technology Affiliate. Bob suggested that we could use the GMIS bylaws as a model for our bylaws. We also discussed getting copies of other affiliates bylaws, especially the Supervisors. Micah offered to type up the new bylaws. Scott offered to provide a list-server for the group for posting e-mail. Subjects for the August 14^th meeting should include; bylaws, whether to incorporate or not, fees/dues, and updating e-mail lists.