Advisory Finance Committee recommends IT director position
By Ken Powers Community Reporter

Westborough - The Advisory Finance Committee has decided what to recommend and not recommend at Town Meeting later this month. Among the winners and losers is the Town's Management Information System/Geographic Information System (MIS/ GIS) and its Department of Public Works (DPW).

After an 11th-hour appeal by members of the Board of Selectmen and Town Coordinator Henry Danis, the committee changed its recommendation about hiring a fulltime Information Technology (IT) director to run the MIS/ GIS Department.

The town has been without an IT director since Russ Gaulin left more than five years ago. Danis appealed to the Advisory Finance Committee to support the hiring of a replacement because he felt Westborough shouldn't continue without one.

The MIS/GIS Department was created in 2000 and since 2003 one full-time and onepart time employee have maintained the town's website, responded to municipal employees' needs and requests, and continued the upkeep of the geographic database the town uses for its online maps and overlays.

The IT director position Danis and the Board of Selectmen are requesting has an announced salary of $70,000.

"I don't know of any other $70 million company that doesn't have a full-time IT director, but that's the situation we're in," Danis said. "Plus, we're not just looking for just a technical person, we need a department head and administrator."

The MIS/GIS director would oversee the computer and technology needs of town departments, including the Fire and Police departments, but not including schools. The long-term goal, Danis said, is to make the town website more useable and interactive.

The Advisory Finance Committee did not originally support the request to add the position because it comes in a year when the town is struggling financially.

Ian P. Johnson, Advisory Finance Committee chair, said previously the town should consider hiring an outside contractor to handle IT issues as needed, but that idea met strong objection.

"We have tried that option previously and it has not worked well for us," Danis said.

DPW Director John Walden and his operating budget were not as fortunate in its review by the Advisory Finance Committee.

Increasing gas prices have already left the DPW with a $70,000 deficit, and the Advisory Finance Committee has recommended cutting the fiscal year (FY) 2009 budget.

Its recommendation is to trim $16,000 from the DPW budget, which is over $2 million. Coincidentally, that figure is the exact amount in the DPW budget for upkeep of the to-be-built Bay State Commons Park.

Johnson said the cut was not targeted specifically at maintenance of the Bay State Commons Park, and that the DPW budget includes enough money to maintain the park without the additional $16,000.

Walden said the dramatic increase in gas prices is forcing the DPW to fill a deficit this year that is three times more than what the deficit was in FY 2007. He predicted it could be worth even more next fiscal year.

Walden told the Advisory Finance Committee he has requested level funding for all controllable costs and will not be able to maintain the new downtown park if the department budget loses $16,000.

"They don't know what they're talking about," Walden said. "I manage the bottom line. I manage the budget."