Friday, March 19, 1999
Computer project chief likely to be fired
BY STEVE KEMME
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HAMILTON — The Butler County commissioners plan to fire Ken Glunt on Mondayas manager of a major computer project that's been beset by controversy and delays.
Commissioner Mike Fox said he will introduce a motion Monday to fire Mr. Glunt, who was hired in June 1995 and earns $49,740 a year.
“I don't know of any other agency or program in the county that is as loosely run as this one is,” Mr. Fox said.
Commissioner Chuck Furmon said he will support Mr. Fox's motion.
“Under the conditions, I think it's time we try to get some new blood involved and start from scratch,” he said.
The third commissioner, Courtney Combs, was out of town and could not be reached for comment. It will take two votes for the motion to pass.
Mr. Glunt admitted the project has taken longer to put into place than he had hoped, but he defended his performance.
“I feel falsely accused of not supporting my weight around here,” he said. “I work long and hard.”
The project involves the design and installation of a computerized information system for the courts, the sheriff's department and the probation department. The system would contain such information as arrests, data about county jail inmates, trials, court hearings, convictions
and sentencings.
The system was designed by BIS Computer Solutions of La Crescenta, Calif. On Monday, commissioners voted to terminate Butler's contract with BIS because after four years, only a small portion of the system is operating.
Clerk of Courts Cindy Carpenter, frustrated over the delays, obtained a court order last year to buy a computer system from a different vendor. The system began operating at the beginning of the year.
A report from a consultant hired by the county to evaluate the BIS justice information system criticized the county and BIS for mismanaging the project. High-level county officials didn't spend enough time on the project, the report said.
Mr. Glunt said that he has never had the authority necessary to push the project forward.
“I can't tell a judge, "You must look at this computer package and approve it,'” he said.
“I have a package that's been waiting for judicial approval for two years. I've given deadlines, and they've come and gone. I need to have drop-dead deadlines. What kind of consequences can I give a judge who doesn't meet deadlines?”
The amount of money the county has spent on the project is in dispute.
Mr. Glunt said the county has paid BIS $613,614 so far.
But a county auditor's office report says the county has paid BIS $856,984. The report says the county has spent an additional $556,255 on the project for Mr. Glunt's salary, computer hardware, contractual services and other expenses.
Mr. Fox and Mr. Furmon said they didn't realize the county had invested as much as $1.4 million in the project.
“It's just awful,” Mr. Fox said.
Mr. Glunt said it will take two years to complete the entire project, but he can't guarantee that because of the many factors involved.
Mr. Fox and Juvenile Court Judge David Niehaus each have proposed changing the management of the project so that a five-member executive committee oversees the justice information system task force.
Among the differences in the two proposals is that Judge Niehaus' proposal includes Mr. Glunt, while Mr. Fox's does not.
Mr. Fox said the county should have an integrated justice information computer that allows each department and court to have the kind of system it wants, including the BIS package.
Mr. Glunt said scrapping the project and starting over would be far more costly than completing and updating the BIS system.
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