Submitted by Ricky Peterson
Commissioner Board Work Session
Docken, Purfeerst, Underdahl, Hoisington, Malecha present
Galen Malecha acting chair
I. CALL TO ORDER AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 8:00 am
II. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: Allan Klug
IT Department Updates
First IT report since April 2020. Now 500 users are served by 6 IT employees plus one part time and one vacancy.
Lots of computers, lots of uninformed users make IT service a challenge. IT involved in most projects. Help desk active. Cyber security main issue threatening safe open access to county business.
Threats and solutions
- Some activists view government as the adversary. AI increases risk of breach. Two-factor identification and more advanced passwords are the best defense though inconvenient ..
- Flexible computing expectations complicate IT services. Twice as many service requests as a few years ago.
- Costs for services and hardware up 50%. Subscription -based software is now the norm, and more expensive. And more paperwork managing licenses. Now part of standard accounting practices.
Security and resiliency will be enhanced by the Public Safety Center network redundancy.
Commissioners support IT.
Alan has a goal of a 4-5 year replacement cycle for hardware. 5 now because of costs.
III. HUMAN RESOURCE: Adam Johnson and Carol Kritzer
Review Draft of the Remote Work Policy
Construction work, then a fire, then Covid have prompted remote work for many employees. Some current workers have barely ever worked on site.
Adam Johnson presents 9-page policy condensed to 1, an attempt to codify conditions for remote work.
- Remote work makes a digital assistant in the home a security risk.
- Up to now, hours and conditions have been on a case-by-case basis but County Board could set overall conditions and policies.
- Other MN counties have a range of on-site vs. off-site work.
Commissioner Docken worries about safety and insurance liability. HR will create a checklist for safety expectations.
Docken, Underdahl, Purfeerst: Also concerns about who decides when it doesn’t work for a particular employee. How can we supervise and gauge employee wellbeing if they are offsite. Commisssioners don’t want to appear to resist but they worry.
Reassurance: Under 10% of employees work from home most of the time.
Many who do are in social services, already out of the office most of their working time. Might check a client in the evening. Also depends on nature of work.
Can remote workers use the summer Friday afternoon off?
Yes, flextime can be used to avoid overtime. The Friday-off alternate work schedule is a summer experiment now. Commissioners could discuss making it year-round.
Docken wants employees available during business hours.
Does location matter? Florida for a month? A different residence would also affect IT considerations. No policy at this point. Supervisor, department head, IT, HR, administration confer. All such supervisors have to evaluate before it can be approved.
Hoisington asks have we suffered security breaches from remote work? What exposure do we have from smart devices at home? Says we must accept this as a future template.
Alan—-Virtual desktop environment lives in the cloud so it’s very safe now. Not on the local laptop. No exposure.
But smart phones and other smart devices are a threat. Alexa is the most aggressively listening.
Folsted asks for commissioners to review. the policy submitted.
County Attorney suggests an additional section specifically on criminal justice department. Remote worker should get a second signature. Specific remote access policy . Each employee should present an individual program for how he will work. Useful for review and discipline, and legal liability in case of any problem. Make sure employees must access info through remote desktop feature not through the local laptop. So liability will not fall on county.
IV. ADMINISTRATION: Sara Folsted
Open Forum Scheduling and Public Participation Discussion
Open forum scheduling 2nd Tuesdays to have forum at 8 am. and also a couple of evening opportunities.
Comments have asked that it begin later. Each commissioner says it’s fine either way, but no vote, remains 8 am. “I’m up early.” July 11 at 8 am will be first one.
They will invite comments after presentation and before vote. An admin employee will collect cards from would-be commenters.
Underdahl would like 2-minute limit during business meetings, but Sara says let’s stick with 3 minutes till we review the whole policy periodically.
V. Additional item of business:
Malecha asks for a session on landfill. Also a baseline testing of soil and wells in vicinity, for a baseline. Also says we should have a fee or ban on plastic bags in the landfill. (However, now we have a state ban on limiting plastic disposal, so our county must lobby to remove that ban.)
V. ADJOURNMENT 9:54 am
