• STATE PAYROLL SYSTEM: TAKE IT AWAY FROM CONTROLLER’S OFFICE: My article is up today in the San Diego Union Tribune

    March 14th, 2013 by admin Categories: Blogs Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
    STATE PAYROLL SYSTEM: TAKE IT AWAY FROM CONTROLLER’S OFFICE: My article is up today in the San Diego Union Tribune

    My primary points; After three separate controllers’ efforts, the last two having spent more than a decade in procurement and implementation efforts outlined above, the sine qua non ingredient for a new, successful project is the removal of responsibility for payroll and the new payroll […]

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    Governor Brown, Please Don’t Ignore Technology in Your New Reorg Plan

    June 28th, 2012 by admin Categories: Blogs Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
    Governor Brown, Please Don’t Ignore Technology in Your New Reorg Plan

    I read with interest the Bee’s recent Viewpoints: Brown seeks to straighten out government jumble, Jun. 17, 2012, by my former Wilson Administration colleague Joanne Kozberg and California Business Roundtable veteran, Bill Hauck touting Governor Brown’s government reorganization plan. I’m normally skeptical about government reorganization […]

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    State Auditor: FI$CAL on the Border of Oblivion?

    January 12th, 2012 by admin Categories: Blogs Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
    State Auditor: FI$CAL on the Border of Oblivion?

    The SacBee’s State Worker columnist and TechLeader.TV friend Jon Ortiz weighs in today with a story about the State Auditor again ripping FI$CAL, the state’s new $1.6 billion financial system modernization project at the Department of Finance. However, I want to take issue with certain findings […]

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    FI$CAL takes more hits from State Auditor

    January 11th, 2012 by admin Categories: Blogs Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
    FI$CAL takes more hits from State Auditor

    Orange County Register reports that the State’s $1.6 billion computer system [is] beset  by woes: Five months before selecting a contractor, the state of California has already spent $62.6 million on a computer project that the state auditor says is beset by problems with staffing, […]

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    Highlights from Little Hoover Commission testimony today by California Technology Agency Secretary and State CIO Carlos Ramos

    August 25th, 2011 by admin Categories: Blogs Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
    Highlights from Little Hoover Commission testimony today by California Technology Agency Secretary and State CIO Carlos Ramos

    Carlos Ramos expressed his support today for AB2408 and answered that it was successfully working; however, Ramos seemed to equivocate somewhat on several key points. What I took away from the hearing was the following: For agencies/departments scheduled to migrate their data processing centers to […]

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    Student, Teacher tracking systems & transparency; it’s politics (and unions) as usual

    August 13th, 2011 by admin Categories: Blogs Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
    Student, Teacher tracking systems & transparency; it’s politics (and unions) as usual

    The SacBee editorial last Friday strongly chastised Governor Brown urging him change his mind and support the 100% federally funded State Department of Education’s Cal-TIDES project, the so-called teacher tracking system: So it is perplexing and dismaying that the governor has vetoed the use of […]

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    Governor Brown Appoints a new CISO

    August 11th, 2011 by admin Categories: Blogs Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
    Governor Brown Appoints a new CISO

    Governor Brown announced today the appointment of a new Chief Information Security Officer, Col. Keith Tresh who replaces Keith Parker who had been Acting CISO since TechLeader.TV friend and guest Mark Weatherford left to become vice president and chief security officer at the North American […]

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    Are government CIO’s becoming an endangered species

    August 10th, 2011 by admin Categories: Blogs Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
    Are government CIO’s becoming an endangered species

    TechLeader.TV friend and the former U.S. Commerce CIO Alan Balutis writes a provocative column in Federal Computer Week recently entitled:  CIO: Really, sincerely dead? His observations should have real resonance for state & local government CIO’s as well. A few highlights: CIOs “are ill-defined positions […]

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    California Internet Tax devastates 25,000 state businesses and their employees. Are Governor Brown and the Democratic legislators accomplices in violation of federal and state mass layoff laws?

    July 7th, 2011 by admin Categories: Blogs Tags: , , , , ,
    California Internet Tax devastates 25,000 state businesses and their employees. Are Governor Brown and the Democratic legislators accomplices in violation of federal and state mass layoff laws?

    Like 25,000 other Californians I received an email yesterday from online retailer Amazon advising me that my status as an Amazon Associate is over, and they will stop paying commissions for ad referrals from my website of “click-through customers”. While my own commissions are nothing […]

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    Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Diet), Governor Brown & Secret Ballot Elections

    June 23rd, 2011 by admin Categories: Blogs Tags: , , , , , ,
    Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Diet), Governor Brown & Secret Ballot Elections

    Demonstrating the Pro Tem’s priorities are in order, Darrell Steinberg who carried Senate Bill 104 eliminating the secret ballot in unionization voting is also fasting today as part of a rotating fast by farmworkers and their supporters to encourage Governor Brown to sign the bill. […]

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