My spies tell me that the State of California is currently actively looking for a full-time Y2K Project Manager. Any of you folks up near Sacto hear anything about this? Didn't CA have a PM for Y2K?

If so, did the victim, er, PM bail out (or get let go)?

If not, why the !@#$%^ not?!

-- Mac (sneak@lurk.hid), April 28, 1999

Answers

Looking forward to getting an answer to this post......

-- Old Gramma (Gotitincalif@webtv.net), April 28, 1999.

The State of Cal. y2k site is at http://www.year2000.ca.gov/ Department project managers are at http://www.year2000.ca.gov/Contacts/ Task Force members are at http://www.year2000.ca.gov/TaskForce/ Perhaps they are looking for a California Y2K CZAR?

-- marsh (armstrng@sisqtel.net), April 28, 1999.

I thought they were in the process of bringing on board the y2k person that headed up the city of San Diego's effort.

Ray

-- Ray (ray@totacc.com), April 28, 1999.

Little late, I'd say. Get the hell out of CA.

-- SCOTTY (BLehman202@aol.com), April 28, 1999.

Marsh -

You're right. From the description I saw, the job was more accurately a Program (or "Programme", for our Canadian and British readers) Manager position. Overseer, asker-of-unpopular-questions, holder-of-the-whip, that sort of thing. I suspect there's a lot of CYA occurring at the departmental level, so this PM position would have to be given an unusual amount of authority, which seems most unlikely. All those department heads will resist any attempts to empower anyone else to get at the whole, unvarnished truth of their Y2K status; that's just human nature.

Hopefully Diane Squire or someone else with contacts in the capitol can give us some insight here.

-- Mac (sneak@lurk.hid), April 28, 1999.

Ray -

Grapevine says she bailed right quicklike. No support internally. Probably a smart move on her part.

Would love some verification of all this, though. The folks in Sacto may have everything well in hand and are just adding a Program Manager to ensure that everything stays on course. Track record ain't great, but I want to give them the benefit of the doubt. "Optimist by temperament, but pessimist by policy."

-- Mac (sneak@lurk.hid), April 28, 1999.

I have a friend that works for the prison here in California. They had a meeting a few months back with folks from the state. The presentation was given by a woman that was the head of at least the embedded chip problem. I don't know if it is just for the prison or for the state. The woman did not paint a very pretty picture. The bottom line is that they do not know what will fail.

After the presentation, my friend went up to her and complimented her on her presentation and wished her good luck. She said, "No, good luck to you sir."

-- Villain (villain@thedoghousemail.com), April 28, 1999.

If this is true then I think "INVAR" and/or y2kpro ought to apply for the position, between the two of them they should have all bases covered. Imagine the news conferences!

-- Johnny (jljtm@bellsouth.net), April 28, 1999.

The state's 'Y2K czar' had been the Director of DOIT. No reason to think that's changed...

Searching the past week of sacbee.com turned up nothing. I work for a state agency (in Sacto) and have heard nothing. We're meeting with DOIT auditors on Friday, so I'll ask...

-- Grrr (grrr@grrr.net), April 28, 1999.

Grrr -

Seems unlikely that the Bee would have this - not very newsworthy (yet). Does the state post job openings internally? Be interesting if they had this position posted somewhere.

-- Mac (sneak@lurk.hid), April 28, 1999.

Not easy information to locate specific information, Mac. Close, perhaps.

State of California Home Page -- Government

http://www.state.ca.us/s/ govt/

Governors Office

http://www.state.ca.us/s/ governor/

Statutory Positions, Boards and Commissions
Serving in the Davis Administration

Browse ways to serve in the Davis Administration; download applications and internship information.

http:// www.state.ca.us/s/governor/apptlist.html

OFFICE OF GOVERNOR GRAY DAVIS
- Statutory Index of Positions 1999 -

[Under a long list of job openings for Gray Davis is ...]

* Information Technology, Dir of Office

Then see ...

(DOIT) Department of Information Technology (Y2K information & links too)

http://www.doit.ca.gov/

Press Release - Governor Davis Appoints New Director for the DOIT
February 17, 1999

SACRAMENTO  Governor Gray Davis today announced the appointment of Elias S. Cortez to head the Department of Information Technology and has selected two other appointees to serve on the governors Y2K Compliance Team.

"Director Cortez and the Y2K Compliance Team have the right mix of talent and experience to ensure that Californias mission-critical systems are Y2K compliant," said Governor Davis. "I am confident this team will lead California through this technological hurdle safely into the next millennium." More ...

http://www.ca.gov/ s/governor/021799.html

[Dont know if this is what youre thinking of, Mac. Also tried the EDD, but its not working].

California Employment Development Department (EDD)

http://wwwedd.cahwnet.gov/

CalJOBS
(The CalJOBS website is temporarily out of service. Please check back later for system availability. We apologize for any inconvenience.) < br>

http://www.caljobs.ca.gov/

See also other links ...

State Government Services & Agencies
Link directly to a California state agency or department

http:// www.state.ca.us/s/search/hello.html

State Government Services & Agencies
Topical, Keyword and Subject Index

http:// www.state.ca.us/s/search/topc3a-z.html

Year 2000 - California's Responses to Computer Issues
California 2000 Home Page
Department of Information Technology

http://www.year2000.ca.gov/

[Cant find job listings, above or below].

California Office of Emergency Services (OES)

http://www.oes.ca.gov/

The old technology way of finding out, would be to PHONE the Govenerors Office.

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), April 28, 1999.

BTW, this looks like some interesting CA Y2K status reading ... all the transcripts of presentations ... LONG ...

Y2K Conference Online Index

Business Continuity Planning & Emergency Preparedness Conference Online
Held on March 16, 1999
at California State University Sacramento

http:// www.year2000.ca.gov/CSUSconf/confwrapup.asp

Index

1) Governor's Message
2) Opening Remarks
3) Keynote Address
4) General Session - Power Utilities - Electric and Gas
5) Understanding Year 2000 Business Continuity Planning
6) Using and Adapting Existing Emergency Response Systems to Handle Year 2000 Problems
7) Emergency Exercise: Testing Year 2000 Readiness - County of Montgomery, Maryland
8) Conducting A Year 2000 Scenario-Based Emergency Exercise - City of Lubbock, Texas
9) Local Government - An Interactive Discussion
10) Year 2000 Status on Business Continuity and Telecommunications < br> 11) Concurrent Sessions - Interactive Discussions
a) Community Outreach
b) Hazardous Materials
c) Law Enforcement Issues
d) Water and Waste Water
e) Transportation
12) General Session - Telling People About Year 2000 - The Lessons of Risk Communication
13) Bringing It All Together

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), April 28, 1999.

Diane -- the really interesting thing in the index to that site you found (Business Continuity Planning & Emergency Preparedness Conference Online) is that every index entry links to its full text except No. 12, namely:

General Session - Telling People About Year 2000 - The Lessons of Risk Communication. Dr. Peter M. Sandman, Risk Communication Consultant, Newton, MA

There's the briar patch in this ol' swamp, sho' nuf.

-- Tom Carey (tomcarey@mindspring.com), April 29, 1999.

.... the appointment of Elias S. Cortez to head the Department of Information Technology....

So what is his experience? The other two? Clinton chose a lawyer with previous ties to the Democratic National Committee for his Y2K czarlet. Wonder if the Democratic CA governor will do better?

-- Robert A. Cook, PE (Kennesaw, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), April 29, 1999.

Tom,

That IS interesting isnt it.

Hummm. Wonder if the consultant has his own web-site? (With full- text of speeches given?).

Robert,

If you read the rest of the PR release it gives a blip on experience ...

Press Release - Governor Davis Appoints New Director for the DOIT
February 17, 1999

http://www.ca.gov/ s/governor/021799.html

SACRAMENTO  Governor Gray Davis today announced the appointment of Elias S. Cortez to head the Department of Information Technology and has selected two other appointees to serve on the governors Y2K Compliance Team.

"Director Cortez and the Y2K Compliance Team have the right mix of talent and experience to ensure that Californias mission-critical systems are Y2K compliant," said Governor Davis. "I am confident this team will lead California through this technological hurdle safely into the next millennium."

Cortez, 41, of Chino Hills, has served as the chief information officer for the County of San Bernardino since 1997. He also has served the Los Angeles Unified School District from 1991 to 1997 as director of information systems and previously as a computer application specialist. Cortez holds a bachelor of science degree from the University of Southern California.

Rounding out the Governors Y2K Compliance Team are:

[Maybe one of these people quit?]

Robert DellAgostino - acting chief deputy director for the Department of Information Technology. DellAgostino, 60, of Sacramento, is slated to head the Health and Welfare Data Center under Secretary Grantland Johnson. Previously, he was the principal program analyst for the Legislative Analysts Office. He earned bachelor of arts and master of arts degrees from California State University, Sacramento.

Christina A. Polley - deputy director for the Department of General Services. Polley, 46, of Folsom, has an extensive background in communications technology. She was an executive for Siemens Business Communications specializing in electronics technology from 1992 to 1997. Previously, she was a manager at IBM for seven years. She holds a bachelor of science degree from the University of San Francisco and a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Tulsa.

Cortez will receive a salary of $105,886, reflecting a 5% reduction as requested by the Governor. This position requires Senate confirmation.

See also ...

3) Keynote Address -- Elias S. Cortez, Chief Information Officer, State of California

http:// www.year2000.ca.gov/CSUSconf/keynote.asp

Back soon.

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), April 29, 1999.

Dr Peter M. Sandman

Dr Peter M. Sandman Q EST Consulting Group Creator of the Hazard + Outrage formula for risk communication, Peter M. Sandman is the preeminent risk communication speaker and consultant in the United States today. ...

http:// www.qest.com.au/QestPeterSandman.htm

Tom, chances are, one of his speeches is what he covered (several choices) ... same topic at the conference -- you have to download the documents, then read ...

Informing the Public

http:// www.qest.com.au/downloads/InformThePublic.doc

Risk Communication: Facing Public Outrage

http://www.qest.com.au/downloads/FacingPublicOutrage.doc

Risk Communication

http:// www.qest.com.au/downloads/riskcomm.doc

Speak Out: When Outrage is a Hazard

http:// www.qest.com.au/downloads/speakout.doc

Havent read them yet. Depending on what they say, can always contact him directly and see if he has the full-text for the CA Y2K conference speech ...

General Session - Telling People About Year 2000 - The Lessons of Risk Communication. Dr. Peter M. Sandman, Risk Communication Consultant, Newton, MA

Dr. Peter Sandman can be contacted by Email psandman@webtv.net or telephone in Boston, Mass. on 617-630-0385 (fax 617-630-0384).

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), April 29, 1999.