Diane has encouraged me to move into the 1990's by "hotlinking" rather than posting URLs. I will make the attempt. I may still be "hotlink challenged" though (same reason I can't play the piano--except by ear), so apologies in advance if needed.

State and Local Government Preparedness for the Year 2000 Hearing Before the Senate Special Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem

Also don't forget the upcoming hearings. Details at: The Committee has the following hearings planned in July

The one on utilities could be important. :)

-- FM (vidprof@aol.com), July 19, 1999

Answers

It worked! (At least THIS time. . .) Who'da thunk it?

:)

-- FM (vidprof@aol.com), July 19, 1999.

Too cool, FM. Wayda go!

-- Will continue (farming@home.com), July 19, 1999.

http://www.senate.gov/~y2k/hearings/071599/lugar2.html

Senator Lugar's Statement on the GAO Survey:

Reported Y2K Readiness of the 21 Largest U.S. Cities

(draft statement)

Acting on a request from the Senate Special Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem, the General Accounting Office was asked to identify the Y2K status of key services provided by the nation's 21 largest cities.

Polled by telephone, city officials were queried about the Y2K status of systems including emergency services, traffic signals and control, telecommunications and government services under city control.

This GAO survey provides a detailed look at readiness of America's largest cities for the rollover from 1999 to 2000. My intention is to prevent an overview, the full survey results are available in press packets.

Chart 1 encapsulates a large amount of data. As of today, America's largest cities report on average that they have completed 43% of the work that will be required for an uneventful transition to the year 2000. While most cities plan to finish their tasks by September, a formidable amount of work remains unfinished.

Chart 2 highlights the all-important area of independent verification and validation, IV&V in Y2K speak. 20 out of the 21 largest cities said they are having the Y2K readiness of key systems independently verified.

Chart 3 also concerns testing, in this case testing of contingency systems if the best efforts to provide a technical fix should fail. The transition to the year 2000 is an event for which there is no historical record of experience. Nonetheless, it is important for state and local officials to practice, practice, practice for problem scenarios real and imagined. Again, the vast majority of cities are actively testing their ability to execute contingency plans should the technical effort fall short.

Chart 4 begins to show some of the depth of information contained in the GAO survey. The status of individual cities is given for six of the key services. Green signifies the city reports itself prepared for Y2K, yellow means preparations are as yet incomplete while black indicates the city does not own or operate this system. As is evident from the chart, there is slightly more yellow than green, especially in the areas of water and wastewater treatment, public building systems and emergency service systems. Indianapolis, a city I proudly served as Mayor, has work remaining to ensure emergency services and public buildings continue to operate on January 1, 2000. Boston and Dallas lead the pack with reported total readiness.

Each of the six key service areas are broken down in the full GAO report. For instance Emergency systems includes 911 systems, the Police and Fire departments and emergency medical services.

Paging through the survey indicates just how many systems have the potential to be affected by computer breakdowns or malfunctions. While the survey shows the level of seriousness with which America's largest cities are taking the upcoming changeover in years, it is abundantly clear that an enormous amount of work remains. Now is not the time for any of us, whether at the Federal, state or local level of government, to slacken our efforts.

On behalf of the Y2K Committee, I would like to thank Colleen Phillips and the other GAO staff for their hard work over the last two weeks to complete this insightful and timely survey.

[END]

p. 1

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-- Linkmeister (link@librarian.edu), July 19, 1999.

Wow, that statement is very troubling. As I have feared all along, this is the accepted "trend" of most self-reporting compliant statements released.

(snip)

Bennett said:

"We have seen a troubling trend lately, where various sectors report that they plan to be ready later this year, but don't report where they are today. We recently met with a group from an industry sector that proudly proclaimed they "would be" more than 90 percent ready by September 30. But when we asked about their current level of readiness, the group admitted that the industry sector was less than 20 percent ready."

(/snip)

What is wrong with these people?

Seems like they are betting the farm on being able to pull it off at the last minute. Maybe a few (very few) will, but they don't have the right to bet "my" farm and gamble with my life and the lives of those I love by telling outright lies while hoping for the best. What gives any of them the right? That is what I want to know.

Why don't we have the right to know the truth? Why isn't the truth published on the front page of every local newspaper in this country?

How many of us really know the status of the city/town where we live? Does our town expect to have electricity, water, 911 service, and telephone service? Just TELL me, then "I" can decide how much I need to prepare!!! This is not a doomer reaction or panic. It's common sense for crying out loud!

-- flb (fben4077@yahoo.com), July 19, 1999.

WELL STATED: "Why don't we have the right to know the truth? Why isn't the truth published on the front page of every local newspaper in this country?"

Brought to you by your Patriarchal Socialist Federal Government, who thinks the collective of it's citizenry cannot handle the truth. You might do something stupid or naughty.

And so it goes.

-- OR (orwelliator@biosys.net), July 19, 1999.

WELL STATED: "Why don't we have the right to know the truth? Why isn't the truth published on the front page of every local newspaper in this country?"

Brought to you by your Patriarchal Socialist Federal Government, who thinks it's citizenry cannot handle the truth. We might do something stupid or naughty.

We are the enemy...and so it goes.

-- OR (orwelliator@biosys.net), July 19, 1999.

Good hotlink job FM! See... it wasn't difficult.

;-D

Will read the testimony a bit later.

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), July 20, 1999.