COUNTDOWN TO Y2K: Y2K Ready or Not: 10 Days Left - As rollover to 2000 approaches, county officials say they're prepared Chronicle Staff Report Wednesday, December 22, 1999 )1999 San Francisco Chronicle

With only 10 days to go until the End of the World as We Know It -- the label widely used by the apocalyptic fringe -- Bay Area cities and counties say that, by and large, things look pretty good on the Y2K front, with only a few potential glitches in the offing.

There are no predictions of widespread utility failures and emergencies on New Year's Day -- no, they don't think the jail doors are going to swing open -- and, in fact, the technicians, politicians and other -icians say they think they have the potential problems contained.

The Year 2000 computer problem, if it does come, will be caused when computers' brains fail to understand fully the date rollover from Dec. 31, 1999, to Jan. 1, 2000, because of a decades-old design flaw that used only two digits instead of four to designate years. That means the computer might read Jan. 1, 2000, as Jan. 1, 1900.

Some Bay Area governments thought of this long ago

-- in Marin County, they started building four-digit date fields into their ``mission critical'' computer systems 12 years ago. Now, as 1999 winds to a close, computer suppliers are saying everything is A-OK, but they are sending out last-minute fixes just to be sure. Here, then, is what various cities and counties in the Bay Area have done to prepare for New Year's Day and beyond:

ALAMEDA COUNTY

Of all local Y2K preparations, those under way in the city of Oakland may be the biggest cause for concern.

The Bay Area's third-largest city opted to replace all of its business computer systems because they were outdated, even though only the payroll component of the old system was not Y2K compliant. The project, in which Oracle Corp. is the lead vendor, is now some $2.5 million over budget, with a total price tag of $21 million.

The city has been phasing in the system since January. But a fall survey found that 75 percent of the city's employees were experiencing problems with the new system.

The ``go-live'' date for the payroll component repeatedly was pushed back until November 18. The first payroll produced on the new system had errors in about 500 checks, or 10 percent of the payroll, according to city officials. Extremes ranged from a police technician who was paid $13.50 for two weeks of work to a public works employee given $322,000 for the same period.

Assistant City Manager Dolores Blanchard said errors were down to 3 percent on the second payroll issued, about the same as under the old system.

But the city auditor, in a scathing report issued December 10, warned that ``the problems associated with the transfer to the Oracle (payroll) system are severe and widespread and raise questions about how well Oakland is prepared for a potential Y2K disaster.''

City officials have blamed human error for many of the mistakes, but employees have faulted the new system. ``We don't view this as a system problem. The system is working,'' Blanchard said. But ``is the system operating at its optimum? Absolutely not.''

On the public safety front, a separate Oakland task force has been working on Y2K issues since late 1998. The city finished testing all of its embedded chip equipment, from traffic signals to building security systems, by October 1, said Darren Jimenez, Year 2000 Task Force project manager.

However, the city's computer-aided dispatch system for police and fire is not Y2K compliant, and officials decided not to fix it because money had not been budgeted to replace the entire system.

The only problem, Jimenez said, is that the system will classify 911 calls that come in at the start of January 1 as older than calls logged in the last minutes of 1999, since the computer interprets 00 as before 99. That means December 31 calls will be bumped to the bottom of the list for service.

Dispatchers will solve the problem by printing out the calls for service that come in just before midnight. After midnight, they will re-enter the calls into the system with the proper prioritizing.

``My personal opinion is that the possibility exists for localized disruption, but I think it will be much, much less than anticipated,'' said Jimenez. ``It's not going to be this catastrophic event. People are going to be able to buy milk, drive their cars down the street and go to work on Monday.''

In much smaller Piedmont, which has only 20 police officers, the city is relying on its residents to help out in case of Y2K problems. A volunteer Emergency Preparedness Committee has been working with neighborhoods to ``have people prepare themselves to take care of themselves,'' said City Clerk Ann Swift.

``We can't put enough people on the streets to solve all the problems,'' she said.

Piedmont's Police Department also is using some novel approaches that would only work on a small scale. In case of problems with phone lines, for instance, dispatchers will be equipped with cell phones, the numbers of which will be published in local newspapers.

In Berkeley, employees finished testing ``critical'' public safety systems in June and ``important'' systems in September.

Y2K Information Coordinator Roger Miller said the city has spent about $2.5 million over the past two years on computer upgrades, many of which would have been done without the Y2K issue. In addition to computers and servers, the city had to replace chip-embedded equipment, from the controller's office to the jail door to a storage tank fuel pump.

In case of a major power disruption, Berkeley is prepared to dispatch its police officers and pay its bills without the help of computers and has the capacity to run generators, as long as fuel is available, for several weeks.

Berkeley canceled all police vacations and will have more than 200 officers at work or on call. The city also will open its emergency operations center from New Year's Eve through New Year's Day.

``What we're expecting is that the Y2K problem has shifted from a technical problem to a people one . . . with accidents, rowdiness, parties and alcohol,'' said Miller.

The Oakland Unified School District is pushing winter break back two days so that school will start on Wednesday, January 5, rather than on Monday.

School officials said they are not aware of any other local districts that have delayed their return from winter break, but said districts in such cities as Dallas, Portland, Ore., and Detroit have done so.

Gary Meissner, the district's director of technology services, said an assessment crew of about 50 employees will report to work at 9 a.m. on January 1 to check the district's systems. Backup teams will be on standby, and vacations throughout January have been canceled for technology services and facilities employees.

Meissner said the district began working on Y2K remediation more than two years ago. Oakland schools have spent $3 million over the past two years upgrading some 8,000 of their 12,000 computers. No major systems were replaced. The district normally spends as much as $5 million annually on technology.

Berkeley school officials said they, too, have been working on Y2K-related upgrades for the past year, but feel no need to delay the start of school.

``If anything catastrophic happens at the stroke of midnight, we've got 48 hours to repair it'' before school reopens on Monday, said Paul Monroe, the district's manager of information technology.

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY

Everything from 911 computers to technology that controls sewage-treatment pumps and delivers water to county residents has been tested, and officials say they are ready for any potential problems over New Year's Eve.

The county has fixed all 400 of its ``mission critical'' systems. Its Y2K software remediation was completed in December 1998 and examined by an independent consulting company. Only the county's human resources and payroll systems had to be replaced, said Steve Steinbrecher, chief information officer for the county Department of Information Technology.

``We've spent between $20 million and $25 million in making the systems Y2K compliant,'' said Steinbrecher.

On New Year's Eve, Steinbrecher and two of his deputies will be at the emergency operations center along with another half-dozen support staff workers. Other employees will be on call in case of emergency.

In Concord, where city officials have been working to resolve potential computer problems for two years, the city has spent $250,000 to upgrade 400 computer systems by December 31. Officials have stockpiled fuel, batteries and tires in the event of any problems, said Paul Howard, Concord's head of Y2K preparation.

The city gave the same scrutiny to its 911 dispatch center as it did to its payroll computers. Officials also formed a task force in October to monitor Concord's Y2K preparedness, which included testing traffic signals. Those are expected to function at 12:01 a.m. January 1.

The city's emergency operations center at the Police Department will be fully staffed. No vacations have been allowed for the department for New Year's Eve, which will see a full crew with many others on call.

``No essential services will be disrupted as of January 1,'' Howard said. ``In the event that they do, we can do the work by hand.''

Al Donner, spokesman for the Contra Costa Water District, which serves 430,000 customers in central and eastern Contra Costa County, said pumping stations and treatment plants have all checked out.

``We've tested all systems,'' he said. ``Most are operating fine. From our customers' perspective, we know we'll be able to deliver to them on January 1.''

Donner, who said the district spent about $470,000 on Y2K upgrades, said all the district's reservoirs are filled and have a three-day capacity in the event of an emergency. ``If anything doesn't work, water will flow by gravity.''

The district also has backup generators and extra gasoline at key pumping stations, he said.

A staff of six will be at district headquarters on Concord Boulevard in Concord and at the plants on New Year's Eve. Twenty people will be on call in addition to the normal crew.

In Walnut Creek, the city has spent 21/4 years working toward Y2K compliance. But the city is at the mercy of computer application vendors, such as Microsoft Corp. and Compaq Computer Co., which support everything from the city's 911 system to voice mail at City Hall, said Gary Lech, the city's information systems manager. All vendors assured city officials they are Y2K compliant.

``We're not in a position where we can do a test on a live system,'' Lech said. ``We don't have a development environment. All of our systems have been upgraded in accordance with our vendors like Microsoft and Novell.''

On New Year's Eve, Lech will be at a makeshift emergency operations center at the Dean Lesher Regional Center for the Performing Arts, where Contra Costa's well-heeled residents also will be attending a black-tie party. He will be joined by members of the Police Department.

Paul Morsen, director of administration for the Central Contra Costa Sanitary District, said the district has been preparing for Y2K for the past 18 months and expects seamless service for the 40 million gallons of wastewater it treats per day.

``We did do testing in October and everything came out fine,'' Morsen said. ``In the sewage business, the best thing we have going for us is gravity. People flush and the pipes take it down to the sewer plant. I expect gravity to be unaffected by Y2K. Everyone will have sewer service.''

MARIN COUNTY

Of all Bay Area counties, Marin may have gotten the earliest jump on the Y2K problem.

The county began ensuring that its six ``mission critical'' systems were Y2K compliant as far back as 12 years ago. The last computer system update was in payroll and in the property tax division four and six years ago, respectively.

``We've been very active on the Y2K situation,'' said Ben Dresden, the county's director of information services and technology. ``I feel quite confident that our systems will function properly.''

The county did, however, spend almost $1 million updating other equipment and preparing for possible Y2K disasters.

Some 200 desktop computers and software that were not Y2K compliant were replaced over the past couple of years. The county also upgraded its voting system and its payroll check disbursement system. Over the past eight months, workers have been evaluating, testing and correcting systems in every department in the county.

Dresden said the manufacturers of equipment with embedded microchips have assured the county that their products are Y2K compliant, but ``a lot of vendors are sending us last-minute fixes.''

In the event there is a Pacific Gas and Electric Co. problem, Dresden said the county has a generator and diesel fuel that could run all systems for two weeks. Cell phones and radios are available if the regular phones go out.

The Marin County Public Works, Fire, Information Services and Sheriff's departments have canceled vacations for the week before and the week after New Year's.

At least 25 county systems engineers will be working in shifts on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. An emergency center will be open at the Civic Center from

noon on December 31 until 8 a.m. on January 1.

Dresden said he is confident. ``I'm inclined to think that for this county and for most of this country that we are in pretty good shape,'' Dresden said. ``Are there going to be some glitches? I think so, but I think we are going to be in shape to deal with them.''

San Rafael has set up an emergency operations center at City Hall, not because of concerns about the Y2K computer bug, but in anticipation of widespread rowdiness. About 60 people working two shifts will be on hand when the clock strikes midnight.

The Public Works Department will have a dozen people in the field and a few on call. The Police and Fire departments will have their entire forces ready for action, according to city officials.

SONOMA COUNTY

County officials got a later start and therefore had to spend more money than Marin -- about $7 million -- to Y2K-proof their systems. The county's annual information systems budget is about $20 million.

Bob Lawton, who was hired in 1997 as Sonoma County's Y2K project manager, said 22 ``mission critical'' mainframe systems, 450 software applications and 3,000 desktop computers representing 1.2 million lines of code were checked.

The property tax and recorder systems had to be overhauled. Extensive work also had to be done on the 911 and computer-aided dispatch systems. Lawton said the property tax system alone took a year.

In addition, he said, 400 computers had to be upgraded, and elevators, security systems, cooling equipment, medical equipment and other mechanical systems containing embedded microchips had to be assessed.

``It was a big job,'' said Lawton, whose team completed the work in June. ``We pushed up the clocks and ran all our systems as if they were running in the year 2000, which is also a leap year, so we had to test for that, too.''

Just in case that was not enough, Sonoma County put together a Millennium Migration Task Force composed of the senior information technology staff and technicians who will be available over the New Year's weekend.

Lawton said at least 12 workers will be at the computer data center in Santa Rosa, and about 30 others will be on call. Battery- and gas-operated generators and a stockpile of cell phones and other supplies are available if something goes wrong.

In Santa Rosa, 30,000 people are expected to descend on downtown to whoop it up. The Police, Fire and Public Works departments are expected to be in full force that night.

But only one computer person will be working that night, according to Ron Bosworth, director of administrative services for Santa Rosa. Bosworth said the city's computer system was Y2K compatible when it was built in the 1980s, so only the voice-mail system had to be replaced, at a cost of $40,000.

Most of Santa Rosa's Y2K preparation involved testing emergency generators, gasoline pumps, underground tank monitoring systems, vehicles, fueling systems, radios, cell phones and the chlorine system in city pools.

Bosworth said, however, that cities and counties are reliant on a lot of other agencies, such as Pacific Bell and PG&E, ``so I don't think anyone can say they are 100 percent compatible.''

The bottom line, Bosworth said, is that ``people should always be prepared for any emergency. If they're ready for an earthquake, they're ready for January 1.''

SAN MATEO COUNTY

The diesel tanks are topped off and the generators are ready if computer glitches cut the power to San Mateo County's emergency dispatch system and other critical needs.

Nearly every police department in the county will have extra officers on the street, while a special tactical squad is prepared to go to San Francisco or elsewhere if needed for crowd control.

Although they say they are prepared for the worst, officials do not anticipate problems when the clock ticks past midnight on New Year's Eve. ``Overall, we're not expecting a lot to happen,'' said Bill Marion, the county's Y2K coordinator.

In mid-1997, Marion and his staff began taking an inventory of all the systems potentially vulnerable to Y2K-related problems, from huge mainframes handling criminal justice information to chips that run elevators. Then they did tests to make sure everything would still work in 2000.

About $3.5 million has been spent checking systems and replacing computers, Marion said.

Unrelated to the Y2K problem, the county already planned to replace many of its large, outdated computer systems along with personal computers. As part of the program, the 911 computer-assisted dispatch system was recently replaced.

``I believe we are 100 percent (Y2K compliant) on critical systems,'' Marion said. ``I believe we are 98 to 99 percent on noncritical systems.''

But just in case, members of the county's Information Services Department will run a backup of the county's mainframe computers from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. on December 31. Those tapes will be put aside for reference in the event that problems emerge later, Marion said.

To show how the county is prepared, Marion pulled up a tile on the floor of a county office building in Redwood City to reveal hundreds of cables and power lines.

If a key computer system fails, Marion said his department can quickly set up computers that could handle anything from printing checks to criminal justice needs.

If there is a failure in computers that show outstanding warrants, arrest records and other information, said Marion, his team can set up a new link to bypass a problem computer. The computers would be hooked into the network under the floor, powered by the diesel generators just outside.

Meanwhile, Marion and more than a dozen other experts will work New Year's Eve and New Year's Day monitoring the county's computers.

Law enforcement agencies also have been preparing for potential problems.

Plans are drawn up to send officers to San Francisco if needed, said county Sheriff's Capt. Paul Feyling. No special events or large street parties are planned in San Mateo County.

Most police departments plan to put more than the usual number of officers on the street, while a special 150-officer tactical squad will be on patrol and available if problems arise, Feyling said.

The heavy police presence also is expected to help if telephones fail.

``People can at least come out and wave you down'' if they have an emergency, Feyling said.

Each city hall in the county is linked by microwave transmitters to the county Hall of Justice in Redwood City, where a special emergency operations center will be open.

``We have to plan for the worst,'' Feyling said. ``With all the hype, if we hadn't done anything we'd have a serious problem.''

The cities have prepared as well. But on the normally sleepy Peninsula, no one seems to anticipate widespread trouble.

In East Palo Alto, officials did an inventory of all the city's computers early this year. They came up with only one ``mission critical'' system that needed fixing: payroll.

A $25,000 upgrade was completed in April, said Eric Stevenson, the city's Y2K coordinator.

Like many small cities, East Palo Alto's water, sewage and electrical systems are run by other agencies, while the 911 emergency dispatch is handled by San Mateo County.

``All the agencies have indicated they are in good shape,'' Stevenson said. ``We're expecting a non-eventful New Year's Eve.''

In Foster City, officials hosted several town meetings to discuss preparations for Y2K. While reporting that emergency dispatch and other critical systems should be fine, officials have warned residents to prepare like they would for an earthquake or other natural disaster.

SAN FRANCISCO

After spending some $9 million and checking thousands of computers and embedded chips, San Francisco officials think they have a handle on the Y2K issue.

``We have a high level of confidence there isn't a problem,'' said Patricia Fado, the Y2K director in the city's Year 2000 Program Management Office.

That office was created in 1998 to coordinate all departments' efforts to make sure their systems work when the new year begins.

A major focus was ``life critical'' equipment in the police, fire, 911, public health, airport, utilities and Municipal Railway systems. Testing found some interesting problems.

The defibrillators carried by paramedics printed out the wrong date on readouts. While that would not threaten a patient's life, it could be confusing for doctors and nurses. The problem was fixed.

At San Francisco General Hospital and other health facilities, some 7,300 medical devices were tested. Fetal monitoring systems at the hospital needed new software to prevent a January 1 meltdown.

Fire control panels in lots of city buildings had to be fixed when problems were found.

The city has installed standby generators in such important buildings as jails, San Francisco General and the Hall of Justice. There is also an emergency street lighting system on the Embarcadero, where hundreds of thousands of people are expected to gather for a free midnight fireworks show.

Other expected glitches never showed up. Fado said problems with elevators were anticipated but did not surface in tests.

The city has conducted simulations of critical systems to see how they respond. In the latest one, the city's new 911 system was tested, with the date rolled ahead to January 1. It passed.

Just in case, the automated system was turned off and 911 operators worked from the manual backup system for a few hours. That also worked.

On New Year's Eve, the city is taking no chances with possible Y2K problems. All major department heads and Mayor Willie Brown will gather at the city's new 911 center at Turk and Laguna streets, just as they would in the event of an earthquake or as they did last year during the big PG&E power outage.

It is not just Y2K issues that bring them there, however. There is also the question of how to handle the up to 1.5 million revelers expected on the streets for various New Year's celebrations.

Y2K problems could complicate things tremendously, so the simulations have included crowd control issues.

An example of how the crowd control and Y2K issues intersect is the Muni's plans for moving tens of thousands of people to festivities. Fearful that electric vehicles could be stranded in the unlikely event of a power outage or Y2K computer woes, Muni is grounding that part of its fleet and relying solely on diesel buses until the midnight hour passes.

City Controller Ed Harrington, who is in charge of the city's Y2K preparations, said not all repairs have been made now. ``We focused on mission critical systems. If a small department's spreadsheet doesn't work for a few days, it's OK,'' he said.

Every household in the city is to receive a brochure from the city offering tips about how to cope with potential Y2K problems. That will cost $82,000 in postage alone.

The basic advice: Prepare as you would for a potential earthquake and do not panic.

One piece of good news for San Francisco's public schools: Fixing its Y2K bugs cost the cash-strapped district not a penny, since a 1993 technology plan called for the purchase of a new computer system at that time anyway.

Nor does the district have to stockpile emergency supplies, which are already in place at each school in case of an earthquake.

But the district is taking no chances. It has a generator hooked up to an alarm system that is supposed to sound if power fails anywhere in the district.

But since schools are closed until January 3, ``we will have a couple of days to correct any problems,'' said Eric Boutwell, who heads the district's technology department.

SANTA CLARA COUNTY

The county has several days' worth of food and medical supplies for its jails, hospital, children's shelter and senior nutrition programs, officials said.

At least 200 extra county employees will be on hand to shepherd in the new year, including people in public works, computer systems, street crews, the medical center and the sheriff's office, said Susan Fitts, a county spokeswoman.

The county began an assessment of its Y2K needs in 1995, replacing some business systems at that time. Work began in earnest in 1997, and after spending some $20 million on the project, nearly all of the most critical systems have been fixed or replaced entirely, Fitts said.

The county had its equipment tested and certified by vendors, by county staff and, in some cases, by an outside group, Fitts said.

As a result, computer records at Valley Medical Center in San Jose are expected to remain intact; dispatch and criminal database systems at the sheriff's office should work normally; and security systems will keep doors locked for the 4,500 inmates in the county jail system, officials said.

With few public galas planned for the South Bay, crowd control problems are not expected, although 35,000 people are anticipated to be reveling on the streets of San Jose, said Mark Burton, the city's Y2K coordinator.

Nonetheless, many city employees want to be on hand to see whether their labors have paid off, he said.

``Hopefully, with the work they've put in, this will be the biggest nonevent of the century,'' Burton said. ``Hopefully, it will be more of a celebration for them.''

San Jose spent two years and $10 million on Y2K preparations -- including $6 million at San Jose International Airport, Burton said. An additional $5 million was spent to upgrade the city's antiquated payroll system, he said.

A variety of purchases were made, from new generators to power the 911 dispatch system to a month's supply of extra fuel for city vehicles to new floating pumps to allow firefighters to get water from ponds or pools instead of hydrants, should the water

-- Sheri (wncy2k@nccn.net), December 22, 1999

Answers

Sorry I didn't realize was SOOOOOOO LONGGGGGGGGG - posted before I read it totally.

-- Sheri (wncy2k@nccn.net), December 22, 1999.

That's OK, here's a synopsis:

"computer suppliers are saying everything is A-OK, but they are sending out last-minute fixes just to be sure"

Ah HAHAHAHA.

-- Servant (public_service@yahoo.com), December 23, 1999.

And just a few days ago the SF Chronicle/Examiner Sunday paper ran a very slanted and "cute" article about those few die-hard surivivalist types who are still worried about Y2K (even though everyone knows things are going to be ok--writer's point of view--NOT mine!), two comics with Y2K references, an article about possible Jan. 1st terrorism, and deep in the business section, an actually informative NY Times reprint about businesses not being as compliant as they say they are. The article posted here is about as substantial as the local media's been--too little, unfortunately, and much too late. The city of SF only just put out a Y2K brochure--again, it was quite "cute." I really wonder what kind of panic behavior we'll see next week, here in the Bay Area. Unforunately, I'll be here to see it. Can't bug out, married to a DGI... BUT PREPPED ANYWAY!

-- Amy (canaryclub@aol.com), December 23, 1999.