Campaign offers Y2K guidance

As local governments prepare for the Millennium, many are not focusing enough attention on the Year 2000 (Y2K) computer problem. In fact, more than half the city officials responding to the “Technology In Local Government” survey, conducted last year by Public Technology, Inc., and the International City/County Management Association, stated that they were not aware of the issue.

As a result, a partnership of national associations led by PTI has launched the “Y2K & You” campaign to assist cities and counties in combating the impending “millennium bug.” The partners will help them to achieve Y2K compliance and ensure that public safety and public health are not compromised.

The Y2K problem could have a profound effect on local government operations. Possible malfunctions include shutdowns in water/waste treatment systems or the failure of transportation control systems such as traffic lights. To inform local officials of the potential problems, the National League of Cities, the National Association of Counties and the ICMA, all of Washington, D.C., have joined efforts in the Y2K & You campaign.

The campaign partners, whose combined membership represents 39,000 U.S. counties, cities and towns, have presented a list of five questions that every municipality needs to ask with regard to Y2K: * Is the community Y2K compliant? * What are the consequences of Y2K? * Can the community fix the problem before Jan. 1, 2000? * Does the community have sufficient human resources to solve the problem? * If not, where can it find staff and resources? and * What contingency plans have been made to deal with the effects of Y2K?

In addition to promoting awareness of Y2K, the campaign seeks to identify the best practices implemented by cities and counties addressing the problem to serve as examples for other municipalities. Although the new millennium is 15 months away, many of the problem-solving and compliance tasks may require more time than that to complete. Thus, the Y2K & You campaign also will promote the need for local governments to develop contingency plans for any systems that are not Y2K-compliant.

Encouraging local governments to take an active role in assisting community businesses and organizations in solving their own Y2K problems is another goal of the campaign. “As local officials, we must lead the way for our communities because this problem has the potential to not only negatively impact our day-to-day municipal operations, but also our local economies,” says NLC President Brian O’Neill, a Philadelphia city council member.

A toolkit with information on the Y2K & You campaign is available to local government officials. (Call (800) 784-8976 for information; the toolkit is free to NACo, NLC and ICMA members, $10 for non-members.)

The kit includes a list of critical computer systems that must be inspected and upgraded to ensure uninterrupted operations; resources for addressing the millennium bug; and an educational video. The campaign partners also are providing a speakers bureau to present strategies for addressing the Y2K problem at national and local conferences and educational sessions for public officials.

Additional information is available online at http://pti.nw.dc.us. Visitors to the web site will find pertinent articles from newspapers and magazines across the United States; links to Y2K-specific home pages created by local, state and federal government agencies and the private sector; and copies of published Y2K material.