Neil Ellis

Neil Ellis introduced himself at the Everett City Council Budget Hearing for Small Departments as “the interim IT director for the city.” He said he was brought in, “among other things,” to provide oversight of the department after Mr. Dorgan left. Ellis described the work he intended to complete in that role, including employee surveys, follow-up meetings with department heads to discuss survey results, a physical inventory he said he had already started, a software inventory, and a review of cybersecurity and budget issues.

Ellis clarified that his position was temporary. In response to questions, he said, “Not permanent,” and indicated that the incoming person would likely take on more responsibility than the previous chief information officer had done. He also said the department was under strain from recent incidents, noting, “We’ve had quite a few emergencies, just since I started,” and that the city had experienced “three basically major outages, phone, servers, you name it” in the prior two months.

On the budget, Ellis said he had been reviewing the line items and believed there was enough funding, particularly if the city could retain a carry-forward amount. He explained that the department had enough in the lines “to fix those problems” and said the carry-forward would be used to address the recent outages and related needs. He also raised concerns about how IT purchases had been charged in the past, saying invoices had not always been assigned to the appropriate line items and that money sometimes appeared to have been spent from “all sorts of different places.” He noted that equipment had sometimes been purchased late in the year “maybe just to fill out the budget.”

During the discussion, Ellis responded affirmatively when the carry-forward appropriation was addressed, and he also answered a question about software licensing and outdated software by explaining that the city would need to pay for software it was already using. He did not cast any votes, and no motions or votes were attributed to him during this meeting. The exchange concluded with Ellis thanking the council and accepting the chair’s thanks.