Pros
Marion County IT should be a case study on determining what NOT to do. Every level and layer of this organization boasts poor decisions, a complete lack of planning, a devoid leadership team and the waste of precious taxpayer dollars. The decisions made are often completely baffling. They do not ask for input or advice from any of the expert line staff who operate the environments. They also shoot down or ignore the recommendations of outside vendors and 3rd-party industry experts. Instead, decisions are made by Managers who severely lack IT skills and knowledge. The lack of foresight has led to significant cost overruns, missed deadlines, and ultimately projects that fail to achieve stated goals and cost the public greatly.
Cons
Perhaps worst of all, the leadership team displays a complete lack of accountability for their actions. When confronted with evidence of their mistakes, they either deflect blame onto others or simply refuse to engage and acknowledge. This lack of leadership has ultimately led to an organization that is rudderless and incapable of making progress. Communication is completely non-existent. Teams fight with other teams and within their own teams. Management maliciously singles out various staff members frequently, pursuing bogus write-ups and unwarranted discipline. Labor laws and union contracts are frequently violated. See, for example, SEIU 503 vs Marion County and the Employee Relations Board's ruling. The ultimate goal is to eliminate anyone with an opinion and consolidate power for self-preservation. Admirably, this is actually one goal that was successfully achieved. Over the span of 1.5 years, various sub-units within IT achieved an impressive 100% turnover rate, resulting in double-digit numbers of employees leaving. Yes, that's right. Everyone who works here would love nothing more than to leave. Finally, I cannot overstate how deeply angering it is to watch taxpayer dollars being squandered. Management lies about budgets and costs in order to further their own interests, and it's clear that they are not interested in being good stewards of the public's money. It's a truly disappointing state of affairs, but happens when no one watches the watchers.
