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Groton Daily Independent
Friday, April 20, 2018 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 280 ~ 13 of 43
official this year, she or he probably hasn’t seen that message.
That’s a problem.
County officials and the information technology chief must make this a priority.
The issue was first discussed at a county commission meeting two weeks ago, where it was learned that
the problem had been ongoing for months — and continues today.
Brown County Chief Information Officer Paul Sivertsen is stumped.
“I’ve had the state look at this, and we’re set up the best we possibly can be and it’s all a Google issue,”
he said.
Could be. But we have a feeling that Google knows how to do email.
Various studies indicate that 60 percent of email users have Google Gmail as their main service. And
only about 15 percent of Americans don’t have any internet service.
Thus, most of us not only use internet services such as email, but most use Gmail.
Much more likely is that the problem is on the county’s side.
County officials have discussed bringing in someone who could help solve the problem.
Commissioner Nancy Hansen asked Sivertsen if he knew how much it would cost to hire somebody who
could work on the issue. Sivertsen didn’t estimate the cost, but said it would have to be someone highly dedicated to sifting through bits of data to pinpoint the exact cause.
That seems like his job.
Sivertsen is the county’s highest-paid employee, and we take no issue with that. We’d all love to be the best-paid person where we work.
But this is his problem to deal with, and he should have a better grasp on what’s wrong. Or, at the least, should have sought a solution sooner.
With that higher pay comes a higher level of responsibility.
What if the county’s telephones were not working for months?
That would be a problem many county residents would be upset about. In fact, it would be likened to
an emergency, a disruption of services and the ability to effectively do business for county government. We think most would be looking for an emergency work-around in hours or days. Not months.
Not getting Gmails? It’s the same thing.
To their credit, county commissioners are accessible. And their phone numbers are listed on the county’s
website at brown.sd.us/commission/home. But sending an email in this day and age should be simple. The hindered communication has already caused serious issues for many county departments. As one
county official said of not getting Gmail, “We look stupid.”
As a test, American News reporter Shannon Marvel sent emails through Gmail last week to six county
department heads. Only one department head replied back. That means the other five didn’t get the mes- sage (or didn’t check their email or respond — different problems).
Gmails sent from the “contact us” webpages for various county departments do get though, workers say. But it really shouldn’t be that difficult.
That the problem has festered for months and has aggravated people and groups the county works and does business with is what’s most disappointing.
But the problem is significant enough that it needs attention now. County business is being hindered. Our business.
This is a big deal.
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Rapid City Journal, Rapid City, April 19
Arena forum needs to be civil, fair
It could be great and will certainly be interesting. In one corner will be Rapid City Mayor Steve Allender and city officials; in the other, four former mayors. The topic: the proposed new Rushmore Plaza Civic Center arena.
The key question, however, is will this be the objective fact-gathering session that organizers promise