The city announced the hiring of a new chief information officer Friday.
Joe Palmer will join the city Jan. 21, pending City Council confirmation.
Palmer will be paid $128,000 annually.
The city said Palmer was selected “after a comprehensive five-month recruitment and interview process” with more than 120 applicants nationwide.
“Joe has 15 years of progressively responsible experience in information technology and accounting, including nearly five years as a chief information officer,” the city said in a news release. “He specializes in strategic planning and process optimization and has experience leading multiple large-scale transformational initiative and projects that deliver critical business outcomes. Most recently Joe served as chief information officer for Jefferson County where he oversaw a staff of 78 and budgets of up to $15.5 million for nearly 5 years.”
Palmer has a bachelor’s degree in accounting and finance from Middle Tennessee State University and a master’s in business administration from the University of Colorado, the city said. Palmer also holds a Project Management Professional certification and is “affiliated with numerous professional associations and has earned multiple awards for his work,” the city said.
Here’s more information about Palmer’s responsibilities as described in the job posting:
The Chief Information Officer is a highly responsible (at-will) executive position reporting to the Chief of Staff/Chief Administrative Officer. The CIO will provide vision and leadership by championing key technology initiatives that will transform the way the City does business and lead efforts toward practical, effective, and efficient technology and information solutions for the City organization and the citizens of Colorado Springs. This department, with a 2012 budget of over $13 million, is staffed by seventy-one full-time equivalent employees (fifty-five positions currently filled) and nine contract staff.
This position is responsible for all of the City’s technological needs including the maintenance and support of technical network and application infrastructures, enterprise and department specific applications (e.g., email in a Microsoft Exchange environment, PeopleSoft financial and human resources ERP, customer web interface programs and applications, and an award winning eGovernment website), region-wide Radio and ESRI GIS systems, comprehensive data telecommunications network, and a City-operated Cisco telephone system. Currently, the City is primarily a Microsoft shop with minimal open source utilization.
What was wrong with Jesse James? Do you get the feeling that anyone with actual experience/history with the City is shown the door?
Anyone with ethics, morals, or integrity is shown the door. The mayor wants “yes” men/women. They must be in alignment. At some point, the mayor and his scandals will be exposed; his head hunting of CSU, his power plant agenda, his mismanagement of the waldo fire. That is why he doesn’t want a 3rd party review of the evacuation. He can dictate the outcome of an internal review from his “yes” men/women, but not of a 3rd party review.
Which of his business buddies will get the lions share of the $13M budget?
We cant let any Bach slate on Council. Whatever candidate campaign Bach donates too, do not vote for them.
Its a man? I though the Mayor just hired women so he could bully them easier.
Jesse James is nice. That doesn’t make a good leader. He hasn’t set any direction in a year of being temporary CIO. He lost his audition. There’s nothing wrong with realizing one’s limits and letting a real CIO handle the strategy.
Joe stuck to the basics in running IT like an accountant in Jeffco. Bach’s not going to be afraid of Joe going off and pushing the City in a direction Bach does not want. Less improper purchasing with him, like the City’s Cisco boondoggle. Joe has joked about larger aspirations this may help him get to. He also said that Bach wants him to look at outsourcing things and Joe’s skills are perfect for that. It could be perfect to fix a City stuck with 2003 technology and IT people.
And they are all better than the old City Manager and CFO. I’m insulted by other women who throw their gender around. The CFO’s job was to catch and PREVENT fraud. She chooses to blame others for being sexist when she’s held responsible for not doing that. Good for Bach to toss her and good for Colorado Springs for going strong-Mayor. In the private sector we’re as good as our recent results. In the public sector, you obviously sue for sexism when you fail.
For us companies that work with the City and Utlities their IT operations are just a joke. Sodbinow, Cousar, Curlie, and the row of them were a new level of awful. IT employees openly mocked their own managers. They were better a decade ago. Give Joe a chance to finally get this group turned around. Or turned them out and let them get jobs in corporate America.
Millie T, you seem well informed on the inner workings at the City and CSU. Can you edify me on the “City’s Cisco boondoggle”?
I served on the Telecommunications Policy Advisory Committee (TPAC) in the 90s and lobbied City Council to open up their email system to Internet traffic. Prior to that it was used for internal communications withing the city staff.
Also recall some issues at CSU with Kelly Means and a billing system purchase.