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JAMESTOWN, NY (WNY News Now) – Cybersecurity is among top concerns when it comes to Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist’s 2023 Executive Budget, as well as the possible threat that old servers, and miscommunications, could cause within city hall.
Information Technology Director Mark Dean is looking for new equipment, including a new laptop, and new servers that are at the end of their lifespans.
“$40,500 dollars requested for one a laptop,“ explained Dean. “IT department currently has a seven year old laptop that we can no longer upgrade. We can’t upgrade it to Windows 11, because it can’t handle it, so we requested just a replacement.”
Other needs from the IT department include new Cisco Switches to replace some that are at the end of their lifespans, new software to improve cybersecurity, and a disaster recovery server.
“Worst case scenario, the city is gone, a tornado comes through or whatever,“ stated Dean. “We will have access to those servers within a few hours, anywhere in the world.”
In addition, the IT Director would also like to hire additional staff, which is not budgeted for the 2023 fiscal year, to keep up with the amount of cybersecurity needs the department has.
“There’s a lot of activity, a lot of technical needs in the city hall,” explained Dean. “And what’s happening here is that many departments are kind of doing their own thing. Taking it upon themselves to do IT, and that kind of leaves us out of the loop a little bit, and so, when we’re asked sometimes about a certain piece of technology, and we don’t know anything about it and we probably should have another person to help with that.”
City council had also heard from the city’s Assessor, Comptroller, Cooperation Council, Treasurer, and City Clerk on their additions to the Mayor’s executive budget.
Council will next hear from the fire and police departments on their November 7, work session.
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