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It's a pleasure to introduce myself as the interim director of the Department of Administrative Services. The Governor appointed former director Lindsay Ball to lead the Oregon Wireless Interoperability Network project in mid-November. We will miss Lindsay's leadership at DAS and wish him well in his new role in state government.
I hope this edition of What's Up at DAS affirms for all our customers DAS' agency-wide commitment to our mission: "Lead the pursuit of excellence in state government." This mission and DAS' supporting goals and strategies remain unchanged. As we close out the calendar year, we look forward to a productive year in 2008. DAS will move forward with its many statewide projects and programs in collaboration with our agency partners.
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If you have questions about What's Up at DAS, please contact us. We look forward to hearing from you.
Kris Kautz, Interim Director
Department of Administrative Services
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| Operations Division |
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DAS develops rates and assessments
DAS has begun developing rates and assessments for the next biennium (2009-11). The cost of DAS services is a key piece of information that agencies need to develop their budget requests next year.
The department bases its initial set of rates and assessments on the "Essential Budget Level" estimate. This is the starting point for setting assessments for each DAS division as well as costs for such things as uniform building rent, motor pool, processing financial transactions, printing, mail delivery, and risk management. DAS’ Operations Division coordinates with the Oregon State Treasury, Department of Justice, State Library and others to compile this information into the "Price List of Goods and Services." DAS will publish the price list before the budget season begins.
At the same time, DAS divisions have begun refining potential policy option packages for internal and external review. A group of agency directors will review each package that DAS approves through its internal process, ensuring that DAS’ key customers support new or expanded services. As part of this process, DAS will calculate the impact of each package on rates and assessments. The goal is a sustainable budget developed with the active participation of the department’s key stakeholders – state agencies.
This is the second time DAS has asked agencies to participate in its budget development. Agencies also reviewed potential policy packages in early 2006, a process that had a positive impact on the final budget request.
Contact: Bret West, (503) 378-2349, ext. 287
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| Benefit Boards Update |
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New administrator joins PEBB and OEBB
The members of the Public Employees’ Benefit Board and Oregon Educators Benefit Board recently selected Joan Kapowich to serve as administrator, replacing Jean Thorne who retired on Nov. 30. State employees are familiar with PEBB, the provider of their medical and other benefits. The Oregon Legislature created OEBB earlier this year to provide benefits to the majority of the state’s school district employees.
Joan has an extensive background in health policy, benefits, medical contracting and state administration. After receiving degrees in both sociology and nursing, she began her career as a nurse consultant. Joan served 11 years at SAIF Corporation as the medical services division director and the medical services manager. She also worked for the Oregon Department of Human Services’ Office of Medical Assistance Programs.
“I’m eager to begin the important work of ensuring that Oregon’s public employees, school districts, and education service districts have reliable, effective benefit plans,” Joan said. “In this era of skyrocketing healthcare costs, it’s more important than ever that we provide plans that do the job at a cost Oregon can afford.”
You can reach Joan Kapowich at (503) 373-1102.
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PEBB receives national healthcare purchasing award
Last month, Oregon’s Public Employees’ Benefit Board received a national award for excellence at the annual conference of the National Business Coalition on Health.
PEBB received the award for its leadership role in community efforts to increase healthcare quality and engage other purchasers in value-based purchasing strategies; and for its efforts to promote employee health and productivity.
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Contact: Ingrid Norberg, (503) 378-4313
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| Budget and Management Division |
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Preparing for budget season
Even though the Legislature went home less than six months ago, DAS’ Budget and Management Division has begun working on the budget for 2009-11. The Governor’s Office has begun developing its policy agenda for the next regular session, and BAM helps hammer out budget-related concepts. If you follow the revenue forecasts, Oregon’s economy is performing as expected, which means the state's financial picture is fairly stable.
In addition to its policy work, BAM will consider several process changes for the next budget cycle. The goal is to streamline the process to lighten the workload for everyone involved. BAM wants to commend the good work of so many agency staff members who provided feedback on improving the budget development process.
A Budget Advisory Group met twice in November and will continue to meet in December and January to refine the improvement concepts. BAM will meet frequently with agency budget staff to keep everyone informed of the upcoming timelines. Look for the next meeting of SABRS coordinators in January 2008.
Contact: George Naughton, (503) 378-5460
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| Enterprise Information Strategy and Policy Division |
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New aerial maps available online
Oregonians now have access to high quality, high resolution aerial photographs through a state-of-the-art Web site. This technology — known as the Oregon Imagery Explorer — can deliver a staggering 46,000 map requests per hour.
Oregon’s state and local governments use aerial imagery for many purposes, including locating structures during a forest fire, managing invasive plants, managing timber land, planning roads, evacuating vulnerable people during emergencies and many other critical uses. Agencies also receive many requests for aerial imagery and photography for a variety of commercial purposes. One of the benefits of the Oregon Imagery Explorer is that it interacts seamlessly with other online tools that provide geographic information.
Everyone from the local GIS officer to the local citizen can use the explorer.
“Oregon has taken an innovative approach to obtaining and sharing high resolution imagery on a statewide scale,” said Cy Smith, Oregon’s Statewide GIS Coordinator. “Making this data available via the Web eliminates the need for duplicate efforts, thus saving taxpayer dollars. And the broad functionality of this tool provides great advantages for users in comparison to other commercially available tools, such as GoogleEarth.”
Cooperation made the project a reality. The partnership includes the Institute for Natural Resources, Oregon State University Libraries, the Department of Administrative Services’ Geospatial Enterprise Office, and ER Mapper’s Enterprise Services Division. Financing came from more than a dozen Oregon counties, two regional organizations, 10 state agencies, four federal agencies, a timber company, a private electric utility and several other companies.
Contact: Cy Smith, (503) 378-6066
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| Human Resource Services Division |
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SRIP improves state recruitment
One of the many benefits state agencies can expect from the State Recruitment Improvement Project (SRIP) is an efficient tool to receive and screen online job applications. The tool will free staff to do proactive recruiting and outreach. The SRIP will connect the state’s recruitment activities with iMatchSkills®, a database of over 140,000 active job seekers. iMatchSkills® provides self-service, one-time registration to apply for state jobs.
The development phase of this statewide recruitment initiative is close to completion. The project team is on the verge of moving to the testing phase, an exciting milestone. The first test agency, Department of Consumer and Business Services, will begin to use the new system on March 31, 2008, for a limited number of classifications. Other test agencies will follow including the departments of Administrative Services, Fish and Wildlife, Employment, Corrections, and Human Services.
To learn more, visit the SRIP Web site.
Contact: Roman Martushev, (503) 373-7572
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| State Services Division |
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Measure 37 sunsets
The sun set on Oregon’s Measure 37 at 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 5, and Measure 49 took effect one minute later at midnight on Dec. 6. What’s the difference, you ask?
Measure 37 allowed property owners to seek payment from the state or a local government if land use regulations reduced the owner’s real property value. Under Measure 37, the government agency could avoid such payments by letting the owner use his or her real property as land use regulations allowed when the owner acquired the property.
Under Measure 49, landowners who filed Measure 37 claims have the right to build a limited number of homes as payment for land use regulations imposed after the owner acquired his or her property.
Measure 37 claimants need not submit new claims. The Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) continues to review all existing claims. The DLCD will provide claimants with a notice within 120 days from the enactment of Measure 49. This notice will explain claimants’ options along with any other requirements by law.
Contact: Carla Ploederer, (503) 378-5789
Oregon’s Fleet receives national award
DAS’ Fleet recently received honors at the National Conference of State Fleet Administrators. Acting Fleet Manager Kent Fretwell attended the conference on behalf of Oregon’s fleet and accepted the 2007 Environmental Leadership Award.
DAS received multiple nominations for this award from fellow state fleets, the consulting firm of Mercury and Associates, and Honda Motor Corp. Fleet won the award for its continuous contributions to advancing and using alternative fuels and alternative fuel vehicles. DAS is proud that approximately 30 percent of Oregon’s fleet is alternative fuel and hybrid vehicles!
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"In recognition of your example in making the world
a much cleaner place through the promotion
of alternative fuel technology."
(Excerpt from leadership award)
Contact: Kent Fretwell, (503) 378-2132
Surplus offers “Shopping Cart” for governments and non-profits
By popular demand, the DAS Surplus Property program is pleased to announce the arrival of an agency shopping cart, or "The Post Exchange." The PX is an online tool for customers to view the assets available to public agencies or eligible non-profit organizations through Federal Surplus Property. Users can click on a thumbnail image of an item to get a closer look and send an e-mail to Surplus if they need more information.
The PX makes it easier than ever for agencies to purchase machinery, tools, furniture, vehicles and other surplus goods. All advertised items are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Surplus staff updates the PX with the available quantities each week. Delivery or shipping is available (fees apply).
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Access the PX from
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Snow Shoes
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Add the PX URL to your
Internet favorites:
http://tpps.das.state.or.us/
surplus/px/px_matrix.htm
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Contact: Darren Kennedy, (503) 378-6022
Risk Management offers seasonal advice
The 10-year total for traffic fatalities during the holiday season is 85. Of those, 41 percent are alcohol-related. Here is what you can do to protect yourself and others:
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- Don't drink and drive and don't ride with anyone who has had too much to drink.
- Never use illegal drugs.
- Volunteer to be a designated driver.
- Take keys from those who are alcohol-impaired.
- If you host a gathering, provide non-alcoholic beverages.
- Use public transit or local drive-home services provided by taxis and other companies.
- Always use a seat belt.
- Avoid travel after midnight especially on weekends and holidays.
- Drive defensively at all times.
- Report suspected drunk drivers by calling (800) 24-DRUNK or dialing 9-1-1.
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Contact: Deb Bogart, (503) 373-7233
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| Facilities Division |
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Sustaining the Sustainability Board
The 2001 Legislature passed the Oregon Sustainability Act, which created the Oregon Sustainability Board. Over the last six years, the Board created a Web site, required state agencies to complete sustainability plans, worked with private sector companies, established sustainability “toolkits” for local governments, and much more.
While the Board successfully set policy and created a culture of sustainability in state government, it did so without a permanent structure or staff support. As such, the Board was susceptible to changes in the political landscape. In 2007, the Legislature passed House Bill 3244, which moved the Oregon Sustainability Board within DAS.
To make the transition a successful one, DAS assigned the department’s Sustainability Coordinator, Elin Shepard, to serve as the Board’s staff support. Elin helps develop the Board’s agendas and works on various projects such as revamping the process for agencies presenting their plans to the Board and reenergizing the Interagency Sustainability Network. The network is a group with broad participation across Oregon that works to implement the Governor’s sustainability initiatives.
If you have a question or comment about sustainability or resource coordination in DAS or around the state, please contact Elin.
Contact: Elin Shepard, (503) 378-2865, ext. 241
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| State Data Center |
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The SDC reports on the complexity of simplicity
When the State Data Center (SDC) began its planning, the statewide data communications network looked like this:
So many individual lines of communication existed that a person could not read them on paper! Each line meant data vulnerability, potential failure points and many pieces of equipment to maintain. The costs in staff hours, equipment, power and unused potential were huge and difficult to accurately estimate.
Very soon, the network will look like this:
Contact: Barbara Jensen, (503) 378-6029
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In just a couple of years, the state has gone from a network system so complex that it was nearly incomprehensible and unservice- able, to a network that is easier to protect, easier to repair and much more reliable. The effort to create a statewide infrastructure for reliable network services has been herculean, but the result is as stunning as the difference between these two map images.
Creating simplicity is anything but simple. The SDC has nearly tamed the old network. Now, the SDC will work with customers around the state to ensure services and value meet with expectations and the SDC’s quality model.
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| Thank You |
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The department values your input. What's Up at DAS will return next quarter with more news and information. If you want us to cover a specific topic, please let us know.
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