Following the departure earlier this month of city CIO Miguel Gamiño, a San Francisco Board Supervisor has asked for an audit of the Department of Technology to help determine whether high CIO turnover has impacted the agency's performance providing IT services.
The motion for the Budget and Legislative Analyst Office (BLA) to conduct the review was discussed at the board’s Government Audit and Oversight Committee hearing held Nov. 17. At the meeting, Supervisor Aaron Peskin, the motion’s sponsor, said now is the opportune time for a performance audit as the department is at a point of transition.
"There have been many conversations at the board about DT and complications with its efficiency, modernization and project delivery," Peskin said, adding that the department's service delivery has been inconsistent at times.
The audit, which the BLA aims to have complete before the fiscal year 2017-18 budget, will focus on a range of topics, including but not limited to staffing, project performance financial management and customer service.
The department’s budget has increased by $18 million for the current fiscal year from $96 million to $114 million.
"Their portfolio is large and growing, and I'm definitely interested in their budget and reining in cost overruns," Peskin said.
Gamiño was named CTO of New York City, where he will be tasked with leading build out of high-speed broadband. All New York residents must have access to high-speed broadband by 2018 under a statewide initiative announced by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in January.
During Gamiño's tenure in San Francisco, the city/county government brought free public Wi-Fi to dozens of public parks and popular thoroughfares.
San Francisco has cycled through three CIOs in the past five years: Jon Walton (2011-13), Marc Touitou (2013-14) and Gamiño (2014-16).
