[Fwd: Reuven Carlyle sent you a message on Facebook...]
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Josh Dressel
Jun 28, 2009, 8:28:33 PM6/28/09
to transparen...@googlegroups.com
This is a message I received on Facebook from Representative Reuven
Carlyle. It's now posted to my blog but I wanted to share it with the
group.
-------- Original Message --------
Dear Representative Carlyle,
Thank you for following up about the DNR. I hope this message isn't too
long. I feel it's important to share my experience with you.
The quick answer is the IT situation remains the same. The DNR uses
Microsoft Exchange Server without any sound data to back doing so. The
decision in the first place to switch to Exchange Server had no
justification and came at a significant increase in expenses to the
agency, especially the monthly amount being paid to DIS. Prior to the
switch, the DNR used Novell Groupwise with no recurring cost. My budget
idea to look into open source as a way to save money was shot down. The
director of IT stated the reason for this is the agency follows the
lead of DIS.
The long answer contains all the details missing in the short answer. I
now have only have 2 days left with the DNR. I was disciplined for
lobbying and sharing public information by contacting you. It was
mostly done informally but I ended up in a situation where I needed
WFSE union representation to keep "lobbying" from being entered into my
personnel record. The DNR has made an effort to revamp policies for
employs who contact legislators.
The situation at work was so intense, I volunteered for layoff. I truly
believe I would have been fired if I had not made this decision.
Mr. Carlyle, I have never felt like I do right now. Working for the DNR
has made being a state employee a huge embarrassment. I wanted to save
money and was met with the executive managers safety net of bureaucracy
and then disciplined for doing so. These managers live in fear of
transparency because of the selfish decisions they make which have no
justification.
The end result of all this hasn't been entirely negative. I'm going to
be writing for the Sunlight Foundation, an organization I believe in,
and am also taking part in the Google Transparency Bloggers group. My
blog helped keep Commissioner Goldmark from spending $60,000 of the
agency's budget on soundproofing his office. In the future, I hope it
will not only prevent bad decisions like these from being made but
encourage those with authority to work selflessly to begin with.
If you ever meet with Mr. Goldmark in his office, I think you too will
find his need for soundproofing to be absurd, distant from his campaign
promise of transparency, and most importantly far from the public's
interest.
It is truly reassuring to receive email from you. Thank you immensely
for taking an interest!!!
Sincerely,
Josh
-------- Original Message --------
| Subject: | Reuven Carlyle sent you a message on Facebook... |
|---|---|
| Date: | Sat, 27 Jun 2009 21:57:16 -0700 |
| From: | Facebook <notification+p=pi...@facebookmail.com> |
| Reply-To: | noreply <nor...@facebookmail.com> |
| To: | Josh Dressel <joshd...@gmail.com> |
Reuven sent you a message. -------------------- Re: IT situation at DNR Josh, I'm truly sorry how this has unfolded for you. I made a blog post the other day about the issue in politics being not about left/right but between those who are addicted to the institutional infrastructure of government bureaucracy and those who are willing to believe in change. http://www.facebook.com/l/;www.reuvencarlyle36.com is the post. I'm glad you are still advocating for open source and other IT strategies and once you are no longer a state employee I invite you to connect directly without reservation. On the good side, I had a long, serious conversation with the new director of DIS the other day who is extremely serious about a new approach--one that is less addicted to proprietary systems and 'solutions.' Now that you are no longer employed by the state, I will reach out to Goldmark directly and let him know my thoughts on the technology strategy issues we face. It drives me nuts when folks who can't turn on a computer are making multi million decisions and don't know which way is up. I wish you the best and don't ever hesitate to contact me on these and other issues. carlyle...@leg.wa.gov or my blog. Your partner in service, Reuven. -------------------- Reuven has shared a link with you. To view it or to reply to the message, follow this link: http://www.facebook.com/n/?inbox/readmessage.php&t=1096906706901&mid=b0f55aG1f3f671dG1fbba33G0 ___ This message was intended for joshd...@gmail.com. Want to control which emails you receive from Facebook? Go to: http://www.facebook.com/editaccount.php?notifications&md=bXNnO2Zyb209Njc2MDAzMDg2O3Q9MTA5NjkwNjcwNjkwMTt0bz01MjQyNDg4NjE=&mid=b0f55aG1f3f671dG1fbba33G0 Facebook's offices are located at 1601 S. California Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94304.
Dear Representative Carlyle,
Thank you for following up about the DNR. I hope this message isn't too
long. I feel it's important to share my experience with you.
The quick answer is the IT situation remains the same. The DNR uses
Microsoft Exchange Server without any sound data to back doing so. The
decision in the first place to switch to Exchange Server had no
justification and came at a significant increase in expenses to the
agency, especially the monthly amount being paid to DIS. Prior to the
switch, the DNR used Novell Groupwise with no recurring cost. My budget
idea to look into open source as a way to save money was shot down. The
director of IT stated the reason for this is the agency follows the
lead of DIS.
The long answer contains all the details missing in the short answer. I
now have only have 2 days left with the DNR. I was disciplined for
lobbying and sharing public information by contacting you. It was
mostly done informally but I ended up in a situation where I needed
WFSE union representation to keep "lobbying" from being entered into my
personnel record. The DNR has made an effort to revamp policies for
employs who contact legislators.
The situation at work was so intense, I volunteered for layoff. I truly
believe I would have been fired if I had not made this decision.
Mr. Carlyle, I have never felt like I do right now. Working for the DNR
has made being a state employee a huge embarrassment. I wanted to save
money and was met with the executive managers safety net of bureaucracy
and then disciplined for doing so. These managers live in fear of
transparency because of the selfish decisions they make which have no
justification.
The end result of all this hasn't been entirely negative. I'm going to
be writing for the Sunlight Foundation, an organization I believe in,
and am also taking part in the Google Transparency Bloggers group. My
blog helped keep Commissioner Goldmark from spending $60,000 of the
agency's budget on soundproofing his office. In the future, I hope it
will not only prevent bad decisions like these from being made but
encourage those with authority to work selflessly to begin with.
If you ever meet with Mr. Goldmark in his office, I think you too will
find his need for soundproofing to be absurd, distant from his campaign
promise of transparency, and most importantly far from the public's
interest.
It is truly reassuring to receive email from you. Thank you immensely
for taking an interest!!!
Sincerely,
Josh
Nisha Thompson
Jun 29, 2009, 3:17:20 PM6/29/09
to transparen...@googlegroups.com
Wow John,
This is very interesting. Do you have a blogpost with some background about the IT situation?
Proprietary vendors are a huge problem are a big problem at all levels of government especially local levels.
Nisha
This is very interesting. Do you have a blogpost with some background about the IT situation?
Proprietary vendors are a huge problem are a big problem at all levels of government especially local levels.
Nisha
Cylon
Jun 30, 2009, 12:19:46 PM6/30/09
to Transparency Bloggers
http://chrome-toaster.blogspot.com
My blog is called The Chrome Documents. I started blogging about the
IT situation at the Department of Natural Resources in Olympia back
when I first attempted to save the state $1.8 million by using
OpenOffice.org in place of Microsoft Office. The idea never even
touched the ground because of resistance from executive management. It
was shocking and I felt it had to have a public forum. This led to
even more executive backlash but did gain the attention of
Representative Reuven Carlyle.
Josh
On Jun 29, 12:17 pm, Nisha Thompson <nisha.thomp...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Wow John,
>
> This is very interesting. Do you have a blogpost with some background about
> the IT situation?
>
> Proprietary vendors are a huge problem are a big problem at all levels of
> government especially local levels.
>
> Nisha
>
> > noreply <nore...@facebookmail.com> <nore...@facebookmail.com> To: Josh
> > Dressel <joshdres...@gmail.com> <joshdres...@gmail.com>
>
> > ___
> > This message was intended for joshdres...@gmail.com. Want to control which emails you receive from Facebook? Go to:http://www.facebook.com/editaccount.php?notifications&md=bXNnO2Zyb209...
My blog is called The Chrome Documents. I started blogging about the
IT situation at the Department of Natural Resources in Olympia back
when I first attempted to save the state $1.8 million by using
OpenOffice.org in place of Microsoft Office. The idea never even
touched the ground because of resistance from executive management. It
was shocking and I felt it had to have a public forum. This led to
even more executive backlash but did gain the attention of
Representative Reuven Carlyle.
Josh
On Jun 29, 12:17 pm, Nisha Thompson <nisha.thomp...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Wow John,
>
> This is very interesting. Do you have a blogpost with some background about
> the IT situation?
>
> Proprietary vendors are a huge problem are a big problem at all levels of
> government especially local levels.
>
> Nisha
>
> On Sun, Jun 28, 2009 at 8:28 PM, Josh Dressel <joshdres...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > This is a message I received on Facebook from Representative Reuven
> > Carlyle. It's now posted to my blog but I wanted to share it with the group.
>
> > -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Reuven Carlyle sent you a
> > message on Facebook... Date: Sat, 27 Jun 2009 21:57:16 -0700 From: Facebook
> > <notification+p=pi...@facebookmail.com><notification+p=pi...@facebookmail.com> Reply-To:
> > This is a message I received on Facebook from Representative Reuven
> > Carlyle. It's now posted to my blog but I wanted to share it with the group.
>
> > -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Reuven Carlyle sent you a
> > message on Facebook... Date: Sat, 27 Jun 2009 21:57:16 -0700 From: Facebook
> > noreply <nore...@facebookmail.com> <nore...@facebookmail.com> To: Josh
> > Dressel <joshdres...@gmail.com> <joshdres...@gmail.com>
>
> > Reuven sent you a message.
>
> > --------------------
> > Re: IT situation at DNR
>
> > Josh,
>
> > I'm truly sorry how this has unfolded for you. I made a blog post the other day about the issue in politics being not about left/right but between those who are addicted to the institutional infrastructure of government bureaucracy and those who are willing to believe in change. http://www.facebook.com/l/;www.reuvencarlyle36.comis the post.
> > Reuven sent you a message.
>
> > --------------------
> > Re: IT situation at DNR
>
> > Josh,
>
>
> > I'm glad you are still advocating for open source and other IT strategies and once you are no longer a state employee I invite you to connect directly without reservation. On the good side, I had a long, serious conversation with the new director of DIS the other day who is extremely serious about a new approach--one that is less addicted to proprietary systems and 'solutions.'
>
> > Now that you are no longer employed by the state, I will reach out to Goldmark directly and let him know my thoughts on the technology strategy issues we face. It drives me nuts when folks who can't turn on a computer are making multi million decisions and don't know which way is up.
>
> > I wish you the best and don't ever hesitate to contact me on these and other issues. carlyle.reu...@leg.wa.gov or my blog.
> > I'm glad you are still advocating for open source and other IT strategies and once you are no longer a state employee I invite you to connect directly without reservation. On the good side, I had a long, serious conversation with the new director of DIS the other day who is extremely serious about a new approach--one that is less addicted to proprietary systems and 'solutions.'
>
> > Now that you are no longer employed by the state, I will reach out to Goldmark directly and let him know my thoughts on the technology strategy issues we face. It drives me nuts when folks who can't turn on a computer are making multi million decisions and don't know which way is up.
>
>
> > Your partner in service, Reuven.
> > --------------------
>
> > Reuven has shared a link with you. To view it or to reply to the message, follow this link:http://www.facebook.com/n/?inbox/readmessage.php&t=1096906706901&mid=...
> > Your partner in service, Reuven.
> > --------------------
>
>
> > ___
> > This message was intended for joshdres...@gmail.com. Want to control which emails you receive from Facebook? Go to:http://www.facebook.com/editaccount.php?notifications&md=bXNnO2Zyb209...
Nisha Thompson
Jun 30, 2009, 1:25:14 PM6/30/09
to transparen...@googlegroups.com
I wonder how much Microsoft has given in campaign contributions? Does WA have its own campaign contribution database? They are based in Washington.
http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/lobbyistclient.phtml?lc=403721#WA
Follow the Money's profile on Microsoft in Seattle. I don't think that's the whole picture.
Nisha
http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/lobbyistclient.phtml?lc=403721#WA
Follow the Money's profile on Microsoft in Seattle. I don't think that's the whole picture.
Nisha
Cylon
Jul 2, 2009, 2:28:33 PM7/2/09
to Transparency Bloggers
Nisha,
Thanks so much!!! It's unbelievable how much more Microsoft spends in
Washington than other states.
Josh
On Jun 30, 10:25 am, Nisha Thompson <nisha.thomp...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I wonder how much Microsoft has given in campaign contributions? Does WA
> have its own campaign contribution database? They are based in Washington.
>
> http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/lobbyistclient.pht...
> >http://www.facebook.com/l/;www.reuvencarlyle36.comisthe post.
Thanks so much!!! It's unbelievable how much more Microsoft spends in
Washington than other states.
Josh
On Jun 30, 10:25 am, Nisha Thompson <nisha.thomp...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I wonder how much Microsoft has given in campaign contributions? Does WA
> have its own campaign contribution database? They are based in Washington.
>
>
> Follow the Money's profile on Microsoft in Seattle. I don't think that's
> the whole picture.
>
> Nisha
>
> Follow the Money's profile on Microsoft in Seattle. I don't think that's
> the whole picture.
>
> Nisha
>
Nisha Thompson
Jul 31, 2009, 10:49:40 AM7/31/09
to transparen...@googlegroups.com
Cylon
Aug 1, 2009, 3:36:40 PM8/1/09
to Transparency Bloggers
No I hadn't come across that info about Bing yet but it's more
evidence the relationship between Microsoft and the Washington State
Department of Information Services is much too close.
Thanks for the lead!!!
On Jul 31, 7:49 am, Nisha Thompson <nisha.thomp...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Josh,
>
> Have you seen this?http://www.govtech.com/gt/articles/706822?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=link
evidence the relationship between Microsoft and the Washington State
Department of Information Services is much too close.
Thanks for the lead!!!
On Jul 31, 7:49 am, Nisha Thompson <nisha.thomp...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Josh,
>
> Have you seen this?http://www.govtech.com/gt/articles/706822?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=link
Nisha Thompson
Jan 19, 2010, 11:38:09 AM1/19/10
to transparen...@googlegroups.com
Josh,
California has accepted Open Source Software: http://www.govtech.com/gt/articles/737127?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=link
Nisha
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Bev Harris
Jan 19, 2010, 2:02:59 PM1/19/10
to transparen...@googlegroups.com
Open Source software is helpful in terms of expanded Freedom of Information,
because we won't get as many public records requests blocked citing proprietary
information. But for applications like vote counting, it does not address the
core problem with current US election practices. The core problem is failure to
honor the public right to see and authenticate results. German courts have
addressed this, removing their e-voting systems on human rights grounds,
because they do not allow the public to see and authenticate each essential
step of the election without need for special expertise.
because we won't get as many public records requests blocked citing proprietary
information. But for applications like vote counting, it does not address the
core problem with current US election practices. The core problem is failure to
honor the public right to see and authenticate results. German courts have
addressed this, removing their e-voting systems on human rights grounds,
because they do not allow the public to see and authenticate each essential
step of the election without need for special expertise.
Open Source does not secure systems like vote-counting, and does not provide a
way for the public to see the counting, and in addition, it can be worked
around through binary hacks and chip alteration.
It's nice in that it will improve public records access, but perspective is
needed in terms of how much of a solution it is for other issues.
Bev Harris
Founder - Black Box Voting
http://www.blackboxvoting.org
* * * * *
Government is the servant of the people, and not the master of them. The
people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right
to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to
know. We insist on remaining informed so that we may retain control over the
instruments of government we have created.
----------------------------------------------------------------
This message was sent using IMP, the Internet Messaging Program.
Nisha Thompson
Jan 19, 2010, 4:19:21 PM1/19/10
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I don't know about voting I agree that there is definitely problems with electronic voting and open source solutions won't be the best. But Bev is right about the potential open records benefits of open source. Also in the article it mentions that there is cost saving benefits as well.
Departments automatically receive funding for software, but Farley said some agencies tend to overspend on pricey products. But the OSS policy allows departments to use free software "in lieu of more expensive content management tools," Farley said, which can save a few million dollars.
I also really like that there is a growing sense that it is ok to hire developers and strengthen the IT sector so that government can build their own tools and not count on proprietary info.
This is the first state I have heard of to accept open source has anyone else heard of others? Or has anyone encountered problems with open source implementation?
Nisha
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Bev Harris
Jan 19, 2010, 6:51:45 PM1/19/10
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Open Source would certainly save money. The government often uses specialized
software products produced by vendors that charge hefty ongoing "usage
licenses" and required upgrades and service lock-ins as well.
software products produced by vendors that charge hefty ongoing "usage
licenses" and required upgrades and service lock-ins as well.
Again, open source does not solve the freedom of information or security
problems associated with electronic voting, but in addition to improving access
to public records, it WOULD save a lot of money. The bid for the central
tabulator software, which adds up votes from all the polling places, for
Sacramento was over $300,000, plus tens of thousands per year in usage license
fees. The same program, open source, would be ... um, free!
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