Schuylkill County Commissioners tabled a vote last week on contracting a co-chairman of the 2023 Republican Party campaign to serve as consultant for the County’s Management Information Systems (MIS) department.
Commissioners were to vote on a consulting contract with Boyle Electro Mechanical for what was listed as a “systems evaluation” on Wednesday’s meeting agenda.
The contract would have been for work to be done at a rate of $120 per hour with a cap of $33,000 between July 10 and the end of this year.
Two weeks ago, when this contract was first mentioned during the Commissioners Work Session meeting, there were some who questioned whether this was a buddy-buddy deal between the owner of the company being contracted and the majority Commissioners, specifically Chairman Larry Padora.
Boyle Electro Mechanical is owned by Nick Boyle, who served as the Padora-Hetherington campaign co-chair in the 2023 General Election cycle.
Another question raised last week was the term of the contract, which was originally for July 1 until the end of the year. That would have meant the contract as back-dated, a practice all too common among numerous County government departments.
Back-dating contracts means the Commissioners ultimately vote on something that’s technically already started.
During last week’s discussions on this contract, the Commissioners agreed to move the start date back until July 10, the date of this past Wednesday’s meeting.
Last week, after saying the vote on the contract would be tabled, Padora said he intended to abstain from voting on the deal but that was moot because what’s needed for the MIS department is more involved than what Boyle’s firm can provide.
So, why do the Commissioners want to bring in an outside consultant for the MIS Department?
Padora said after last week’s meeting that it’s about “continuity” in the department. He said no one is trained to come in and replace anyone within the MIS department and that, he feels, is a problem.
“There’s nobody trained to replace them,” Padora said.
As he says that, Padora says there’s no plan to replace anyone at MIS but he feels it’s an issue that, if someone from that department leaves for any reason, the County government could have serious problems functioning. The Commissioner said some of the employees of the MIS department have reached retirement age and if they decide to retire, it’ll leave the County in a precarious position.
Specifically, Padora said the area of biggest concern is the County’s “internal programming system.”
He said these computer systems link together the County’s Tax Assessment, Tax Claim, billing, and parts of the Controller’s and Treasurer’s offices.
“It’s an integrated system and we need to know if this system can be easily learned by somebody and they can come in and continue to use this system,” Padora said, “Or is it so specialized and outdated that we need to bring in a third-party vendor or can a third-party come up with a training program that’s easy to implement.
“Right now, we have no training program whatsoever in place,” Padora said.
He said MIS is not the only County government department where this is an issue.
Contracting Boyle’s Firm
When asked if he or the Commissioners considered anyone else other than Boyle’s firm to address what he considers a major internal problem at the Courthouse, Padora said no.
“The idea came up because the issue has arisen a few times since I’ve taken office,” Padora said. “I know Nick does that kind of work and I try to keep as much work as I can here in Schuylkill County. I knew Nick would give us an unbiased opinion for a very cheap amount.
“I would trust what he would tell us,” Padora added.
Next Options
Padora said that since a training element may now be needed, he doesn’t believe Boyle’s firm would be able to handle that request. So, the Commissioners are likely to turn elsewhere to address the continuity of services issue with the MIS department.
He said the Commissioners may reach out to the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania (CCAP) to find a contractor to help. Padora also said that Geisinger may be able to lend a hand because he believes they use a similar system to the County’s.
Skills Gap
We often hear about a lack of skilled tradespeople in the workforce right now. Typically, when people hear that, they think of things like home services – lack of plumbers, electricians, etc. – but it certainly applies to computer technicians and software developers.
“This is another service that is lacking that we need people to fill these positions so it’s something that needs to be taken seriously,” Padora said.
Watch the full video of last week’s meeting here:
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