December 23, 2004

Jim Helmer calms troubled waters as city’s acting information officer

Information Technology Department gets overhaul in bidding, technology standards in wake of Cisco scandal

Editor’s Note: The following is the 18th article in an ongoing series about the city’s departments and appointed officials. Next: San Jose’s Director of Finance Scott Johnson.

By Sheila Sanchez
Staff Writer

He’s no surfer dude and no grape grower, but he has the qualifications to be both.

On Aug. 10, Jim Helmer, the city’s Department of Transportation director, replaced former technology boss Wandzia Grycz, who resigned Aug. 8 after investigations found flaws in the department’s handling of municipal contracts. Photo by Sheila Sanchez

This “Surf City” native is patiently waiting for his young Merlot grapevines to sprout next spring.

Jim Helmer’s personal details have become a simile of the medicines he’s brought to the much-maligned Information Technology Department (ITD): a calming attitude and patience for change to occur.

The 53-year-old Helmer showed incredible courage and good sportsmanship when he literally walked into the lion’s den after San Jose City Manager Del Borgsdorf asked him to temporarily lead the beleaguered ITD.

“The department has been through a lot. I am on a mission to rebuild the confidence and character of the people within the organization,” said Helmer about his work to rebuild the confidence of his employees.

Some say when Borgsdorf asked Helmer to temporarily lead the ITD he was paying him a compliment. “I was glad to help because I have a strong desire to provide the very best services to the citizens of San Jose,” he said.

“We all wanted to help and I was available.”

Helmer said he was a good candidate for the job because he was not a part of the previous process and his leadership style, one he describes as “listening to the heartbeat of an individual,” was needed to heal employees’ mistrust and incertitude.

“I like to take in a lot of information, understand emotion and, in a fair and open process, explore alternatives to change, manage and lead. Occasionally I’ll make a decision on my own and tell employees that’s what I think is right and that’s the direction we should go. Generally speaking I’m an open leader,” he said.

Department troubles
On Aug. 10, Helmer, the city’s Department of Transportation director, replaced former technology boss Wandzia Grycz, who resigned Aug. 8 after investigations found flaws in the department’s handling of municipal contracts.

One investigation, conducted by San Jose City Auditor Gerald Silva and San Jose City Attorney Rick Doyle, found favoritism in the award of an $8 million contract to install Cisco System equipment for a computer-and-phone network in the new $388 million downtown high-rise City Hall above east Santa Clara Street.

Other probes revealed that under Grycz’ leadership, the department had unclear technology standards and engaged in improper bidding procedures that discouraged contract competition.

The department—with a $10 million operating budget and an average $5 million capital budget—has been under the public scrutiny microscope since last summer. It’s been investigated by Silva and Doyle, by Borgsdorf, by the Santa Clara District Attorney and by a private investigator. Results of the private investigation were expected at the end of this month and the DA’s Office inquiry was still not completed by press time. The San Francisco Hanson Bridgett law firm is conducting the independent investigation of the department, the same one hired by the city to conduct an ethics review into Councilman Terry Gregory’s alleged wrongdoing.

“I was asked not to get involved with investigations of the past, but to look forward and bring out the talent of this department to install modern technologies in the new City Hall,” Helmer said.

In the wake of the scandal, Helmer found the department’s employees, about 115 people, suffering from low morale and devastated by the resignations of their top senior advisors. He has spent the last four months doing “damage control.”

“The department is getting over the shock,” said Helmer. “We’ve conducted a survey amongst ourselves and we’ve discovered that our emotional attitude is low but rising.”

The investigations came after the Mercury News published articles in June that revealed apparent bias toward Cisco in the selection of a network for the building. The city is redesigning and re-bidding the network. The department was harshly criticized for letting Cisco design the network and write the list of 18,000 Cisco parts the city would have to buy to create it.

The casualties
Jose Obregon, San Jose’s former director of general services, was demoted.

Grycz’ deputy, Wendy Walker, also resigned.

Now Helmer is part of a new team coordinating the massive $26 million overhaul of the city’s technology infrastructure that provides technology services to the city’s 1,800 employees that will move into the new City Hall in the spring.

He’s focused on getting technology bidding documents ready for the new building so vendors can bid on them. Bidding proposals are due Jan. 14. Helmer has also assessed the department’s internal operations, reviewed its policies and standards and is putting better systems in place so past mistakes are not repeated. He’s also planning for a tough budget year trying to maximize technology resources to help deliver essential city services.

Technology infrastructure
The city’s data center, located in about 2,000 square feet, is also called the network operations center. All city computers are linked and managed here. To enter this special place, one must have a special security code and must be accompanied by a technology worker.

“This is where it all happens,” Helmer said, explaining that the new center being built at the new City Hall will be about twice the size of the current one and will feature a much more intricate communication system. It will connect the old City Hall to the new City Hall so that a seamless transfer of information occurs as the old systems are taken down, consolidating and merging into the new center.

With the background noise of large air conditioners constantly cooling the center, Helmer shows the storage devices and servers that keep track of every computer in the city. The city has 250 servers. When the ITD moves into the City Hall, the number of servers will be consolidated to less than 50, which will give the city better control of resources. The center also has a storage area network.

The city has begun the process to hire a permanent director to lead the ITD. It’s hired the Sacramento-based CPS independent consulting firm to recruit possible candidates for the position. The firm is collecting information about the job and meeting with department staff and other city officials to write an accurate job description. An appointment is expected in late March or early April.

Helmer was born in Santa Cruz and raised in Ben Lomond, a small community in the Santa Cruz Mountains. He attended San Lorenzo Valley High School.

In 1974 he earned a bachelor’s degree in transportation engineering from California Polytechnic University. That same year, he was hired by Bechtel Inc. to work in its transportation development division designing airports.
In 1977, he was hired by the city of Santa Cruz to work in its Department of Public Works.

In 1988 he became San Jose’s deputy city traffic engineer, progressing in the course of the next 14 years to become director of San Jose’s Department of Transportation in 2002 after Wayne Tanda retired.

Helmer is married and has three children. He lives in Ben Lomond where he owns 11 acres of land, a quarter of an acre groomed and cultivated for a small family vineyard called Alba Creek. This year was his first to harvest “Alba Creek” grapes—and to lead an IT department.

For more information on the ITD, 801 No. First St., Room 500, San Jose, Calif., 95110, call (408) 277-4031 or log onto www.sanjoseca.gov/itd.