Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/360116
The City of Sarasota's director of Information Technology (IT) has resigned. Phil Hurwitz said his last day will be Aug. 15. In an Aug. 6 letter to his boss, City Auditor and Clerk Pamela Nadalini, he wrote, "I am proud of the many accomplishments we have had during my two-year tenure at the City of Sarasota including the development of a strategic plan for IT, a strong step forward in making the environment more secure, and above all, the forging of a good team." The IT Department was the subject of a crit- ical review in mid-June by a national firm, ReliaQuest, which cited 10 findings, includ- ing "a lack of a clear understanding of [IT Department] personnel responsibilities." It also called out "minimal cross training … limited standardization … minimal under- standing of why things fail … no current and accurate network diagrams" and other issues. When questioned by the city commissioners on July 21 about the status of the department, Hurwitz said, "If 10 is perfect, then we're about a six." Nadalini has run the IT Department since November 2011, when the office was wrenched from then-City Manager Bob Bartolotta fol- lowing allegations he was deleting emails. Despite investigations by federal and state officials and a local consultant, no evidence of criminal wrongdoing was found. Bartolotta resigned in February 2012. One month later, Nadalini fired then-IT Director Craig Chance. ReliaQuest's mini-audit noted, "There has [sic] been five (5) different IT Directors within the past nine (9) years." With the resignation of Hurwitz, the count is now six (6). % The city's Information Technology Department has had six directors within the past nine years. Photo by ShareAlike via Wikimedia Commons SIXTH IN 10 YEARS CITY'S INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DIRECTOR RESIGNS By Stan Zimmerman City Editor