HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0045.001 2024-2026From: Michelle Montano
Sent: Monday, December 16,202411:00AN|
To: Kimball, Heather; Council Testimony
Subject: Objection to Director of IT appointment
Greetings CnuOciirnernberKimball and Council. atLarge,
-.
r^�
I am writingto you aLL as a concerned IT empLoyee in the County of Hawaii. I have serious concerns about
MayorALameda's appointment of Corey Stone to the position of Director of Information Technology. The
appointment of Corey Stone is a terrible choice to Lead the Department of Information Technology for
several. reasons, which I'Ll enumerate betow. I have direct experience working with Corey in my position
as an Information Systems Analyst VI.
Corey Stone has never managed people. He has never had any subordinates whom he
supervised, which is one of the minimum requirements for the position. This alone shoutcl
disqualify him from the position.
° Corey Stone has never managed 8budget. |nfact, he's not even C8p8bieofmanaging agr8Dt.
° Corey does not have the best track record of getting things done. He was charged with making use
of millions of dottars in ARPA digital broadband grant funds that were awarded to the County, for
the purpose of providing fiber network connectivity to severat county sites that do not currently
have reUabie network connection. Due to his fmiiureto do his job, D|T lost the use of rniKiOnS of
dolLars in grant money. To this day, the county sites that were counting on this projecttnproVide
essentiat network connection stilt do not have connection, inctuding 3 police sites.
° Corey is not Leader. He prefers to fly under the radar and stay within his comfort zone. He is not
capable of making difficult decisions, and prefers to defer to a smatl. group of tong -time
employees for guidance on what to do. He's a "Yes" man. If he were a Leader, this woutcl already
be evident through his work performance track record. Leaders Lead, even if they are not in a
Leadership role. Stackers stack.
~ Corey has already begun backtracking on the support and assistance that Rob Ewbank had
pledged to HPD and HFD. Under Corey Stone, we can expect to return to an era of no support
from D|l[ereturn tDthe status quo. VVedonot want tOgObackwards.
* Corey and the Long-time DIT employees do not understand the importance of cybersecurity, and
do not grasp how serious the threat is of a cyberattack, or what the very real.
financial ramifications ofsuch anattack would mean tOthe County.
* Corey has no vision for the Department, and I would question whether he even truly grasps the fuLt
scope Of[8SpOnSibiihvofthe job.
As the section lead for Information Technology at HPD, I have had the experience of working with 4
different DIT directors, JuLes Ung, Scott Uehara, Rob Ewbank and now Corey Stone. I have also worked
alongside another former Director of IT, Don Jacobs. DIT has languished for years under poor Leadership,
with very littLe action being taken to keep essential. infrastructure from faiLing, and absotuteLy no
attention paid to the very real. threat of cyber attacks. There is a small handful of Long-time DIT
empLoyees who, for whatever reason, refuse to work with any director who chaLLenges the status quo,
and have created a toxic environment at DIT. Many former DIT employees have Leftthat department due
to the toxicity created by these employees. Under the leadership of Rob Ewbank, things were finally
beginning to turnaround. Rob was fin a [Lygetting vita Lequipment rep Laced and upgraded, he had
committed to providing tech no logy equipment and support to a[[ Departments, regard Less of whether or
not we had our own IT staff. He was also beginning to root out the bad apples within the department,
something which no previous director had the courage to do. Things were finally beginning to ch a ngefor
the better under Rob's leadership, and departments were fin a Llygettingthe support they had tong
needed from DIT. White I understand that Rob can no Longer be the director, appointing Corey Stone
would beaserious step backwards.
| strongly urge the Council tounequivocally rejectthis appointment and urge Major Akarnedatononaide[
appointing someone who has a proven record of leadership, and someone who can actually articulate a
vision Ofprogress for the department of|Tand for the County.
Sincerely,�
Mioh8i[eKratei