Mar 21 2011
Seattle City Council Reconfirms Chief Technology Officer
News Release issued Monday, March 21, 2011
Seattle – The Seattle City Council today unanimously approved Bill Schrier as Chief Technology Officer and Director of the Department of Information Technology (DoIT). Schrier has served as director since 2003, and has been with the City since 1992.
“Bill brings a depth of institutional knowledge and a sharp ability to get things done on time and on budget,” said Councilmember Bruce Harrell, Chair of the Energy, Technology and Civil Rights Committee. “I look forward to continue working with Bill to address technology issues in order to improve our service and engagement with the public, creating opportunities for economic development by enhancing the environment to build more fiber, and exploring new hardware and software to make government more efficient.”
DoIT provides technology leadership for the city of Seattle, including technology governance, information technology (IT) policies, and IT security. DoIT prepares and develops common standards, architectures, and business solutions, and manages the city’s technology infrastructure. Schrier is committed to the mission of the department to “make technology work for the City,” with a high level of reliability. Schrier and his staff kept the public safety voice radio network operating 99.999% of the time, and the City’s core e-mail system, telephone networks, and data communications network online with almost no downtime.
Additionally, under his tenure, the Seattle Channel was named “Top Municipal Television Station of the Year” in 2007, 2008 and 2010. In the last decade, the City’s website (Seattle.Gov) was twice recognized #1 Best of the Web. The Department of Information Technology has a staff of 195 employees and a $49 million operating budget.
Schrier earned a degree in physics and mathematics from Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, and holds a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Washington. Schrier served more than twenty years in the United States Army and Army Reserve. His community and national involvement includes membership on the Catholic Archdiocesan School Board where he served as president, the Washington City-County Management Association, President of the Metropolitan Information Exchange, and an appointment to the Federal Communications Commission Public Safety Advisory Committee to build a nationwide public safety wireless broadband network.
Wisconsin, Ohio and a few states have eroded the collective bargaining rights of hard working public employees as a strategy to address the significant budget shortfalls they are experiencing. Believing there are smarter and more sustainable ways to address budget deficits, I co-authored Resolution 31271 which recognized the contributions of public employees and declared March, 8, 2011 as “Public Employee Appreciation Day” in Seattle. The vast majority of public employees are talented, skilled and hard-working neighbors and family members. They provide vital services with professionalism and integrity and work hard to make our communities good places to live and raise our families.
Tonight I attended a spectacular community event celebrating the 40th anniversary of Seattle’s first demonstration at the Seattle Community College led by Asian Americans. My friend, Al Sugiyama, was the spokesperson and co-leader of what was called the Oriental Student Union (OSU). OSU led two demonstrations, the second one occurring on March 2, 1971. These young students took over the college’s administration building because of the college’s lack of hiring Asian administrators and sparked the Asian American Civil Rights movement in the Seattle area. We listened to the actual audio speeches and viewed the actual photos from these significant events. Remember our history. It should give us strength. 
SEATTLE – The Energy, Technology and Civil Rights Committee, chaired by Councilmember Bruce Harrell, will host a discussion of City Light’s continued roll out of LED streetlights and where they will be installed next. The discussion will include an analysis of cost and energy savings and emerging technologies such as adaptive lighting controls which enables the brightness of streetlights to be remotely adjusted based on activity in an area. 
