- April 26, 2024
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A suite of software that county officials hoped would make things easier for staff members who’ve been contending with an outdated software program has instead — before it’s even been installed — led to a dispute between County Administrator Craig Coffey and Clerk of Court Tom Bexley.
The disagreement over the new enterprise resource planning software package comes down to a matter of jurisdiction: Bexley, a constitutional officer operating independently from the county administration, believes that his office should control the software, and host it on its server, because the software is used to manage county purchases and payments, and the clerk’s office is tasked with overseeing county spending.
Coffey says he wants at least some modules of the software program to be hosted at and administrated from the county’s offices, because particular software functions — for instance, the ones that deals with park reservations, utilities, fleet maintenance, building maintenance, and personnel record keeping — fall outside of the clerk’s purview.
Bexley believes he has state law on his side.
“My office validates [county expenditures], makes sure they’re correct, makes sure they’re authorized by budget, by the Board of County Commissioners, makes sure they’re legal. … We then make payment,” Bexley said. “And there’s a reason that there’s a two-step process like this; it’s for checks and balances. The idea of putting safeguards in place is so there couldn’t be any illegal or unauthorized expenditures on behalf of the taxpayers. ... The rub that I have now, and the reason I’m having it, is that Mr. Coffey ... is proposing that we take the system that’s been in place for 20 years, where the clerk hosts and administrates, and that he now administrates all the security and the accesses. And Florida law doesn’t allow me to do that. And if I caved on this, that would be a fundamental dereliction of my duty.”
Bexley cited a 2006 document from Carl Kern, the previous county attorney, which states, “These computer systems, including all software, hardware and passwords for operation of these financial computer systems, should be under the custody and control of the Clerk’s Office as required by the constitutional and statutory law referenced above.”
Coffey said the new software package bundles together functions that are currently handled by different programs, some of which are currently run from the county administration side.
“The software we are procuring is not a single piece of software” Coffey wrote in an email to the Palm Coast Observer. “It is actually a collection of over 20 functional software modules. About half of the modules are more financial in nature, and they are proposed to remain under the clerk’s control, as they are today. The other modules are primarily functional in nature ... although they may have a financial aspect. These functional software modules are currently on the county’s server and range from the building department, park reservation software, utility software, fleet maintenance, building maintenance, and personnel record keeping (not payroll). The law, protection of the taxpayers, and the other talking points raised by the clerk’s office do not apply to these functional areas that are part of the Board of County Commissioners’ responsibilities as constitutional officers. The handing over control of an organization’s functional software could compromise the independence of the BOCC responsibilities. It could also potentially hamstring the management of day-to-day functions.”
Both men said are willing to negotiate.
Bexley acknowledged that some of the new software package isn’t strictly financial. But, he said, “The idea is to have it centrally located and in one place, Which would be in my office, and for us to basically open it up (to other county offices). ... If there’s a possibility that certain aspects of this can be hosted one place or another, I don’t have a problem with that; the only way I would have a problem with that is if it compromised integrity and independence.”
"Over the years, our two offices have had occasional disagreements from both sides over processes, the handling of items, and staff issues," Coffey said. " To his credit, we have always been able to sit down and work on the issues with him. I would also credit him and his staffs’ recent full participation in helping the County staff with many of the functions at the EOC during Hurricane Irma. For some reason, although we have had no disagreements to speak of, he has recently changed his approach and feels he can no longer sit down with me to solve problems and discuss items of mutual concern. This after many years of working together."
