The project — which seeks to replace disparate computer systems that handle everything from the county budget to payroll – is now led by IT administrator Connie Geddis, Chief Information Officer Andy Johnson told a County Council oversight committee on Monday.
Geddis replaces former project leader Jack Rhyne, who is also the county’s deputy chief information officer. Rhyne will remain as deputy, but will now focus his attention on “big picture” needs of the IT department, Johnson told cleveland.com.
The software overhaul, known as the enterprise resource planning project, was pitched in 2016 as a two-year $25 million endeavor. Projected costs have now ballooned to roughly $36.2 million – or nearly 45% over-budget. Much of the work, originally expected to wrap up in 2018, is now targeted for completion in early 2022.
County officials and contractors, including Rhyne, have blamed some of the delays and cost overruns on turnover among project staff and leadership. Johnson on Monday said that handing the keys over to Geddis should not cause any further delays.
Asked about his reasons for replacing Rhyne, Johnson told cleveland.com that he was hired this summer as the county’s top IT official to “make change” and bring a “fresh outlook.”
Geddis, since July 2020, has overseen one part of the project related to payroll and timekeeping for 8,000 county employees. That component is largely where the remaining work lies.
Geddis, as leader of the entire project, will provide “clarity” and a “boots-on-the-ground” perspective to County Executive Armond Budish’s administration, Johnson said in explaining the move.
Both Rhyne and Geddis, according to her LinkedIn profile, are former employees of Chesterland-based Main Sail LLC, which previously served as a key contractor on the project. That contract ended in mid-2020, and the county then hired Rhyne full-time as deputy CIO.
The county hired Geddis to a newly created administrator position less than a month later, according to personnel records.
Rhyne makes $153,000 annually and Geddis makes $122,000, according to 2021 employment records. She’ll report directly to Johnson.
Councilman Michael Gallagher, a vocal critic of the Budish administration’s handling of the project, asked Johnson on Monday why Rhyne’s pay will remain the same now that he’s no longer overseeing the project.
Johnson said Rhyne’s salary, like others in the IT department, will be “continually evaluated.”
Rhyne was first tapped as the project leader in April 2019, when he was still a Main Sail contractor. The county hired him permanently in mid-2020, in large part because of his familiarity with the project. His responsibilities as deputy included both project oversight and day-to-day operations.
Previous project leaders include former Chief Technology Officer Mike Young, who abruptly quit in 2019 amid questions about a misused grant, and former IT Director Scot Rourke, who was put on leave in early 2018 when he was named in subpoenas related to a corruption investigation. Rourke was never accused of any crimes.
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