Lukewarm Approval Given Y2K Task Force City And County Officials See Usefulness Of Group, But Won’T Pay For It

Thu., March 18, 1999

Grayden Jones Staff writer

Spokane officials took another swat Wednesday at beating the year 2000 computer bug, while raising questions that the efforts may be overkill.

Even as a new Spokane City-County Y2K Task Force won official recognition, Spokane Mayor John Talbott said at a news conference that “for all practical purposes, we are prepared. And if we have a failure, there are people to correct it in good time.”

So why the task force?

Officials said the cross-section of 20 business leaders, government officials and citizens would serve as a resource and information clearinghouse to warn government agencies and residents of potential problems that have yet to be addressed.

In short, it would defuse panic as the millennium draws near.

“There’s an inevitable uncertainty about this issue,” said Dan Baumgarten, executive director of the Health Improvement Partnership, which will manage the task force. “It makes sense to have insurance to immunize ourselves against Y2K concerns.”

County commissioners and City Council members signaled earlier this week that they are willing to recognize the task force, but unwilling to pay for it.

The group’s earliest proposal to the county was for $170,000, documents showed, but it was later scaled back to $47,000. The latest request to the city was for as little as $10,000.

The City Council has yet to vote on the request, but Talbott said it won’t pass. However, he left open the possibility that the City-County Emergency Management Department may receive extra money for Y2K information packets and other resources for the public.

“We’d be doing a great disservice to not address these issues” for seniors, low-income residents and others who may be vulnerable, Talbott said.

No one knows whether electric utilities, airplanes, grocery stores, intermittent windshield wipers and millions of other computerized operations and devices will operate in 2000. Older computers and imbedded chips, which were programmed to only read two-digit dates, may misinterpret the new millennium as the year 1900 and stop operating.

Avista Corp., the primary Inland Northwest electric utility, says it has fixed all of its critical computer bugs. Banks, water districts, phone companies, schools and hospitals also say they’re ready.

“There’s a lot of hype out there,” said Morag Stewart, director of Eastern Washington University’s master of business administration program and a 30-year specialist in information systems. “The potential for bringing the world to a standstill is simply not there.”

But task force member Greg Johnson said that it only takes one malfunction to trigger a problem in the nation’s complex system of interactive computers, satellites and delivery systems.

“It’s hard for me to believe that everything will get fixed,” said Johnson, a Spokane attorney and former computer programmer. “The task force is not predicting serious disruptions, but we are saying there’s risks out there.”

This sidebar appeared with the story: FAST FACTS READY FOR Y2K The Spokane City-County Y2K Task Force recommends that the public take the following steps to prepare for possible disruptions in the year 2000. The task force can be reached at 444-3086 or by e-mail at http://y2k.hipspokane.org. Leave your money in the bank. Create a household plan for setting aside some provisions throughout 1999. Meet with neighbors to share ideas about taking care of each other. Donate to a charity that provides food, shelter and other goods to the needy.

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