City Fires IT Director During Investigation

Another city staffer is out at Sarasota City Hall and private files.

Chance Craig, the city's director of Information Technology, will have his contract terminated, according to Pamela Nadalini, city auditor and clerk announced in an e-mail Monday.

Craig was suspended since Jan. 6, just 10 days before under pressure from Mayor Suzanne Atwell.

The Herald-Tribune reported in January that Craig would still receive some pay if fired:

"Craig earns a base salary of about $92,000 per year, city records show; his contract provides for three month's salary as severance if he is fired, but that could be withheld if he is convicted of a crime."

is helping investigate the route cause of e-mail and database issues while state and federal agencies are investigating any wrongdoing.

John Jorgensen, CEO of Sylint, told the city commission March 5 that there are more people involved with having files that contain restricted data in them, and they are withholding additional information to not jeopardize the criminal investigation.

Jorgensen recommended to city staff at that meeting that an Information Technology director with a technical background and sufficient knowledge be hired to lead the city's IT team and to help transition Sylint out of its contract.

"We're sort of filling that leadership position," Jorgensen said. "... We need someone into the IT Department who can address the network and begin to comprehend how the network and those services interface."

Sylint has worked with Nadalini's office, which oversees Information Technology, to address "the most egregious" issues in the city's systems, Jorgensen said.

Among those were the city was paying for system support, software updates and update packs to protect from hacking, but certain critical updates weren't installed in many cases, he said.

The city is reviewing to double check what licenses and other services it has paid for but was not used.

"The individuals who are currently working in the IT Department with us  have been very cooperative and very helpful," Jorgensen said.

According to a March 5 status update by Sylint, the firm and authorities are having trouble contacting and finding contract employees who worked with the Exchange e-mail system:

"Two IT individuals who were intimately involved with the City of Sarasota email Exchange system have yet to be interviewed. The individuals have changed their locations or contact information."

Another worker, Sandra Coleman, has been on family leave, and the city is working with Coleman's attorney about turning over Coleman's personal laptop to see if the restricted files might have been placed on her computer that she used at work. However, the city has said Coleman is not under investigation.