Newbury Trustee Questions ADP Contract Terms
Newbury Township Trustee Carly Sayre has turned an eye of scrutiny on the township’s contract with the Geauga County Automatic Data Processing board for phone, camera and email services.
Newbury Township Trustee Carly Sayre has turned an eye of scrutiny on the township’s contract with the Geauga County Automatic Data Processing board for phone, camera and email services.
“As a new trustee … I really am trying to get engaged with all the agreements we had in place and really thoroughly look at and analyze basically all of the financial impact plus risk assessment we’ve signed up for over the years,” Sayre said in a March 6 phone interview. “We don’t have to send this out to bid, but I think as good stewards of Newbury Township, we should do our due diligence to see what’s all out there.”
The township signed the contract last June, when former Trustee Bill Skomrock was still on the board. The agreement includes services such as phone, email and security camera systems.
“ADP is completely necessary,” Sayre said March 6. “There (are) constant cyber attacks, there’s constant ransomware (attacks), we need this protection in our county and in our township, so it’s absolutely necessary.”
However, she has concerns about the terms of the contract, she said during the March 4 Newbury Township Trustee meeting.
“I was going through the agreement and it was, again, very one-sided and it’s to protect, I feel, the county versus Newbury,” Sayre said March 4.
Sayre said ADP’s maximum liability under the contract is capped at $40,000, which she believes may not be sufficient given the level of security the system is intended to provide.
Geauga County Auditor Chuck Walder, however, said the agreement was designed to provide a high level of cybersecurity protection while keeping costs manageable.
“Our view of this was, we want to be able to provide government entities within Geauga County the ability of getting the highest level of security for the lowest cost, and the best way of doing that was through this agreement required in law,” Walder said. “I know this is becoming more and more of a hot topic for people (and) I think residents want to be assured that their township is protecting the assets that are being delivered to them now more than ever, but you want to do that with some degree of consciousness of how much money does that cost?”
Sayre said she prepared a redlined version of the agreement she would like ADP to review.
ADP Chief Deputy Frank Antenucci said the board would be willing to look at the proposed changes.
“If you don’t like something in the contract, just cross it off. I’m not going to go through the whole legal process again. It makes absolutely no sense,” Antenucci said during the meeting, adding the phone portion of the contract was recently amended to reflect an amount the township could afford.
He said in a March 5 interview he understood if the township wanted to explore other options, particularly with a new trustee on the board.
“Sometimes, when a new person comes in, they want to redo that stuff and check out other options. I have no problem with that at all,” he said. “So, if you’ve got a new board member and the board wants to go in a different direction. We totally get that. That’s why, even though we have a contract, it has a 30-day notice clause.”
Walder said the county maintains strict cybersecurity standards for systems it manages.
“If you want an IT and entity to help you that doesn’t require a (multi-factor authentication), well, we’re not your (ideal choice, then),” Walder explained. “We offer it one way, protected and that could be a strength and it could be a weakness, depending on how you view it. Some people find it very confining. So, we tell people that you really should go somewhere else and may the force be with you. We have to look at this from a very strict perspective, so I think we’re a different animal because of that and so to Frank’s point, we’re less concerned about the legalese.”
However, Sayre said she believes it is her responsibility to carefully review the liability terms of the agreement.
“I appreciate that, Frank, but as a trustee, I have to protect the township and this agreement is bonkers,” Sayre said during the meeting. “I have to do my due diligence as a new trustee to make sure that we’re not at risk.”
