SIMI, T.O. ONE UP ON Y2K; SOME CITIES PREPARED, BUT OTHERS NOT SO READY FOR 2000.

Byline: Krystn Shrieve Daily News Staff Writer

While Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley are well-prepared for the potential Y2K problems, several other Ventura County cities remain vulnerable and must begin preparations immediately, a grand jury report released Monday shows.

The report said stages of preparedness vary from nearly completing contingency plans to just starting the preliminary step of compiling a list of equipment and software that might be affected when the clock strikes midnight on Dec. 31, 1999.

``Reasons given for delaying work on the problem are lack of resources because of day-to-day demands on facilities and personnel, lack of funds because of budget constraints, and recent acquisition of new hardware and software,'' says the 15-page report.

It credits Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley as being well-prepared, having already taken many of the steps the grand jury will be requiring of other cities. Ventura wasn't far behind.

However, cities like Port Hueneme and Santa Paula still have a long way to go. Staffers in those cities are expected to do everything from implementing the most basic step of establishing monthly progress reports to determining whether its suppliers of critical services and equipment are Y2K compliant.

Among the cities that have been working hard in fighting the so-called millennium bug is Simi Valley, which identified 270 items that need to be brought into compliance.

About 100 of those items have received top priority, including the 911 emergency system, water and sewer systems, and the transit system that handles the city's busing, said Steve Elam, director of general services.

Members of the city's Public Works Department, for instance, tested traffic signals at several intersections by turning the clocks forward to see if there were any glitches. Drivers in Simi Valley should be happy to know that there weren't.

``We have verified and tested more than half of those that are considered critical,'' Elam said. ``The others are generally ready to be verified and tested.''

The citywide network in Thousand Oaks has already been upgraded and checked. Now efforts are being focused in the Public Works and Finance departments as well as the library, theaters and the City Attorney's, City Manager's and City Clerk's offices.

John Augustyn, information systems manager in Thousand Oaks, said although the library still has projects to complete before it is Y2K compliant, work in the City Attorney's Office is done. Testing is scheduled in all departments at the end of the month.

``I'm confident that we will get through everything in time,'' Augustyn said.

According to the grand jury report, Moorpark has upgraded all of its computer operating systems but has not yet developed a contingency plan for Y2K. It is required to follow up on five of the eight recommendations made by the grand jury, including finalizing contingency plans, checking to see if computers can handle possible problems caused by leap year, testing computers early to avoid a log jam at the end of the year and finding out whether its vendors are Y2K compliant.

Assistant City Manager John Nowak refused to comment about Moorpark's Y2K preparations or its response the the grand jury report.

``I'm not prepared to discuss the grand jury report,'' Nowak said. ``I'm not going to talk about any of this.''

The report says that in Fillmore, half of the desktop computers are updated while the rest should be ready to go by the end of August.

While the grand jury was not supplied with a formal plan for Port Hueneme, Vicki Martinez, head of the city's Y2K team, said most of the hardware and software has already been updated.

``I wouldn't say it's 100 percent done, but it's pretty close,'' Martinez said. ``For instance, in the accounting department we have received system upgrades on all but one model.''

The 15-page grand jury report said all contingency plans must be finalized by November.

``In the case of the Year 2000 project, there can be no forgiveness about deadline,'' reads the report. ``work and successful testing on critical programs must be completed by Dec. 31, 2000.''

In a list of recommendations, the grand jury said that departments unable to perform the necessary tasks to stay on on target because of lack of equipment or manpower should receive assistance from management immediately.