SWATTING THE 2000 BUG; GOVERNMENT, BUSINESS WORK TO AVOID COMPUTER CHAOS.

Byline: Sylvia L. Oliande Daily News Staff Writer

Just as they do for other potential disasters, local public agencies are gearing up to protect themselves and residents from a pesky bug said to be living in many mainframe and desktop computers.

Although the millennium bug - or the Y2K problem - isn't expected to hit for a year, those working on the fixes are hoping to be fully fortified against it well before Jan. 1, 2000.

Ventura County and local cities have been working on the problem for several years, focusing first on their financial systems and working their way out to other services and utilities.

``It's a matter of being on the offense, in essence,'' said MaryJane Lazz, city manager of Thousand Oaks. ``It's kind of like what we did for El Nino. We worked for months and months to get ready for that, making sure drainages were clean, etc. We have tried to think of every little aspect where there might be some kind of issue where computers are used.''

The problem came about as a result of the way early computers were originally programmed. In an effort to save precious memory, the year on dates was condensed to only two digits, a practice which is still present in many modern systems.

The glitch can cause computers to interpret 00 as 1900, possibly resulting in a system shutdown or miscalculations. Anything that is run on a date-sensitive computer system has to be checked to make sure it recognizes a four-digit year.

Steve Elum, director of general services for Simi Valley, said the city was able to simply upgrade its software and have its computers reprogrammed to bring them into compliance.

It has spent about $25,000 to do that but expects to spend about $100,000 when all is said and done and every aspect of the city's operations is compliant.

The city of Moorpark was about to upgrade its computer systems to switch to a local area network anyway, so to fix the problem, it made sure to buy a replacement system that was already Y2K secure.

Assistant City Manager John Nowak said Moorpark was fully compliant in October 1998 and is now working with its vendors to ensure that they are compliant as well.

While many cities have appointed one person to handle their readiness programs, they've also set up committees to take stock of all the problems that might come up as a result of the millennium bug.

The resulting scope of the problem illustrates how great our reliance on computers is, with impacts that include sewer systems, traffic lights and water reservoirs.

``When you drive through a traffic signal, you don't think of how it is operating,'' Lazz said. ``You know electricity, certainly, but you don't think of the computer system behind it.''

A survey released last month by the National Association of Counties found that only half of the 3,069 counties in the United States have started the job of evaluating their systems.

Ventura County is one of those that has started. It has hired two consulting firms to implement its Year 2000 Date Conversion project.

The Board of Supervisors is expected to review a report soon on readiness of the billing and medical statement system for the Ventura County Medical Center, which will have to be replaced in order to be compliant.

According to a county document, the cost of replacing the hospital's 10-year-old financial system would be more than $4.5 million.

In the private sector, many companies, especially financial institutions, have already upgraded their computer systems and are testing them.

R.A. ``Tony'' Palmer, president and CEO of First Western Bank in Simi Valley, said the bank first saw the problem in the early 1990s, when its computer system would not recognize certificates of deposit that matured later than Dec. 31, 1999.

The bank replaced its entire antiquated computer system with a new one in 1996 and is now testing to see if there is anything left to be done. He said the new system should be completely tested and set up by February.

Palmer said his and other small banks worry about the perception of some customers that they would be safer with a big bank.

``You don't want people to get into a hysterical state, withdrawing their money and putting it under a mattress,'' he said. ``That kind of attitude isn't healthy.''

But just in case, employees of First Western can expect to spend much of Dec. 31, 1999, printing out all of the bank's customer records so they can work on them manually the next day if they have to.

In addition to taking their own measures to ensure a smooth transition from 1999 to 2000, public and private entities also have to rely on those that supply equipment and services to bring their operations into compliance.

Among those most often cited by people working on the problem is Southern California Edison Co.

Glen Bacerra, a spokesman for Edison and a member of the Simi Valley City Council, said 800 full- and part-time employees have been working on the problem. The utility planned to be 75 percent compliant on its ``mission-critical systems'' by this past Thursday and 100 percent by July.

Critical systems were defined as those crucial for customer service, company revenue, regulatory compliance and the health and safety of Edison employees and the public.