(Washington, D.C.) – Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) President Tom Schatz sent a letter to Los Angeles City Council members Tony Cardenas, Bernard Parks, and Herb Wesson, all members of the City Council’s Information Technology and General Services Committee, which is meeting today to discuss using Google Apps as a replacement for the Novell GroupWise e-mail and Microsoft Office applications that the city is currently using.  The letter reads, in part: 

“On behalf of the 193,000 members and supporters of Citizens Against Government Waste in the state of California I would like to express our concerns with this proposed contract.  As the nation’s premier taxpayer watchdog, we applaud your desire to evaluate technology use and the potential to save taxpayer money.  However, there are cost and privacy issues associated with Google Apps that could negatively impact taxpayers and put critical information at risk. 

“Even though some news reports have claimed that there will be cost savings from the switch, a July 10, 2009 report from the Office of the City Administrative Officer to the Information Technology Agency (ITA) contradicts those assertions.  According to the ITA report, “In the City’s experience with other systems replacement projects, contractors that supported implementation of the new system have often remained involved with the project for a longer period of time than originally anticipated. … That no such costs are anticipated here is inconsistent with this experience. … GroupWise licensing savings totalling $269,700 will only be achieved if the City can fully implement Google’s system by December 31, 2009. … For this date to be met, ITA must submit a notice to proceed to CSC no later than August 1, 2009.” 

“In addition to cost, privacy should also be a key component in the decision- making process.  In a July 16, 2009 letter to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the World Policy Forum (WPF) concluded that, “…the City should conduct a formal independent risk assessment of the privacy, security, and confidentiality issues the contract raises….  A risk assessment focused on this issue will assist the City in clarifying the problems before harm occurs.”

“The savings estimates for Los Angeles are based on fully implementing Google Apps by December 31, 2009.  That means all employees must be utilizing the new system by that date. 

“In addition, a July 17, 2009 Los Angeles Times article said that “City Administrative Officer Ray Ciranna, the city's top financial advisor, said the LAPD has raised questions about Google's ability to shield sensitive arrest information.

“We urge you to conduct more research on cost, security and risk, starting with learning more about the D.C. experience and why so few are using Google Apps.”

Citizens Against Government Waste is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.