Computer manager in laptop flop reconsiders

Randy Linthicum withdraws the resignation he had submitted two weeks ago, and city officials are glad to see him return.

By ANNE LINDBERG

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 10, 2000

PINELLAS PARK -- After a week off, the head of the city's computer department decided he really did not want to resign.

When Randy Linthicum returned to work Monday, he withdrew the resignation he had handed in on April 26.

Linthicum did not return a phone message to explain his change of mind, but City Manager Jerry Mudd said he thought it was because of the support and encouragement Linthicum had received from council members, fellow employees and at least one Pinellas Park resident.

"There's a smile on my face," Mudd said. He denied that he had offered Linthicum any money or other incentives to remain.

"There's absolutely nothing in it for him in terms of finances or benefits," Mudd said.

Linthicum, 39, earns about $63,800 a year.

He decided to resign two weeks ago after City Council members discovered that about 60 laptop computers they had earmarked for police officers still were sitting in a closet because employees in the computer department had not had time to program them. Council members had paid about $175,000 for the computers since the purchases began in 1998.

While Linthicum apparently felt it was his fault the computers were left unprogrammed, both Mudd and City Council member Rick Butler took the blame.They said they had piled too much work on Linthicum's department without giving him the necessary backup to deliver what they had asked for.

When Linthicum returned, Mudd assigned him to sit on a Mobile Police Communications Review Team. The team, which also has members from the police and purchasing departments as well as Mudd, is designed to study the long-term communication needs of individual police officers while they're out on patrol.

That group's first meeting was Tuesday. Mudd said after meeting with representatives from Motorola, GTE and the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office that it was discovered the laptops can be used for most of the officers' communications.

That means a savings of about $300,000 for city officials who had been girding themselves to spend around $800,000 for other equipment for the police cars.

Mudd said the committee plans more meetings before bringing the whole matter before the council during a workshop in about four weeks.

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