PLUS
Recognition
Record
(academic)
Recreation
Residence
Roots
Rogues
(gallery)
HOME
 

The life 
& times 
of 
Warren Swil
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

V 2

 

by Warren Swil

Glendale News-Press January 4, 2000

As Monday-morning quarterbacks in Glendale and throughout the world have a field day with the welcome lack of major Y2K-related computer problems, they should remember that doing nothing was not an option. 

When governments and private enterprise began full operations on the first workday of 2000 Monday, it was business as usual. The collective global sigh of relief was almost audible. But now the second guessing has begun. 

Should the city have spent $9 million of taxpayers' money to prepare for a problem that, so far, has failed to materialize? Millions more were spent by the private sector including us. Was it all a waste? Emphatically no. It was unavoidable, and the benefits will continue for many years. 

When the alarm first was sounded that some computers may malfunction as the date changed from 1999 to 2000, every prudent, responsible citizen in personal, public and professional capacities was forced to respond. The responses ranged from rewriting millions of lines of computer code and replacing entire systems - like the billing computers at Glendale Water & Power - to getting an up-to-date bank statement or topping off the gas tank on Friday. 

We in Southern California should know better than most of the need to be prepared for a major disaster that could come at any moment and assuredly will come eventually. 

In Glendale, the measured response to the Y2K problem was in many ways similar to an earthquake preparedness drill. Emergency systems were on full alert as the date rolled over, but the most important work had been completed months earlier. As many authoritatively pointed out, the biggest danger was irrational human behavior on a massive scale. That such a panic was avoided is a tribute to the advance planning and heightened state of readiness. But other, more tangible, longterm benefits are already becoming apparent.

Y2K remediation is part of the reason for a notable improvement in inter-agency emergency cooperation, as was demonstrated in the San Rafael Hills fire Dec. 22. The rapid deployment of firefighters from the entire region, joined later by the county’s water-dropping super-scoopers, is widely credited with saving many Glendale homes from destruction. With deregulation of the electric power industry set to proceed at an accelerating rate, Glendale Water & Power is now better positioned for the competitive environment, thanks to Y2K upgrades. Another benefit is the precise inventory the city now has of all its hardware and software. With rapidly expanding and increasingly complex computer systems, it’s become harder and much more crucial to manage the big picture. 

We are overjoyed at the absence of major problems, with machines and their human operators. The money was well spent.