Nassau County Presiding Officer Judy Jacobs (D-Woodbury) and Alternate Deputy Presiding Officer Jeffrey Toback (D-Oceanside) joined Karl Kampe, executive director of the Nassau County Civil Service Commission, in unveiling the commission's cost-saving innovative interactive web site that will streamline the Civil Service hiring process.

"This technology has truly revolutionized how we do business here at the Civil Service Commission as it will speed up the hiring process and eliminate the arduous tasks that have long been associated with meeting Civil Service requirements," said Karl Kampe. "Furthermore, I think this initiative demonstrates that during times of fiscal duress we can still accomplish a great deal without spending a lot of money." With funding provided by a $1.2 million capital project approved by the Nassau County Legislature in 2001, the Civil Service Commission in conjunction with IBM created an interactive web site to allow the agencies that it works with to electronically process filings with the commission. The commission currently services 33 County departments and 234 municipal agencies, including the Towns of North Hempstead and Oyster Bay, Nassau County school districts, libraries, villages and special districts.

By eliminating the extensive amount of paperwork involved in processing a civil service inquiry and bypassing the United States Postal system, the conventional mode of interaction, the Civil Service Commission has been able to greatly accelerate personnel processing. The technology associated with the web site will eliminate the costly and time-consuming effort to store data in a centralized County mainframe databank. The technology also ensures that pertinent information is not excluded from required files by rejecting applications that are incomplete. Such omissions often further delay the hiring process.

"What is happening at the Civil Service Commission is what we envision happening throughout Nassau County's government in the coming years," said Legislator Toback, who is chairman of the Government Services and Operations Committee. "They have effectively streamlined, what is at the very least, a lengthy process with a nominal amount of funding."

Internet access is the only requirement to take advantage of the Civil Service Commission's new technology. The Commission is hoping to have ten school districts engaged on the network in the next three to four weeks and then include its other clients gradually in the future.

The commission also used the capital funding to create a public web site where residents can access exam dates, filing deadlines, forms, as well as general information about the Civil Service Commission. The launching of the public web site will be announced in the next three weeks. Also included in the capital project was the development of two computer-based examinations (Clerk Typist I and Data Entry). The new examinations, which are administered at the Civil Service Commission, greatly reduce the workload for scoring exams.

"This innovative technology puts Nassau County on the track toward implementing much-needed technology upgrades," said Legislator Jacobs. "This is hopefully just the beginning of a new era."