As we begin the year 2012, I hope it is a happy and healthy one for you and your loved ones.   I am especially appreciative of good health.  It is something we take for granted all too often, until we have a health issue.  You may know that I had heart surgery a little over three months ago.  Fortunately, I have made a full recovery, but I am in physical therapy a few days a week, building up my strength.  I even wear a pedometer to measure how many steps I take each day!  I am eating healthier and feeling so much better.  And I now know that taking 5,000 steps or fewer every day is considered sedentary.  We all need to work our way up to 10,000 steps, which is considered active.
  If only the economy were in better health!  The economic forecasts for this year are not too optimistic, although there is a slight upward turn in some respects, such as more movement in the job and housing markets.  However, things are still tough for so many people – and that’s not a good thing.   The Clerk’s Office, too, continues to suffer from this economic downturn, internally and externally.  However, that pales in contrast to people who have lost their jobs and their homes and cannot seem to find the opportunities they need to get back on their feet.
  We continue to operate with far fewer people than we had a few years ago, with many serving dual roles as they participate in the testing and implementation of our new case management system in our Courts areas while continuing to serve our customers every day.   We are also rolling out new technology in ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), efiling, redaction and Onbase.  All of these efforts are geared toward meeting our eventual goal of a paperless operation.     And they are all directed toward you – to make it easier for you to access our services.
  Change can be a scary thing – especially if you have done your work a certain way for years.   For our employees, especially the ones who have lengthy tenure, they have had to learn new and radically different ways to do their work.  However, they have no choice – nor do we.   My goal when I first took office was to take us to the next century, and I intend to keep that pledge.  The good news is that we are on course to do just that.
   With a new session beginning in the Florida Legislature, I am hopeful that we will not endure any radical cuts, as we have in the past.  We have absorbed a Reduction in Force, furlough days and no pay raises for employees during the last few years.  We have also had to close our main traffic office, in the Floriland Business Center, as part of our budget cutbacks.
   However, we are on track to make the Clerk’s office more effective, efficient and customer-oriented than ever.  Internally, we have established a process to move forward with a new, transformational approach to how we do business.  These are exciting times, and my hope is that you are all the beneficiaries when you do business with us.

  When I took office as Clerk in 2005, I pledged to move this office to the next century on the technology front.  I knew it would be a challenge, but I didn’t know how much of a challenge it would be!   The Clerk’s Office is far more complex than you might think, and our responsibilities are varied – starting with my dual role as Clerk and Comptroller for Hillsborough County.    I also provide support services to the Board of County Commissioners, including payroll, and my Chief Deputy Dan Klein serves as Clerk to the BOCC. 
  
   However, most of the Clerk employees are assigned to the different divisions of the Courts.  This includes our Traffic Division – surely one of most people’s least favorite departments in the Clerk’s Office!  And then there’s our Jury Department, which is responsible for managing the process of Jury service starting with sending out the notices for duty to prospective jurors.

   These are just some of the functions in the Clerk’s Office, but they illustrate how widespread our operation is – and why it is so essential for us to conduct business as efficiently as we can.  With that in mind, we have searched throughout the country to find the best fit for a technology system to meet our different needs in Courts.

  When I first took office, there was no system on the market that was right for us.  Fortunately, a couple of years ago, we selected Tyler Technology’s case management system.  However, the timing wasn’t the best for us, since we are leaner than ever.  Just as the economic downturn has impacted so many of us, the Clerk’s Office, too, has to operate with less funding.   As a point of reference, in 2007, we had 937 employees on the payroll, while today we are reduced to 779.  What this means to us is that while we are implementing a new software that helps us manage court records, we must still perform our everyday duties.  So we have many employees who are stretched quite thin, doing double duty, testing new processes while keeping up with their regular workload.

   The good news for us – and for you – is that it’s working!  We have already seen it in action since last year, when we implemented Odyssey in Probate and Mental Health with good results.   This past June, after months of planning and testing, our Family Law Department had an official “Go Live” launch, which was a major step toward putting Odyssey in place in Courts.  And in November, we are on target for converting our Circuit Civil and County Civil Departments.
 
    What this means for you is that we have created and are continuing to create a more efficient case management system in the Courts.    Our plans are to continue with the implementation of Odyssey to cover all Courts areas.  This technology will lay the groundwork for the next step, which will be e-filing.
      
   It is really exciting for us to be able to raise the level of how we conduct business, with you as the ultimate beneficiary.  Odyssey does seem to be the right fit for us – and for many other Clerks throughout the state of Florida.  My hope is that it works well for you, too.  I’d be interested in hearing about your personal experiences as we progress through this implementation.