Y2K Presents Small Towns With Manpower Challenge, Say Experts

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Most local governments who did address the situation didn't give it the attention it requires, she said. 'It was always a low priority for them. They didn't think the problem affected them.'

They also failed to recognize the ripple effect, Fluke said. 'Some were already looking at their computer system but failed to recognize all the embedded systems throughout the government, such as the water department or the (levels of chemicals in) the municipal pool,' she said.

Now, with fewer than 100 days until the century's end, some towns are realizing their oversight, 'and now they're scrambling,' Fluke said.

The key word now is 'contingency,' she said. 'The next thing affecting communities is preparedness or contingency planning. For example, if you don't have gasoline to run the snowplows, then you've got a problem in the winter. So the contingency might be to store gasoline.'

While Kraeling fears small towns are at a Y2K disadvantage, they typically are more equipped and adept at handling the kind of adversity that the start of the new millennium might cause, Kraeling said.

'I am convinced small towns have a can-do attitude. They have a strength of coming together and working as a community, which is very different than larger cities,' she said.

Contacts: Victoria Kraeling, Y2K emergency preparedness consultant, Clemson, S.C., 864-654-7333. Elaine Fluke, owner, Contracts and Administrative Technical Services, Tucson, Ariz., 520-544-3882.

COPYRIGHT 1999 THE American News Service, 289 Fox Farm Road, Brattleboro, VT 05301. For further information, please call 1-800-654-NEWS or e-mail info@americannews.com

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