Terance Henry, Marion, Illinois

GMIS member since: 2014

Number of IT staff: 2

Population: 17,413

IT budget: $50,000

What has been a significant technology achievement for you or your organization?

We have achieved a lot for such a small town, and we have the second-longest serving mayor in the country, which goes to show that change in our area comes slowly. A lot of staff members and others in the community will always hear me saying baby steps. Some of our great advancements have been using GIS to track and locate each burial at our cemetery which cut down on vandalism, and we also won the ACEC Illinois Merit Award because of it.

We have outfitted all of our police officers with new in-dash cameras, and with the help of Verizon and a private VPN tunnel with the cell phone towers, we now have laptops in the cars so they can do traffic stops from their cars which helped increase public safety. We are also proud of our City app, which lets residents report issues, see city council agendas and videos, and even post their own yard sale or community event. Overall we have been very busy.

What future initiatives are you hoping to accomplish in the next year?
We are looking into traffic cameras, not as a way to ticket citizens but more for a review just in case of an accident. We are also looking into equipment that our police and fire department could use to automatically control the traffic lights as they approach them, which should help with faster response times.

Best advice you could offer your fellow members is....
Always question the knowledge and strive to push yourself further than you think or others think you can go. Be patient, technology's changing and, to some, it can be very frightening, so use baby steps. And last but not least, I suggest the saying, "You get more bees with honey," or be nice and not arrogant.

We all know GMIS membership is worth its weight in gold, but what do you feel is the best benefit you get out of GMIS?All of the communications. No one knows it all, and it's such a big help when you get to brainstorm with others from all parts of the United States who have been there and done that. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. I personally am forever grateful that such a helpful group exists. Thanks and keep up the good work!

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