Meet Your AOC Team: County Road Program Database Administrator, Ken Smith
The Association of Oregon Counties (AOC) is a 24-member staff of professional employees with broad duties and skill-sets that help make AOC the success it is today. Here is an opportunity to meet a member of your AOC team.
Meet AOC County Road Program Database Administrator, Ken Smith
Ken Smith joined the AOC family in January of 2019. In his role as County Road Program Database Administrator, Ken chiefly manages AOC’s Integrated Road Information System (IRIS), a comprehensive, cost accounting software currently used by 32 of Oregon’s 36 counties. Ken develops database programs, troubleshoots problems, manages security, and generally ensures that the database is running well. In his work, Ken has been heavily involved in the migration of data from IRIS 9 to IRIS 10 by developing a new and improved database code base.
Ken started his Internet Technology (IT) career with Marion County Public Works in 1987 as a developer and system administrator. In the early 90s, Ken was involved with a multi-county/AOC initiative to choose and develop a structure for a common road inventory system. Ken then worked at Lane County Public Works as a developer where among other things, he helped develop the county’s Geographic Information System (GIS) program and road inventory connection to GIS.
Later, Ken accepted a position with the State of Oregon Water Resources Department, where he worked for the next 22 years as a system administrator, application developer, database administrator, IT manager, and chief information officer. After a combined 31 years of public service, Ken retired from the State and came to AOC to pursue his passion of database administration and development.
Education
Ken is a graduate of University of Oregon (U of O). At U of O, Ken received a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science. Ken also has an Associate of Arts Degree in Data Processing from Lower Columbia College
AOC County Road Program Department
Ken’s position is housed in the County Road Program department of AOC. The Association of Oregon Counties Road Program was established in 1990 as a cooperative with the Oregon Association of County Engineers and Surveyors (OACES) to provide advocacy, education, and cost-effective solutions as a trusted central resource for information and technical assistance for Oregon’s county road departments. The purpose of the County Road Program is to enhance county road management capabilities with programs of shared technical assistance. The core functions of CRP include: advocating for the county road system; providing education and information to road officials; providing cost accounting software the Integrated Road Information System (IRIS) for county road departments; and staffing the Oregon Association of County Engineers and Surveyors (OACES).
Why Ken Loves AOC
“After retiring from the State of Oregon, working with AOC allows me to pursue my passion of Database Development. The County Road Program team is dedicated, proficient, hard working, and fun – they simply can’t be beat. After working with county public works agencies in my early career, this is like coming home.”
What Interests Ken in His Work
Ken is passionate about anything database or GIS related.
What Ken Wants to See in the Future for AOC
“I am currently focused on the new version of IRIS. Long term, I am looking forward to integrating GIS into the IRIS system as well as mobile entry applications.”
Outside of AOC
Ken is married and has five adult daughters (two sets of twins and a singleton). The Smith household now consists of a great dane, a german shepherd, and a bernese mountain dog. Ken’s hobbies include blacksmithing, fly fishing, African drumming, and hiking.
Contributed by: Megan Chuinard | Public Affairs Associate