2019 - 2020 Committees

Communications Committee

The Communications Committee is charged with design and management of the quality of content for the official association web site. In addition, this committee will oversee all means of communication of the association.

Jennifer Frescaz – Committee Chair

Jennifer is the Chief Information Officer for the City of Midland. She began her technology career in Midland in 2005 supporting communications technology. She was promoted several times: first as a project analyst in 2009, to Information Systems Manager in 2013, to Assistant Director in 2017 and to CIO in 2019.

Jennifer has a department of 56 employees including information technology professionals, project management professionals, radio communications technicians and public safety dispatchers. Together they support a network of 1000 users across 26 physical sites. Her public safety team supports the citizens of Midland’s metropolitan and rural areas by dispatching for Police, Fire, EMS and county services as well as non-emergency City services.

She began the first Cybersecurity Awareness campaign for the City of Midland in 2017, and continues annual efforts within the City and community. She strives continually for better process improvement and uses ITIL standards for Midland’s operational processes.

Jennifer has a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications and a Master’s in Business Administration from West Texas A&M University. She earned a CGCIO certification from the University of North Carolina in 2015.

She met her husband Tony at West Texas A&M and they now have three children, four dogs and a cat.

Contact the Communications Committee Chair.

Cybersecurity Committee

Beth Ann Unger – Committee Chair

Beth Ann serves as the Information Services Manager for the City of Frisco. Previously she served as the Information Technology Infrastructure Manager for the City of Arlington. In her seventeen year municipal career, which started in the Town of Trophy Club, Beth Ann has directed numerous departments including IT, Development and Streets/Stormwater. This diverse municipal experience provides her with a unique perspective on technology, our customers and the role of IT as a strategic partner in the enterprise. One of the highlights of her career was serving as the IT project manager for the Cowboy Stadium and Super Bowl Projects from the construction phase of the stadium through the Super Bowl event.

Beth Ann is a 2011 graduate of the University of North Carolina’s Certified Government Chief Information Officer (CGCIO) program. Beth Ann has served TAGITM in various capacities including Education Chairman, Secretary/Treasurer, Vice President, and currently as Past-President.

Contact the Cybersecurity Committee Chair.

Conference Committee

The Conference Committee is charged with overall planning of the annual conference.

Tony Gonzalez – Committee Chair

Gonzo’s first government job was as CIO for the City of Bryan in 2002. It was here that he discovered a love for working in local government. “It’s a passion of mine to live and work in the same city. I get a special motivation knowing my work improves the lives of my friends and family who live where I do.” He has been somewhat of a career gypsy, working at Bryan, Arthur Anderson (No, Bernie, I didn’t have anything to do with Enron!), Microsoft, Sungard, OSSI, City of Dallas, BKD and others. “When I came to Bryan, I got involved in TAGITM pretty quickly. It was one of the best decisions I made and I am grateful to be back in a City that supports me being an active member. TAGITM has helped me in many, many ways to be a better IT Director. Strong relationships with peers and with strategic vendors is invaluable.”

Gonzo considers himself a major believer in Change. “What we have always done is rarely good enough, but we have to be intelligent and strategic about how we implement that change. Local government is a real job with real consequences. Don’t change it just to say you changed it, but have good solid reasons for the change and push hard to make it happen.” “During interviews, I tell candidates they will never work harder for anyone else than they do for me. But, I also tell them they won’t have more fun working for anyone else than they will me. I believe you have to work hard, but you spend more time at work than you do with your family in a given week. You better have fun doing it!” He looks forward to bringing that philosophy to the TAGITM Board. Gonzo got back into Local Government after a few years in the private sector by becoming the IT Director in Forney, but has now moved on to be the IT Director for the City of New Braunfels. He and Gayla got married while living in New Braunfels back in 1994, so this is a Homecoming of sorts for them.

Contact the Conference Committee Chair.

Data Analytics Committee

Scott Joyce – Committee Chair

Scott began his career at the University of North Texas in 1999 as a Network Administrator. He worked for various UNT departments, eventually leaving as the Assistant Director of Business Services for Data Operations. Scott joined the City of Haltom City in February of 2008 as the Director of Information Technology and remained there for 6 years, where he founded the City’s first Information Technology Department.

In 2014, he became the head of the Information Services Department for the City of Euless and has focused on hardware virtualization and process improvement strategies. Under Scott’s leadership, the City of Euless is deploying a city-wide 4G LTE wireless network to provide consolidated communications for all remote assets and systems, including SCADA, AMI, traffic signal, and school zone flasher administration.

He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of North Texas with a major in Entrepreneurship and Strategic Management. Scott completed the Certified Government Chief Information Officer (CGCIO) program from the University of North Carolina in 2014. He has a particular interest in operations management and process improvement and is currently pursuing certifications in Six Sigma and project management.

Contact the Data Analytics Committee Chair.

Education Committee

The Education Committee is charged with the responsibility of providing all educational functions of the Association.

Chris Lee - Committee Chair

Chris Lee started his career with the City of Lewisville in 2000 when he was accepted into the department’s internship. Chris received a bachelor’s degree in business computer information systems from the University of North Texas in 2001 and was promoted to a System Engineer position. Chris recalls from his very first day his excitement for the opportunity: “I really could not believe that I was getting paid for this internship! It felt like a candy land of technology and problems to solve. If anything, it confirmed that I went into a field that a truly enjoy.” Chris has held a variety of positions within the department and was promoted to the IT Director position in 2013. Chris has been married for fourteen years and they have two boys and two dogs. He enjoys traveling with his family and just about any type of sporting or outdoor activity.

Contact the Education Committee Chair.

Marketing Committee

The Marketing Committee is charged with creating and maintaining a marketing plan and enacting strategies that increase revenue, conference attendance, and participation in association regional events.

Jason Power, Town of Westlake - Committee Chair

Jason is the Director of Information Technology for the Town of Westlake. He has been employed by the Town for 10 years, starting as the first full-time IT employee for the Town of Westlake and Westlake Academy, the largest operating department for the Town and the only municipally owned and operated open enrollment charter school in the State of Texas. The Town and Academy operate with a shared-services model for several departments, including Information Technology. He was promoted to IT Manager in 2011 and IT Director in 2014.

Jason completed the Certified Government Chief Information Officer (CGCIO) program from the University of North Carolina in 2016.

Jason was interested in technology at an early age, but chose to pursue a career in music after receiving a full ride scholarship to Tarleton State University where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Piano Performance. He continued his music studies at TCU on another full ride scholarship and received a Master of Music in Theory and Composition. Jason taught music theory and technology for music for a few years before fully transitioning his career to Information Technology. Prior to the Town of Westlake, Jason held several positions in IT and training in advertising/marketing departments and agencies as well as software sales/support.

Jason has been married for 24 years and has two boys. Music has continued to be a big part of his life, now mostly as a hobby. He plays piano, synths, and organ in local churches as often as he can. He also teaches his boys and other students how to play piano, synth, and organ in youth church bands.

Contact the Marketing Committee Chair.

Membership Committee

The Membership Committee shall be concerned with all matters pertaining to the advancement of membership of the Association.

Kevin Cameron - Committee Chair

Kevin Cameron is the IT Project Manager for the City of Allen. He recently has been working on implementing Energov, Cityworks, Incode Courts, and a new Microwave Network at the City as well as managing the RFP process for a new CAD/Law RMS. He joined the City in 2012 after stops at Keane, Inc, Sea-Land Service, Yahoo!, and JCPenney. He graduated from Texas A&M with his BBA in Business Analysis – Management Information Systems.

Kevin has been married for 23 years and has 16-year-old triplet sons (3 teenage drivers at once, my insurance agent loves me) and an 11 year old daughter. Kevin has been the WatchDOGS (Dads of Great Students) coordinator for the last 9 years and is the incoming president for the Allen Eagles Tennis Booster Club.

Contact the Membership Committee Chair.

Nominations Committee

The Nominations Committee is charged with preparing a ballot of candidates for election to officer positions.

Sid Hudson, City of McKinney - Nominations Chair

Sid Hudson is the Chief Information Officer for the City of McKinney, Texas, and has more than 30 years of technology experience ranging from large mainframe systems for bank processing as well as small to mid-size networks. He managed the growth of the network for the City of Allen from one server to more than 150 servers. In July of 2016 he accepted the position in McKinney as a new chapter and challenge to his career. In McKinney his technology team supports all City departments as well as the Public Safety divisions with a team of 40 to include Infrastructure, network Security, Applications Support and Development, Customer Service Desk, Geographic Information Systems and all City Records. Sid has served TAGITM in various capacities including Secretary / Treasurer 2016/17, Chair - Membership Committee, Chair - Conference Committee, Special Events Coordinator, as well as assisting on other committees. Sid served as the Vice President for the 2017-2018 year, and as the President for the 2018 - 2019 year.

Contact the Nominations Committee Chair.

Industry Advisory Committee

The Industry Advisory Committee is charged with actively promoting quality affiliate participation in the Annual Education Conference and any other special events as appropriate.

Requirements for a vendor to be on the Industry Advisory committee:
In order for a vendor to be on the committee, they must be a member of TAGITM the prior year, and be at least a gold sponsor during their prior and current term.

Sunny Patel – Committee Chair

Sunny Patel is the Director of Information Technology for the City of Hurst, Texas and has been with the City for 21 years. He has 25 plus years of technology experience and started out designing and installing Novell Networks, for the hotel industry back when BNC connectors were still a thing. He started with the City of Hurst in 1998 as their IT Technician and progressed through the ranks. He has seen the City grow from 7 Novell Servers and 1 IBM Unix server to over 40 windows and Linux servers. He has managed the design of networking infrastructure in all of the new buildings and renovations throughout the city.

Sunny is married with 2 children – 1 boy and 1 girl.

Education Background – DeMontfort University – Leicester , UK – Business Information Systems

Contact the Industry Advisory Committee Chair.

Awards Committee

William Pham – Committee Chair

William is the Director of Information Technology for The Woodlands Township. He has been with The Woodlands for 19 years; first as their Network Administrator in 1998, IT Manager in 2007, and IT Director in 2010. He manages a growing department of 19 staff that are responsible for the Network Infrastructure and Radio Communications, Systems Administration, Database Administration, Help Desk, Records and GIS.

During his tenure with The Woodlands he has grown the IT Department and the town’s IT infrastructure from its infancy.

William is an avid Skydiver, Golfer, fisherman and Scuba Diver. He is married and has one daughter.

Educational Background: Colorado State University-Computer Science

Contact the Awards Committee Chair.