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Y2K a tale of worry for two cities By Laura A. Bruce  bankrate.comSM "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us" Charles Dickens, "A Tale of Two Cities" 1859

Two places about a thousand miles apart -- in more ways than one -- but bound by a common fear -- the dreaded Y2K.

In this story:

Town's reaction gets attention

D.C. police on the alert

Better vigilant than sorry Washington, D.C., our nation's capital; population 528,964. A hot, sticky city filled with tourists, politicians, big monuments, lots of serious crime and an unemployment rate of 8.5 percent. It has 105 hotels, 21 movie theaters and 1,308 restaurants. Median price of a home: $168,000.

Jupiter Island, Fla., our nation's haven for the super rich who don't want publicity; population 580. A hot, sticky, spit of land on the Atlantic Ocean, filled with beautiful homes and tourists who hang out at the beach. There are no monuments and I think politicians are stopped at the drawbridge. The most serious recent crime -- Greg Norman's golf clubs stolen from his garage. Unemployment rate -- doesn't count, these people don't need to work. One hotel -- actually, part of the private golf club, one movie theater (private), no restaurants (well, not counting the golf club.) Median price of a home: $1.7 million.

So, why is the Y2K bug bugging these places?

Washington, D.C., officials freely admit they got a late start annihilating the pesky critters. So, their contingency plan calls for expecting Armageddon while fervently hoping something less than that actually happens.

On Jupiter Island, scary Y2K news reports have the town buying everything from generators to bulletproof vests.

When the Jupiter Island town commission approved more than $200,000 for ammo, police vests, generators, radios and food, and then allowed the temporary installation of eight-foot security fences, water tanks and mobile homes, it was flashed across the country by the news media.

Town's reaction gets attention If a town commission in rural Alabama had done the same thing, it probably wouldn't have caused a ripple. But being the nation's wealthiest town, according to Worth magazine, makes Jupiter Island a fat target. Compounding the situation -- local news reports say one of the island's residents has invited a local police sergeant to stay on his estate during the Y2K weekend in case folks in surrounding towns get Y2Krazy.

Town manager Jim Spurgeon says early reports of potential electrical power grid problems had officials worried. Those fears have abated somewhat as companies and industries announce Y2K compliance.

"It's like a storm coming," says Spurgeon. "You monitor and monitor and monitor to see how it may hit you. Some of the things I think that we originally cited, things that we would implement, we won't need to now."

Spurgeon says some requested items, such as generators, radios, storable food and water, are things that should be on hand anyway. Jupiter Island is a barrier island that could get clobbered if a hurricane decides to stop for a visit. But getting ready for Y2K is something different, he notes.

"One thing critical to this plan that's different from a hurricane plan is, generally, during the hurricane season we have very low occupancy. There are about 580 residents, but during the time Y2K occurs we could have 1,700 people."

D.C. police on the alert In Washington, they're apparently so busy in the city's Y2K department that they don't have time to respond to a request for an interview. But, according to the Washington Post, police will be stationed at 120 locations to take walk-in requests for emergency services, there will be 21 warming centers with food and cots, and school crossing guards will be on call, ready to replace traffic lights at major intersections.

"In research we did, among the people who identified themselves as working for a state or local government, telecommunications and power failure are the biggest concerns. Nine out of 10 people said they were worried about it. It's no time to be lax. Time is short." Fortunately, the head of the police department's Y2K effort found time to talk. Commander David McDonald says the 120 locations where people can be guaranteed to find help on New Year's Eve are workstations where officers normally fill out paperwork.

"They're usually open only whenever needed. Over Y2K they'll be open 24 hours," according to the commander.

McDonald says his department is worried that possible telephone outages might prevent residents from letting police know about emergencies.

"We want them to have a means to get hold of us. We think Y2K is more of an external problem -- we think we're fine internally," he says.

It's hard to imagine someone with a true police emergency running to a police workstation to announce their problem but, truth be told, McDonald says he expects electricity and phones to stay on.

"We're catching up pretty well, we just started late. You want to get done six to eight months ahead to test. We'll only have a couple months to test," he says. "That's why contingency plans are so important. How do you work around things that go wrong?"

Better vigilant than sorry At least one Y2K analyst says preparations by Washington, D.C., and Jupiter Island are nothing to sniff at. Joe Burgio of Cutter Consortium, an Arlington, Mass., information technology consulting firm, says a lot of community officials are worried Y2K will leave them in the dark or cut off from the rest of civilization.

"In research we did, among the people who identified themselves as working for a state or local government, telecommunications and power failure are the biggest concerns," Burgio says. "Nine out of 10 people said they were worried about it. It's no time to be lax. Time is short."

When Jan. 1 dawns will we look at Jupiter Island and Washington, D.C., as overreacting or being prudent?

Will Y2K be our season of Light or the season of Darkness? Will it be the spring of hope or the winter of despair? Let's hope, when it comes to Y2K, that Mr. Dickens was only half right.

-- Jeannie (hollander@ij.net), August 17, 1999