Joliet CTIS Committee Meeting – March 4, 2026: Contract Awards and Technology Updates
Communication, Technology & Information Systems Committee Meeting – March 4, 2026
The Joliet CTIS Committee met on March 4, 2026, at 8:30 AM in the Executive Conference Room of City Hall. Chairperson Sherri Reardon presided, with Councilmen Cesar Cardenas and Juan Moreno present. CIO Christopher Sternal presented three contract renewals, all approved unanimously. The committee also discussed technology for home inspections and challenges faced by small businesses with zoning board submissions.
Approval of Minutes
- Motion to approve minutes from February 4, 2026 (TMP-9600) carried 3-0.
Discussion Items
- CrowdStrike Endpoint Security Renewal (TMP-9578): Award of contract to Center for Internet Security (CIS) for $65,142. CIO Sternal noted CIS is a nonprofit partially funded by Homeland Security, providing a deep discount. The software protects 987 devices, replacing Trend Micro in 2022. It runs real-time scanning in the background. Councilman Cardenas asked about layers of security; Sternal explained they use multiple products for defense in depth, and CrowdStrike specializes in antivirus. Motion to approve by Moreno, seconded by Cardenas, passed 3-0.
- Euna Procurement Renewal (TMP-9580): Award to Euna Solutions (formerly Bonfire) for $26,500. This e-procurement system streamlines bids and RFPs. Sternal noted it has been in use about a year, with a push this year for full adoption. Vendors appreciate the platform, and it expands reach through a network. Councilman Cardenas asked about industry standard; Sternal confirmed it is widely used. Motion by Cardenas, seconded by Moreno, passed 3-0.
- Laserfiche Document Management Renewal (TMP-9582): Award to Cities Digital Inc. for $75,050. Implemented in 2022, it replaced the old system and now hosts digital forms for on-duty injury reports, special events, business grants, etc. Councilman Cardenas inquired about the special events form; Sternal acknowledged it is cumbersome and noted plans to bring forward an enterprise permitting/licensing software next month. The current form is a temporary solution. Motion by Cardenas, seconded by Moreno, passed 3-0.
Other Business and Discussion
- Home Inspection Technology (EPL): Councilman Moreno asked about progress. Sternal responded that they finished negotiating better pricing and plan to bring it to the next committee meeting.
- Zoning Board Submission Issues: Councilman Moreno raised concerns that small developers and businesses face difficulties with the zoning board submission process, including unclear deadlines and multiple requests for additional documents. He suggested a simplified one-form approach and clearer timelines. Sternal indicated this is more of a planning department issue, but noted the website is being revamped. Councilwoman Reardon mentioned that Paulina in economic development is working on a simplified guide for small businesses. The committee acknowledged the need to make processes easier for non-professional applicants.
Key Outcomes
- All three contract awards approved unanimously (3-0 each).
- Home inspection technology proposal to be presented at the next committee meeting.
- Concerns about zoning board process will be relayed to planning and economic development departments for potential simplification.
- Meeting adjourned by motion from Cardenas, seconded by Moreno, carried 3-0.
Meeting Transcript
Good morning, everybody. And welcome to the CTIS committee meeting for uh March 4th, 2026, 8 30 in the morning in the executive conference uh room in attendance. Council Carter is here. Okay. Uh Councilman Warrenal. And Sherry Rudy here. Um we will have first a uh motion for the approval of the minutes from February 4th, 2026. Do I have a motion to approve? Uh motion to approve the minutes for February 4th, 2026. The minutes will move. Uh all in favor? Hi. Okay. We have no citizens here to be heard on agenda items, so we'll move for the first agenda item, which is uh 9578 award of contract to center for contract to center for internet security. Uh so CIS for CrowdStrike endpoint security solution, the amount of 65,142 dollars. Yeah, so uh CIS is actually a nonprofit organization that is partially funded by Homeland Security. Um they give us a really deep discount and they just CrowdStrike endpoint security software, which is at high level, it's just our antivirus software, right? It's you know, it replaced uh trend micro that we had here for many years. We replaced this back in 2022. Um we've been very happy with it as uh you know next generation uh endpoint management. We have about 987 devices that are protected by CrowdStrike. Um this allows us to do everything from we have a uh a virus, we hear about it, somebody calls it in to us, we can just with a couple clicks of a button lock that machine down, quarantine it without actually physically going to it first. Um also uh CIS helps us by monitoring our systems proactively for us, so after hours and things of that nature, they also can help us with those things. Uh this is just a renewal of our our current contract with them. Any questions? How many um uh what is it called? Virus detections that we have well software that we have. We only have this. I think we have more than one, right? Oh, absolutely. Yeah, we we so we move for different layers. Uh yeah, we use it, it's called uh security layers in depth. So uh, you know, we have I think it was last meeting or two meetings ago, you know, we were getting uh Minecast, which is kind of our web filtering, but that also does uh MP protection, that there's an agent on all of our devices. We have numerous layers uh of security. Yeah. Um is there one that like a one do all, or is it better or you have to have it set up the way we have it set up? Like, yeah, you kind of want to do layers in depth so that they all catch different things. There is some overlap between the different products. Um but yeah, you you definitely need different products for different things. They they they specialize in different areas. So given that statement, what would you say the specialty of this one is? This is solely antivirus. So this yeah, this runs on every device we have. Um it's a little different than the old school antivirus where you know you have to actually click the scan your computer button and hope that you know it caught something. And just debog it down. 100%. This is actually um, as soon as you, for example, plug a flash drive into your laptop, before you can access that flash drive, it's already scanned the whole entire flash drive. Um any file that comes in is automatically scanned. Anytime you try to put anything on the machine. So it's uh it's a real-time like non-stop uh scanning going on on your machine.
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