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THEREUPON,
VINCE FARAONE
being by me first duly sworn to tell the whole truth,
as hereinafter certified, testified as follows:
DIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MS. NASH:
Q. Mr. Faraone, my name is Beverly Nash, and
I'm counsel for the United States in this
litigation.
We are doing these depositions to
understand how the Water Management District's
computer systems are set up, how they're used, what
data is on them, and how the data is formatted.
You're here as a representative of the
Water Management District having knowledge of one
or more of the areas we are interested in.
Have you been shown the list of
categories?
A. Yes, I have been.
Q. Do you know to which items you're
responsive?
A. For items No. 2 and 6.
Q. What is your present title or position?
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A. Senior staff analyst.
Q. In what division of the department?
A. The department of research and evaluation,
the staff division.
Q. And what are your job responsibilities?
A. My responsibilities are the budget for the
department, the PC coordinator. I'm the one that
handles the -- the focal point for the financial
problems that come up between the department.
Q. And how long have you been in that roll as
senior staff analyst?
A. Four years.
Q. Have you had other positions at the Water
Management District?
A. Yes, I have.
Q. And what positions are those?
A. I was a Water Management Engineer III, and
I was a Water Resources Engineer III.
Q. What was your responsibility as a Water
Management Engineer?
A. My primary duties were to convert some of
the programs that were on our HP system to the
Cyber system. I'd review permits. Those were the
two main categories.
Q. And how long were you a Water Management
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Engineer?
A. Two and a half years.
Q. What were your responsibilities as a Water
Resources Engineer?
A. I was responsible for writing computer
programs of various engineering types. I rewrote
programs to make it easy for technicians to use the
programs that were being developed by other
engineers.
Q. And how long were you a Water Resources
Engineer?
A. Four years.
Q. What is your educational background?
A. I have a Bachelor of Science degree in
engineering from the University of South Florida.
Q. Do you have any other training in the
computer area?
A. No.
Q. Who are your supervisors in the staff
division?
A. Mr. Pat Gostel.
Q. Who?
A. Pat Gostel.
Q. And what is Mr. Gostel's title?
A. He is the director of management and
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administration.
Q. Do you have any employees in the Water
Management District that work for you?
A. I have partial review or responsibility
for one individual.
Q. What is that individual's position?
A. Staff analyst.
Q What computers does the staff division
utilize?
A. Can you repeat the question, again?
MS. NASH: Read it back, please.
(WHEREUPON, the requested testimony
was read back by the court reporter.)
A. Again, clarification on that. All of the
different machines that are used by the staff
division?
Q. (By Ms. Nash) Yes.
A. We have IBM PCs, Xerox 6085, and we have
terminals.
Q. And which model IBM PC does the division
utilize?
A. The division has AT, PS/2, that's it.
Q. What work is done on the IBM PC?
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A. Are you referring to the work I do or the
work other people do within the division?
Q. What work do you do initially on the IBM
PC?
A. Okay. I primarily use it to write
programs for the department. I access the IBM
mainframe for financial information.
Q. Do others in the staff division make other
use of the IBM PC?
A. Yes, they do.
Q. Do you know what others use the IBM PC
for?
A. Primarily for developing spreadsheets for
memos, a little bit of graphic presentations.
Q. What use is made of the Xerox 6085?
A. Primarily those are used for memos,
presentations.
Q. And you indicated that the staff division
also utilizes terminals?
A. Yes, ma'am.
Q. Which terminals are those?
A. I believe it's all a VT 330.
Q. And what work is done on that terminal?
A. Mainly memos.
Q. What software is used on the IBM PC?
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A. On whose PC? My PC?
Q. Your PC to start with.
A. Okay. I use Symphony, Word Perfect,
Harvard Graphics and Quick Basic.
Q. Are there other software packages that
others within your division utilize on the IBM PC?
A. I don't know.
Q. What is the functions of Quick Basic?
A. It's a programming language that allows me
to develop my own coding to manipulate financial
data or any type of data.
Q. What software is used on the Xerox 6085?
A. The package is called Viewpoint.
Q. Do you know what software is used on the
terminal you mentioned?
A. The Word Perfect.
Q. Do you personally use the Xerox 6085?
A. Yes.
Q And do you personally use the VT 330?
A. Yes.
Q. And you indicated that memos were done on
both of those systems?
A. Yes.
Q. Is there a reason why one system is
selected over the other for doing memos?
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A. Machines were set up primarily for the
different types of functions within the department
and those were the machines that were best suited
for the individuals.
Q. Do all of these machines have networking
capabilities?
A. Yes, they do.
Q. Are back-ups done on the work you do on
the IBM PC?
A. Yes.
Q. Who does the back-up?
A. Each individual is responsible for their
own back-ups.
Q. Are back-ups done on the Xerox 6085?
A. Yes, they are.
Q. Again, who does the back-ups?
A. Well, there are two back-ups. There is
one that the individual work station -- the user is
responsible for their own back-ups, and the
networked work file, that is sent to the server, is
backed up by technical services.
Q. The back-up is done on the VT 330?
A. The terminals themselves don't store any
data. They make connection to the exact system and
that is backed up by technical services.
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Q. What is entailed in your responsibility as
PC coordinator?
A. I attend meetings once a month to get
information from technical services. I disseminate
the information to responsible individuals within
the divisions in our department. I become the
focal point of problems that the departments may
have with their individual computers. They will go
through me and I will usually contact technical
services, and vice versa if technical services has
anything to disseminate, they go through me, and I
put the information out to the department.
Q. What systems do you use to transfer files
from your division to others in the department?
A. Can you repeat the question again?
Q. Well, let me ask you the first question.
Do you transfer files from your division to others
in the Water Management District?
A. Yes, I do.
Q. And what systems do you use to transfer
those files?
A. I use the IBM system, IBM PC.
Q. Do others in the staff division do
nonfinancial work, nonbudget work?
A. Repeat the question again.
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Q. Do others in your division work on things
other than budget and finance matters?
A. Yes.
Q. What areas do they work in?
A. Personnel -- I guess contracts come under
financial, that's all I can think of right now.
Q. Do you work with contracts?
A. I get involved.
MS. STOLLMAN: That would be limited
to what your work is on the computer systems.
A. My only involvement is with the budget
transfers that maybe coincide with the contracts.
MS. STOLLMAN: On the computer? The
budget transfers on the computer system?
THE WITNESS: No. They're paper
forms I usually initial that funds are available
for budget transfers.
MS. NASH: I have no further
questions.
CROSS-EXAMINATION
QUESTION BY MR. RICHARDS:
Q. Mr. Faraone, my name is Joe Richards. I
represent the Cities of Belle Glade and Clewiston.
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When did you become the senior staff
analyst?
A. September 1986.
Q. Could you explain to me the functions of
the staff division of the research and evaluation
department?
A. To the best of my knowledge -- would that
be sufficient?
Q. Yes.
A. We're primarily responsible for the
administration of personnel matters, financial
matters, contractual matters, communications.
Q. Communications with whom?
A. Communications with various departments,
finance administration, the executive office,
technical services.
Q. What is the purpose of these
communications?
A. Dissemination of district policies.
Q. That would be of an administrative or
financial nature, the policies?
A. Not necessarily.
Q. What other areas would that cover?
MS. STOLLMAN: I would object to this
line of questioning. I have given you some leeway
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here, but I fail to see the relevance to the
computer system. He's given you an overview of
what the department does. I fail to see what going
in to the specific areas --
MR. RICHARDS: I'm just trying to
find out whether they do anything relevant to the
lawsuit.
MR. NASH: Katharine, everything
relevant to the lawsuit is relevant to the
computers as well. The people that should have
been produced in this should have been people
relevant to the lawsuit.
MS. STOLLMAN: The people who have
been produced pursuant to the notice of taking
deposition are related to the computers and the
content of the computer system at the district.
MR. RICHARDS: I am just trying to
find out if any of these communications are
relevant to issues on the computer, which would be
also relevant to the lawsuit, and he mentioned
other areas, so I am just inquiring into those
areas. Do you know?
MS. STOLLMAN: Do you want your last
question read back or do you want to ask another
question?
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MR. RICHARDS: Could you read back
the question?
(WHEREUPON, the requested testimony
was read back by the court reporter.)
Q. (By Mr. Richards) Other than policies
regarding administration in a financial nature, did
you address communications regarding other
policies?
A. I didn't hear what you said, sir.
Q. Do you disseminate communications
regarding policies of the district other than
administrative and financial?
A. Yes.
Q. What would those other areas of policy be?
A. They're outside my realm, so I don't know
exactly what they are.
Q. Who would know?
A. I guess Pat Gostel.
Q. And you also mentioned that others in your
division work with contracts. What type of
contracts would that be?
A. I don't know the nature of the contracts.
Q. Do you do any budget work regarding the
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Everglades SWIM Plan?
MS. STOLLMAN: This is work on your
computer.
A. The only work that I do with it is put the
information into the system that for whatever dollars
are required for that particular activity.
Q. (By Mr. Richards) Who would provide that
information to you?
A. Typically the division director.
Q. Do you know who specifically?
A. It would be the director of water quality,
Tom Fontaine, and the director of environmental
sciences. They have two acting directors in that
capacity right now.
Q. Who are those people?
A. Dewey Worth and Steve Davis.
Q. Have you done any budget work for the
Everglades Nutrient Removal Project?
A. Repeat the question, please?
Q. Have you done any budget work for the
Everglades Nutrient Removal Project?
MS. STOLLMAN: Again, this is on your
computer system.
A. The name doesn't ring a bell.
Q. (By Mr. Richards) How about for the Holeyland
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Restoration Project?
A. No.
Q. Rotenberger Restoration Project?
A. No.
Q. You also mentioned that your the focal
point for computer problems; is that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. Would that be for the entire department,
research and evaluation department?
A. Yes.
Q. In that capacity, are you aware of the
accidental loss or destruction of any data files?
A. Sometimes they bring that to my attention.
Q. Can you recall any specific instances?
MS. STOLLMAN: You can answer if you
can recall any.
A. I'm just trying to think of the data that
you may be asking for. Oh, the I squared S system
crashed not too long ago and some data was lost.
Q. (By Mr. Richards) Do you know the nature
of that data?
A. No.
Q. Who would know that?
A. Dewey Worth.
Q. Are you aware of any other lost data?
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A. No.
Q. You stated that you reviewed permits when
you were a Water Management Engineer. What type
of permits?
A. They were surface water permits.
Q. And what did you review those permits for?
MS. STOLLMAN: I would object to this
question. This doesn't have anything to do with
the computer systems.
MR. RICHARDS: Are you instructing
him not to answer?
MS. STOLLMAN: Unless it's relevant
to your work on the computer systems, I would
instruct him not to answer.
Q. (By Mr. Richards) Is it relevant to your
work on computer systems?
A. No.
Q. Are these permits contained on a computer?
A. When I was doing them, no, they weren't.
Q. Are they now?
A. I don't know.
Q. You also stated that you converted
computer programs from the HP to some other
computer. What type of programs?
A. The only one that I can remember is the
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Float Routing Program.
Q. Do you know who was responsible for
developing that program?
A. No.
Q. Do you know who utilized that program?
A. No. Now or in the past?
Q. Well, in the past.
A. I can't remember who.
Q. Do you know who uses it now?
A. No, I don't.
Q. Do you know who might know?
A. No.
Q. What division were you working in at that
time?
A. It was the surface water management
division.
Q. And you said while you were working as a
Water Resources Engineer, you wrote computer
programs. What programs? For what purpose?
MS. STOLLMAN: Would you ask one
question at a time, please?
Q. (By Mr. Richards) What programs?
A. I can't think of any offhand.
Q. Do you know for what purpose they were
written?
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A. The one that I primarily remember is a
user friendly version of what was referred to as
the "Pop Model."
Q. What was that used for? Do you know?
A. I don't know what it was used for.
Q. Do you know who utilized that program?
A. There were technicians, some
professionals.
Q. In what division?
A. Mainly the Water Resources Division and
Environmental Science Division.
MR. RICHARDS: That's all I have.
Thank you.
(The deposition was concluded at 5:45
o'clock p.m.)
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I, VINCE FARAONE do hereby certify
that I have read the foregoing transcript of my
deposition given on 28th day, August, 1990; that
together with the correction page attached hereto
noting changes in form or substance, if any, it is
true and correct.
_____________________________
VINCE FARAONE
I do hereby certify that the depostion of
VINCE FARAONE was submitted to the witness for reading
and signing; that after he had stated to the
undersigned Notary Public that he had read and
examined his depositon, he signed the same in
the presence of the undersigned authority
on the _____ day of ____________, 1990.
_____________________________
Notary Public
My Commission expires: _______
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