Talk about putting a positive spin on a bad situation. A newly posted message on the secretary of state’s Web site claims that “upgrades” are the reason the office’s computer systems and Web site are down.
“SECRETARY OF STATE’S WEBSITE DOWN FOR UPGRADES,” states the headline on the message, which was posted late Friday on a page that is otherwise devoid of content.
“The Secretary of State’s network is currently down for upgrades. Our website will be unavailable during this time. Return to normal operations after the upgrades are completed. We apologize for the inconvenience,” the message states. “If you have any questions, please call our office at: 505-827-3600.”
The message contains no other information.
“Currently down for upgrades?” That’s not exactly what we were told last week.
Officials said earlier on Friday that problems knocked out the secretary of state’s new and still-under-development campaign finance and disclosure system, all other computer systems in the office and the office’s Web site. Systems that are necessary for the public to do all sorts of business, from accessing campaign and lobbyist information to registering trademarks and other dealings between businesses and state government, are down.
“Right now we are having IT issues at the SOS,” Deputy Secretary of State Don Francisco Trujillo II said Friday, before the message was posted on the Web site. “Everything is down. All of our systems are currently down.”
Hmm…