Retirement computes for Kesling

Ric Kesling was called in to help with Y2K.

Nearly 18 years later, he’s retiring.

Kesling, 62, who will work his last day as Lincoln County’s Information Technology director on Dec. 16, began working for the county as a “tech librarian” in February 1999.

In November of that year he was called in to help prepare the county for 2000 and any problems associated with that infamous changeover in the calendar year.

After starting at the Lincoln County Library branch in Libby, he was gradually pulled more and more to the courthouse so that by the fall of 2000 he was full-time.

“They found they needed an IT guy,” Kesling said last week.

He, as it turned out, was their guy.

Kesling has seen the department — which he built — change quite a bit over the years.

From one server and 25 computers when he started, the county now has 10 servers and 110 computers, 25 iPads or tablets, 50-60 printers and five points of contact for video conferencing.

With the help of his assistant, senior technology specialist Ernie Anderson, Kesling oversees the technology at the courthouse, annex, north annex in Eureka, emergency management (which is located at city hall), two landfills, three road crews, the sheriff’s office and the law enforcement center in Eureka.

If that sounds like a handful, it is. Kesling said he couldn’t handle it by himself, and has strongly encouraged the county commissioners to hire Anderson as his replacement.

Kesling said that the IT department recently had to replace a server that was infected. He and Ernie did it on a weekend but needed the help of three computer-literate county employees, Kesling said. That involved integrating every computer to a new domain name and creating new profiles for remote users.

The help that he’s received from his co-workers and commissioners over the years is something that Kesling is thankful for.

“Technology has changed, and we’ve moved with the times,” he said. “The commissioners have been supportive to keep us as close to the forefront with the limited resources Lincoln County has.”

Once he’s retired, Kesling has plans to travel to Hawaii and the Pacific Coast Highway from Washington to California and wants to attend a Dallas Cowboys’ game in the fall.

Kesling — who split his time between Arlington, Texas, and the San Fernando Valley near Los Angeles growing up — is also looking forward to remodeling his house.

Caleb M. Soptelean can be reached at 293-4124 or by email at csoptelean@thewesternnews.com.