I worked in local govt as a consultant, then as their IT Director for a few years. Nowhere near as big of a place as Baltimore though.
The hardest thing for me to do was convince anyone to get me money. They STILL have servers running that were purchased in 2007-2008. (I moved all critical services off, and made damn sure backups worked). It took two years before I was able to convince the board to give me $5000 for server hardware alone. That went towards the most needed hardware too, not my wish list.
This was before I was able to get things set up so I was able to buy something under $500 without board approval, just needed IT Committee approval. The board required everyone in the county to go through the IT Committee for any purchase related to IT. Printer ink, a $10 wireless mouse, etc. That was the first thing I got rid of while I was there. They only reason they did that was because it gave them power over people. I've seen them turn down people over $15 purchases...
The other person who replied is pretty correct about politics. The board there HATED tech for no reason other than if you weren't in the "old boys club" you were garbage to them and they treated you like that.
So overall, it really gave me a great view on why so many counties are so dysfunctional and why government works so slow (for most things at least). I don't regret my time there, but I wish it didn't take such a toll on me.
/Edit
Also, there's no reason that they couldn't have tested backups. I was the only IT person for a county of 350+ PCs and a hospital, and I still managed to test backups every month. Shadow Copies saved me so much time too. I also used linux /pfSense when applicable.
The hardest thing for me to do was convince anyone to get me money. They STILL have servers running that were purchased in 2007-2008. (I moved all critical services off, and made damn sure backups worked). It took two years before I was able to convince the board to give me $5000 for server hardware alone. That went towards the most needed hardware too, not my wish list.
This was before I was able to get things set up so I was able to buy something under $500 without board approval, just needed IT Committee approval. The board required everyone in the county to go through the IT Committee for any purchase related to IT. Printer ink, a $10 wireless mouse, etc. That was the first thing I got rid of while I was there. They only reason they did that was because it gave them power over people. I've seen them turn down people over $15 purchases...
The other person who replied is pretty correct about politics. The board there HATED tech for no reason other than if you weren't in the "old boys club" you were garbage to them and they treated you like that.
So overall, it really gave me a great view on why so many counties are so dysfunctional and why government works so slow (for most things at least). I don't regret my time there, but I wish it didn't take such a toll on me.
/Edit Also, there's no reason that they couldn't have tested backups. I was the only IT person for a county of 350+ PCs and a hospital, and I still managed to test backups every month. Shadow Copies saved me so much time too. I also used linux /pfSense when applicable.