Employee Spotlight: Lukas Santus Keeps City Operations Connected and Running

Behind every City service that runs smoothly is a layer of technology support most residents never see. Lukas Santus, End User Support Manager, helps ensure City employees have the tools and support they need to serve the community each day. During Public Service Week, that work is recognized as part of a broader effort to highlight City employees who keep internal systems and departments connected and operating efficiently.

Santus oversees the devices that keep daily operations running across the City, including computers, cell phones, and desk phones. His work also includes guiding help desk operations, supporting internal projects, and stepping in when employees need hands-on technical help.

For Santus, no two days look exactly the same. "I'm ultimately responsible for any end user device that any employee at the City may use, including not only computers, but cell phones and desk phones as well," Santus said. "Any given day for me usually has a few internal meetings about strategy or improvements to the environment. In between those, I'll make sure our Help Desk is operating smoothly and field questions from other employees in our department about ongoing projects."

Even with a full workload, Santus said he makes time for direct support across departments. He described that accessibility as an important part of how he approaches the job.

For him, public service is about making daily work simpler and more secure for City employees. "Public service to me means showing up at work every day and asking myself, how can I make it simpler and more secure for people to do the online parts of their jobs at the City," Santus said. "Being in a role that is not directly resident facing makes this my focus."

He added that as more services and internal systems move online, including the upcoming Dayforce workforce management system, the responsibility behind that work continues to grow. Dayforce is a platform that will help manage daily employee operations across the City in one place.

"Our increasingly online world asks us to move more and more of the tasks that we do onto PCs and Internet connected devices, whether we like it or not," Santus said. "Enabling these transitions to occur in a thoughtful and secure way means that we can drive operational efficiency in every internal department, which has a massive impact on our ability to meet the needs of our residents."

On a typical day, the most common issues are familiar ones. "The classic problems are still common, like password issues and general desktop troubleshooting," Santus said. "We've come a long way in standardizing our practices, and our documentation is a big help when dealing with repeat issues that may pop up for users. We also see issues with hardware every now and then, and we have a ready stock of reserve devices if we need to do a quick swap."

His interest in information technology started long before his role with the City.

"I was born in Toledo and raised across Lucas County, where I lived in Toledo, Monclova, and later Bowling Green after graduating from high school at Anthony Wayne," Santus said. "I've always been a tinkerer, and my parents have stories of me getting toys when I was younger just to take them apart to find out how they worked. My initial exposure to the field was shadowing my Dad at his IT role at Terra State College when I was in middle school."

That curiosity carried into college at the University of Toledo, where he studied information systems and worked in the university's IT department. After graduation, he joined the City in October 2022.

Santus lives downtown and said his connection to the City extends beyond his workday. He said living downtown gives him a close view of the work he supports. "I love downtown," Santus said. "It's a great way to get a sort of real time feedback on what's changing and going on at the City. Even when I'm not on the clock, I see all of our customer facing services working in the City. Knowing that my work has a positive effect on enabling these employees to meet the needs of the residents of Toledo better is very rewarding. Being able to walk to Walleye and Mud Hens games isn't too bad either."

And when asked a final question about whether turning a computer off and on again really solves most tech problems, he kept it simple.

"Sometimes, it really is," Santus said. "I'd recommend it as a first troubleshooting step. If that doesn't work, we're always available to help at 419-245-1109."

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