County council is going to spend 2008 investigating using laptop computers for council and committee members, with implementation of electronic agendas in January.
Council agreed to that recommendation from the finance committee on April 24, but not without offering a wide variety of views about such a move.
Council considered the recommendation that the committee “reiterated its support of a recommendation from Treasurer Craig Dyer in March that staff be directed to begin the process of implementing electronic agenda distribution with a target date of Jan. 1.”
Currently, each councillor has a fax machine at home, and agenda packages, which can reach hundreds of pages, are faxed to each home. The county pays for the faxes and provides the paper for them.
Dyer noted in his report that the fax is cheaper, but it has disadvantages, too, such as being slow, tying up phone lines for lengthy periods, and also causing problems when there are paper jams.
Councillor Chris White asked if council could get all the details before buying the laptops, and was told that will happen.
He said he wants to obtain “external details” such as how the purchase will proceed, and if committee members are included.
He said, for example, most fax machines now have printers, so printers might be unnecessary for the laptops.
Finance committee chairman Mike Broomhead said the results of the staff study would be presented to his administration, finance, and personnel committee and then to county council “before we buy.”
Councillor Lou Maieron asked if council will have a chance to vote for or against the purchase if the motion passes.
Warden John Green said the motion is asking only for permission to do research, and staff will “get real costs.”
Maieron replied, “Good.”
Councillor Jean Innes said computers can be complex, and her wish list is to have a simple one, with no mouse, no keyboard, and “no need for a printer at all.”
She said simple software would come to about $2,000, and that is likely all that councillors would need.
“That’s all most of us could cope with. I don’t see the point right now for a complex system.”
Broomhead said staff could “easily prepare options” for council approval, and if council is not satisfied, it is “back to the drawing board.”
He said the county has professionals who know what councillors should have. “Let’s get a report and see.”
Innes said, “Consideration should be given to the ability of the people here.”
Councillor Rod Finnie agreed, saying, “There is a lot of sense in what Jean Innes is proposing.”
Finnie added that he uses a computer “all the time.”
Warden John Green said, “When it comes to computers, there is nothing simple for Mr. Whitcombe and I.” Councillor Brad Whitcombe has admitted no skill whatever with computers, but has stated he is willing to learn.
Whitcombe argued that if council decides to use electronic agendas, “Let county councillors have all the tools everybody else has.”
He added that council should go a step farther, too.
“We should also be equipped with Blackberries. Most municipalities have them.”
Maieron agreed with Innes that computers can be complicated, and said Caledon councillors have Blackberries (a small computer that gets wireless email), but he added that people will want paper copies of correspondence.
And, he warned, “All things there are in public domain.”
