It was easy to tell when county council began winding down on Jan. 29 – music of computers shutting down came from all over the council chamber.
Councillors had spent their first meeting using new laptops instead of a paper agenda, and for some it was with mixed results. Information, seniors, and heritage committee chairman Brad Whitcombe announced he was going to brave the podium with his laptop instead of a paper report, and managed to get through it with little difficulty.
Whitcombe’s seat is right beside the podium.
Planning committee chairman Walter Trachsel, though, complained that unplugging his laptop, lugging it across the room, plugging it back in, and then trying to find his report in the middle of a 200-plus page file was a problem. He asked Warden Joanne Ross-Zuj if, in the future, he can give his reports from his council seat.
But it was at the end of the meeting that something unusual occurred.
Councillor Lou Maieron typed a motion for council to consider, and emailed it to Clerk Donna Van Wyck, who sits about 30 feet away.
He asked her if she had received it and if she could clean up the text.
Van Wyck said she had received the message.
Maieron said in an interview the following day he was surprised the email went through, as he simply typed in the clerk’s name and had not a set email address.
Maieron said he was also surprised because there had been debate about councillors being able to communicate by email at council meetings, since all communication at a public meeting is supposed to be available to the public.
“I thought I’d try it,” Maieron said. “As you recall, we weren’t supposed to be able to communicate. I didn’t know if it would [reach the clerk].”
