Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 14, 1995 TAG: 9504150026
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAN CASEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Five of the $300 information-age office machines have been installed in the homes of City Council members Elizabeth Bowles, William White, Mac McCadden, Jack Parrott and Linda Wyatt since January.
City Manager Bob Herbert also got one, said Michelle Bono, a city spokeswoman.
Mayor David Bowers and Vice Mayor John Edwards declined the offer.
Each of the city-owned machines is hooked into the city's telephone switchboard at a cost of $15.50 a month, Bono said.
While they might be viewed as an unnecessary and pricey perk, council members defend them as an efficient cost-saver that helps them respond more quickly to constituent questions.
The machines also have helped the city cut its staff of two couriers down to one, saving about $12,000 annually, Bono said.
"It was a business decision, not a luxury decision," she said.
"It's been real helpful to me to be able to get information quickly," said Wyatt. "It works all right. I just make sure I don't put any long-distance calls on it."
She said the machines have enabled her to obtain the sometimes complicated details on budget questions posed by citizens and get back to them promptly with complete information provided by Finance Director Jim Grisso.
Parrott figures the city already has saved "a ton" in postage for documents that once were mailed to his home by various city offices. Before the faxes, Parrott said, he received eight or 10 letters from the city each week via the mail.
The courier that that the city now employs still delivers packets of information to council members twice a month, a few days before each meeting. That's because the council packets may contain scores of pages that can't easily be faxed.
Bowers and Edwards said they don't need fax machines in their homes because they already have them in their law offices.
"It probably sounds to the average citizen like being an extravagance," the mayor said. "But I must argue the other way that it's probably a cost-saving and efficient way of way of communicating with members of council."
Supervisors in Roanoke County said they don't get fax machines, but pick up their mail at county offices.
Bono said a mini-survey the city did before authorizing the purchases found that the city of Norfolk already supplies home fax machines and personal computers to its council members. Hampton provides an electronic mail service.
by CNB