ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 28, 1995 TAG: 9512280018
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAN CASEY STAFF WRITER
SOME MEMBERS OF Roanoke City Council barely know the difference between a computer byte and the kind you take from a sandwich. But that's unlikely to stop them from blasting off into cyberspace.
Sometime in the near future, those tall piles of paper reports Roanoke City Council members now shuffle through during public meetings could be history.
So may printed agendas and the hastily scribbled notes council members pass around during deliberations.
In their place atop desks in council chambers could be faintly glowing laptop computer screens. And instead of the scribbling of pens on paper, you might hear the soft clicks of keystrokes. Like other societal institutions such as banking and publishing, City Council may be going paperless.
Council members earlier this month saw demonstrations of a paperless agenda system at a National League of Cities convention in Phoenix. And they seem keen on heading in that direction.
Mayor David Bowers has directed City Manager Bob Herbert to investigate furnishing council with computers, electronic mail and possibly Internet access.
Herbert's recommendation is likely to come early in 1996, as part of a much larger $1 million computer upgrade that a technology panel has recommended for various city departments.
The funding would come out of a $3 million surplus the city had at the end of the last fiscal year. Council computers would probably be the most visible part of the upgrades.
"We're exploring [computers]. We have not said yet, 'This is what we're going to do,''' Councilwoman Linda Wyatt said. "We want to see the kind of potential it has, what the possibilities are, the advantages, and what you could put on it."
Along with Councilmen William White, who is an accountant, Jack Parrott, an engineer, and Mac McCadden, an airline executive, Wyatt regularly uses computers in her job as a city schoolteacher.
She also has an account with America Online, one of the nation's largest on-line computer services, and "chats" regularly on AOL's Virginia Forum. But Bowers, a lawyer, is a computer novice. And cyberspace is a dark void for Councilwoman Elizabeth Bowles, the longest-serving member on the current council.
"They're going to have to educate me," she said.
At best, the computers could replace huge amounts of printed paper reports generated by council's current system. If the agenda and all council reports were on-line, many hours in staff time now spent copying and distributing those reports would be saved.
Bowers sees the computer as a tool to improve residents' access to council. That's true, at least for those with computers, modems and electronic mail addresses.
White sees them as a way to instantly access city budgets and other information, which would help him answer residents' inquiries more quickly.
Paper reports still would be available in the city clerk's office for people who don't have computers, Bowles said. They currently cost 50 cents per page.
Because the notion of a paperless agenda system is in its infancy, it's hard to estimate the cost. Up-to-date laptops start at $2,000 each. Custom software to run the system is likely to cost even more.
Cost is one of the sticking points for Parrott.
"I'm not sure it pleases me yet, because I really want to find out how it works and how much it costs," he said. "If it works and it saves money, then I'd be for it."
Wyatt and White believe that the savings in paper and staff time may be even greater.
"By the time you add up postage, paper, staff work, and time spent copying and delivering it all, [a paperless] system would pay for itself," Wyatt said.
Other technology upgrades the city is considering include:
$358,000 for a high-speed data networking system throughout City Hall.
$250,000 for a computerized booking system linking the city police and sheriff's departments. Among other conveniences, suspects' mug shots would be stored in an electronic database, rather than stuffed in file cabinets.
$180,000 for 18 high-technology computer workstations throughout City Hall offices.
$100,000 for an electronic mail system that allows workers to communicate with each other by computer. Right now, City Hall doesn't have one. Laptop computers for council members likely would be merged into the e-mail purchase.
$60,000 for a geographical information system plotting city water, sewer and other utility lines.
$52,000 to computerize building inspections and development review.
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