Council Votes ‘Yes’ on iPads

After much discussion at their March 5 meeting, Temple Terrace City Council members voted 4-1 to buy Apple iPads for themselves, the mayor, city manager, city clerk and city attorney as a cost-saving measure.

Councilman David Pogorilich cast the dissenting vote.

The 16 GB iPads will only be used for city business, including the delivery of meeting agendas. Those agendas are currently presented to the council in 4-inch binders, which cost $4,400 annually and take five to six staff hours to prepare, print and deliver.

The devices and additional equipment, such as screen protectors, cases and stylus pens, will cost $4,800 and pay for themselves within 14 months, said Rita Brizendine, administrative assistant to City Manager Kim Leinbach. The iPads will have three- to four-year life spans and save about $13,000 over three years, or $17,000 over four years.

“I do just want to make it clear that this expense substitutes the expense of producing the hard copy, paper-wise and time and delivery time,” Councilwoman Alison Fernandez said. “So, we are maybe in the first year not going to see as big of a savings, but we will see savings after that.”

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During the council’s discussion, Fernandez addressed questions that Temple Terrace Patch readers had asked on the story . One of those questions was from reader Pam Devoid who asked if any council members had offered to use their own devices to defer costs. Fernandez said she has a Google tablet.

“I’m not using my personal tablet for two reasons: one would be it doesn’t work with the city attachments, so I wouldn’t be able to read anything; and two, correct me if I’m wrong, but my thought is that it would be better for all of us if we do this that it is strictly city use. I wouldn’t want to put any personal items on it or use it for my personal email because of the fact that everything that we do through the city is discoverable in public,” she said.

Public records laws seemed to be a general concern among council members, who are encouraged to avoid mixing their city and personal business. If they save city documents on their personal devices, those devices become available for public record searches, explained City Attorney Mark Connolly.

City staff has found that iPads are the most user-friendly tablets, Brizendine said, and they also provide better security.

Councilman Eddie Vance said he recently received his own iPad as a birthday present and agreed it is a user-friendly device.

Councilman Grant Rimbey said he thought the time and cost savings were distinct advantages to having iPads.

“I’d be in favor of having one if it saved the city money and actually made you all (city staff) more efficient,” he told Brizendine.

Councilman Bob Boss said he doesn’t like Apple products or the idea of going paperless, but he said he understands the cost savings.

“I’m not a big fan of non-paper anything,” he said.

Councilman David Pogorilich said he wasn’t against the idea but wanted to table it until after the city’s upcoming budget discussions in May and June.

“We’re still in some tough economic times, and that (money), I think, would better serve the community elsewhere at this point,” he said.

In the end, the council approved the measure with Pogorilich voting against it.

“Nobody wants to sit up here and act like we’re getting a new toy for Christmas,” Fernandez said. “The only reason that I would be interested in this is because it does actually provide a cost benefit to the city and it makes city employees’ jobs easier to do—more functional, more organized.”

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