Palo Alto City Council Considers Switch From Paper To iPads
PALO ALTO (KCBS) – The Palo Alto City Council could be going high-tech in the near future as a switch from paper to iPads is under consideration.
Under the new proposal, instead of carrying around packets and binders of city reports for each council meeting, the digital version of the documents would be loaded on to iPads.
It currently costs the city $30,000 a year to print weekly documents. And while a city analysis shows that there wouldn't be any initial cost savings, it would help the environment by saving on printing paper.
KCBS' Mike Colgan Reports:
The Mountain View City Council made the move to the Apple tablets earlier this year.
"We did this awhile back. It took some time for everyone to learn the software to read the files and it always gets upgraded," said Mountain View City Councilman Tom Means. "But everyone is on board now and it's great."
Means said the iPads are especially great for keeping everything in one place.
"In the old days, we carried a lot of binders and papers around. Now, it's all in front of me in one little piece of hardware," said Means.
Mountain View council members paid for their own iPads so they wouldn't be in violation of state law that prohibits the personal use of city-owned equipment.
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