Gilroy
 – City council has voted to buy its members $1,750 laptop
computers, though not all officials think the expense is
justified.
Gilroy – City council has voted to buy its members $1,750 laptop computers, though not all officials think the expense is justified.
Councilmen voted 5-2 Monday night to authorize the purchase. Only three council members are expected to receive city-financed computers.
“It just feels that if council wants access to a portable laptop, they should go out and buy one,” said Councilman Roland Velasco. “It feels like an unnecessary expense that I don’t know will pass the common sense test of the public.”
Velasco and Councilman Peter Arellano, who both voted against the expenditure, were the only ones who shared that opinion.
“It’s an expense for me to do my job better,” said Councilman Craig Gartman. “I look at it as an opportunity for council to get into the 21st Century.”
Gartman offered up a positive headline in anticipation of the potential taxpayer backlash when the story appears in the news: “How about ‘Council goes high tech and decides to stop killing thousands of trees a year’?”
Reams of memos, policy analyses and other documents are printed for council every meeting, and Gartman said the technology will allow them to stop using paper and start reading council materials online. To aid in that process for all residents, City Hall recently started posting council meeting packets on its Web site (http://www.ci.gilroy.ca.us).
Councilman Russ Valiquette was less concerned, however, about saving trees than preventing his personal information from being whisked away under subpoena in the event of a lawsuit against the city.
Neither Gartman nor Valiquette currently have laptops.
“I’m not going to get a computer,” said Mayor Al Pinheiro. “I have my own laptop, but I don’t blame councilmen who want that separation.”
Councilman Dion Bracco voted in favor of the city purchase for his colleagues, but said he planned to buy his own computer.
At the moment, the city plans to purchase three Dell Latitude D620s at a cost of nearly $1,900 each, after taxes and a three-year warranty. The computers sport some of the newest technology on the market, including “dual core” processors that combine the computing power of two machines in one. Dual core machines are popular among graphic designers and database administrators, since the technology allows them to run memory-hungry programs while continuing to surf the Internet, type e-mails and do other work, all without slowing the computer to a grind.
City Information Technology Manager David Chulick said the higher-end models are needed to support the transition to Windows Vista, the new operating system by Microsoft. Most computer users – including the ones at City Hall – run the Windows XP operating system, but Chulick plans a switch to Vista within the next year.
The new operating system, he said, requires at least 2 gigabytes of memory – 1 GB is standard nowadays – and a much better graphics card.
“If I buy a $1,200 unit or even an $800 unit, in a year I’ll toss it out the door,” he said. “This is the new standard. This is not anything different than what we’d buy for any other department.”
Gartman, who on the campaign trail touted the need to manage public funds wisely, said he does not have enough money in his campaign coffers to spare the city the expense. State campaign finance laws allow elected officials to use campaign money for laptops and other computer equipment, as long as it is used primarily for activities related to political office. Last year, for instance, former Councilman Charlie Morales spent $3,400 in left-over campaign contributions on a laptop, pager, printer and other office equipment for his home.
Anti-tax advocate Mark Zappa lauded Arellano and Velasco’s opposition to the vote, and Bracco’s willingness to buy his own computer.
“I think it’s an absolute waste of public monies,” Zappa said. “I don’t think it’s necessary for part-time city councilmen to spend all that money on equipment for computers they don’t really need. People have done without them for a while.”
The third laptop has been earmarked for Councilman Paul Correa, who did not return a call for comment.
