Saukville Trustees Trade In Paper Packets for iPads

Saukville trustees are tossing out the old-fashioned paper packets of agendas and background information for a trendy iPad that they say would save the village a considerable amount of money.

The Village Board approved last week a $7,500 plan to switch to paperless meeting packets, reported the Ozaukee Press. The village president, trustees, administrator and deputy clerk will use iPads to access all necessary village documents.

Normally the trustees receive agendas through e-mail but the wi-fi capable iPads will also allow the users to access needed PDFs.

Village officials researched the benefits of using iPads versus paper documents by visiting the Village of Bayside, which has been paperless.

Users have access to a low-cost app called iAnnotate, which allows notes and underlining. The iPads will also be equipped with keyboards and cases.

Trustee Dan Sauer voted against the paperless plan because he wanted to keep it old-fashioned, reported the Ozaukee Press. 

“What if we don’t want one these devices. I’m old-fashioned and I don’t want one. I’ve managed to keep them out of my personal life,” Sauer said. “It seems like a rather excessive cost to me.”

Trustees who want paper packets will continue to get them.

The system would be implemented sometime in the spring, the report said.

Megan Rhyne of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government told USA Today that iPads could make it easier for village officials to email or chat during an open meeting without those conversations becoming public.

Village Administrator Dawn Wagner warned trustees that the iPads are property of the village and everything done on the tablets is subject to the open records law.

According to the Municipal Association of South Carolina, some benefits of switching to tablets are cost saving, improved efficiency, upgraded municipal technology and instant access to historical information.