SELECTMEN USING TECHNOLOGY TO SAVE MONEY, INCREASE EFFICIENCY

(East Longmeadow, MA) The East Longmeadow Board of Selectmen has recently begun a new way of obtaining information necessary for their Selectmen’s meetings; they are now required to ‘synch’ their computers and download their materials.

Attendees at recent Selectmen meetings may have noticed that the Selectmen now utilize laptop computers to follow the agenda, organize their meetings, and communicate with the Town staff.

“As the demands upon the Selectmen in the Town have increased over the years, the Selectmen felt that this is a good way to become more organized, more efficient, and to save the Town money in the long run,” said Gary DeLisle, Chairman of the Board of Selectmen. “In addition, we are using today’s technology to make the Town government more responsive to the needs of our citizenry.”

On their weekly visit to Town Hall, the Selectmen are asked to bring their laptops to ‘synch’ their meeting agendas and meeting materials. Previously, the Selectmen received paper copies of all their meeting materials and, on a weekly basis, meant anywhere from 100-200 photocopies of paper to go through for each Selectman. Now, on the Friday’s before the Selectmen’s meeting, the Selectmen’s Staff scan the documents in digital copy and store them in the ‘inbox’ for each of the Selectmen. Those documents are then stored on each Selectmen’s laptop when they turn them on in Town Hall. “Essentially, the Town is saving the time and materials costs by not having to make copies for each of the Selectmen and to separate the materials,” said Selectman John M. Claffey. “In addition, it is good for the environment by going to a more paperless system.”

The Selectmen’s office believes that this new procedure allows the staff to improve their productivity, share resources, reduce costs, gain flexibility in the way they do their job, and increase their involvement in the interworkings of Town government by allowing them to increase their opportunities for collaboration. “It also has the additional benefit of having all of the materials from current and previous Selectmen’s meetings at your fingertips, thus making it easier for the Selectmen to remain current on Town’s business and for the Selectmen to do our jobs efficiently and effectively,” said Selectmen James Driscoll.

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