Can You Hear Me Now?

For years now Mrs. Brenda Colegrove has been asking to update the recording equipment (which is quite outdated) used at all Council Meetings. Well, heck, it's used at all City related Meetings. It's carried from one location to the other and it's the old audio tape system. Meetings are regularly stopped in order to change the tape, you know the story.

Today's technology allows the equipment to go digital and quite frankly it's very inexpensive to replace. It's smaller and certainly less weight to boot. However, each year Brenda has put in this request, the Mayor comes back falling short of the actual cost and pretty much tying up those expenses for the year, knowing they won't get spent. I wonder just how many items are on the budget that fall into that category?

You know, make it sound good. Yes, we agree you need that equipment and we know it cost $2,000.00, so let's apply $1,200.00 towards it each year and tease Brenda into believing she's going to get it, yet there's not enough there to do so.

That being said, last week I personally sent two letters, one to Brenda Colegrove and the other to Louise Smith, offering to personally pay the difference between the money the City has allocated for this equipment and the actual cost of the equipment, maxing out at $2,000.00 out of my personal pocket. The equipment will help Bloggers to almost instantly gain easy access to copies and produce them within seconds as well as the more important issue, Brenda needs the proper equipment to better her job. Which story will you buy?

The proposal is in and it is expected to be announced and heard within the next City Council Meeting, should Louise Smith actually move forward with it? Accountability, right Louise? Have a nice day Barrie. :-)