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Politics & Government

Mansfield Selectmen Going Electric [Poll]

Mansfield Selectmen cutting down on paper.

Tired of the stacks of paper they store at home and in the office, and looking ahead to the complex budget season with its lists of figures, selectmen voted Wednesday to allow Mansfield Town Manager Bill Ross to purchase five new iPad tablet computers for the board.

One member, however, said he would stick with the old ways, and said he will refuse the new equipment, at least for now.

Selectman George Dentino balked at spending the $3,600, saying lean times require the board members practice what they preach. "We can set an example - people are struggling," he said.

"We're going in the direction where the entire town work force is going to be on this," he added. "We have 250 employees."

Several of the tablets are already being used in some departments, as they can be carried into the field and greatly simplify tasks by eliminating paper documents. But this is the first time selectmen will be able to look at exactly the same facts and figures without shuffling paper and passing documents around the table.

At the same time, it will make the work of the administrative assistant more efficient - the selectmen's secretary, Karen Doucette, will be able to generate all of the week's documents in one PDF format, emailing them to each member.

Doucette estimated Wednesday she spends an entire workday every week just generating and assembling the Wednesday night documents for each member's mailbox.

Dentino insisted he would stick with his own computer, saying the documents could be sent to him the same way as in the past and he would print them out.

Board member and past chairman Kevin Moran said he had "cases of paper" at home from past board issues, and also said he did not want to be doing the work of the board on his own or his work computer.

Moran, who has weathered protracted legal action taken against a different board of selectmen in the past, noted emails and other computer information can be used in a court case, and said the revised open meeting laws now make even home computer contents fair game in an evidence search.

"I don't like to think in a worst case scenario," he said, "but they could seize my work computer or my home computer."

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He added if he had the iPad that belonged to the town, he would conduct all board business only on that computer, sparing his family and his employer from possible intrusions should legal action threaten their privacy.

Ross, who has worked in a number of communities as a town administrator, said he fully supported this kind of a technical advance for the board.

"This would eliminate the bulk if not all of our paper," he said. "Staff issues would come to you immediately. I have experience doing this kind of conversion - there will be significant savings."

Dentino asked, "Is this a need? It becomes a fluff - the only thing we will gain other than convenience is speed. We've been telling people we have to be mean and lean and frugal."

When Dentino said he didn't want the iPad, even if it was purchased for him, Moran said, "We're changing the way we do business - this is an all or nothing thing."

Chairman Jess Aptowitz agreed, saying although he respected Dentino's line of thinking, the board should act as one. "We should as a board acquiesce," he said. "Each of us should have one and learn how to use it."

After the 4-1 vote in favor of the purchase, Ross said he supported Dentino's decision, and added the files could be emailed to him in PDF form. "Once it gets to your place, you can do what you want with it," he said.

"The direction I have is to buy five iPads, and that's what I will do," Ross said.

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