The most recent innovation, a city Facebook page launched this month, will allow local residents to track down information about Calhoun events a little more easily.
The new page, according to Deputy City Clerk Paul Worley, will be a place to post upcoming events for city departments, like street closures or even golf tournaments at Fields Ferry Golf Course.
Facebook will make it easier to “get the information out there to the public in a faster, more timely manner,” he explained.
The city is also in the process of republishing its code of ordinances, Worley said, and has plans to put the code online in searchable format. (The code is currently available at the city website, www.cityofcalhoun-ga.com, but is not searchable.)
The code will be hosted by Municipal Code Corp., he said, and there will be a link to it from the city’s website.
One benefit of hosting the code in this way is the capacity for keyword searches, Worley pointed out. Users can also “save a certain section to your hard drive,” he said, or “print as much or a little as you want to.”
Many other local governing bodies host their ordinances with this service, he said, making it easy to compare local information to that of surrounding cities and counties.
The searchable code will be updated on a quarterly schedule, and Worley said he hopes the new code will be available online by the beginning of next year.
“We’re trying to use technology the best we can … I think we’re making some headway,” he said.
City council members also began using Ipads earlier this year, he said, which “greatly reduced the amount of paper we’re using.”
Council members often receive 50 to 100 pages’ worth of documents each meeting, he explained.
Council Member Matt Barton said Ipads were the “cheapest option “ for replacing the council members’ 7-year-old laptops. He said Calhoun City School Board members are also utilizing them.
He also pointed out that hard copies of the city’s code of ordinances will still be available at City Hall.
The city follows in the footsteps of Gordon County, which launched a Facebook page last year, and has a searchable code of ordinances available online, along with several other publicly accessible interactive features.
I would be curious to know the specs on these iPads and where they were purchased, I know some can run well over $800. I bought a new 15.6" Compaq laptop at Wal-Mart for $279 and it handles paperwork, essays, and email quite nicely. Unless you are a gamer or something a system like this would be more than adequate for years to come.
The iPad may be the neatest or "coolest" option, certainly not the cost effective choice. I'm not impressed at all.