HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 08-30-2012 - 3
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ORANGE COUNTY
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT
Meeting Date:August 30, 2012
Action Agenda
Item No.3
SUBJECT:Report on Paperless Agendas
DEPARTMENT:Information TechnologiesPUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N)No
ATTACHMENT(S):INFORMATION CONTACT:
Todd Jones, 919-245-2280
PURPOSE:
To inform the Board of progress on providing a paperless agenda process for
Board of Commissioners’ meetings.
BACKGROUND:
During the 2010 retreat, the Board of County Commissioners expressed
interest in pursuing paperless agendas for itsmeetings. In discussions with the Board, the
following goals were advanced for such a process:
Reduce the amount of paper consumed in conducting BOCC meetings
Provide Board members, staff and the public a convenient electronic option for
viewing meeting materials
Realize efficiencies in the agenda preparation process
Based on this input, staff researched various third party options for agenda automation.
Research included site visits to peer governments using third party solutions, consulting with
vendors and peers on solutions, and evaluating their strengths and shortcomings. Of the third
party solutions, two vendors, Sire Technologies and Granicus, Inc., were identified as having the
most complete products for agenda automation. These two vendors provided demonstrations to
the BOCC attheMay 3,2012work session.
After these demonstrations, there was a discussion between Board membersand staff on the
merits of these products and their suitability within the organization. It became clear that the full
benefits of these two vendor systems could be realized only by applying firm deadline rigor to
agenda submissions, and that requests to add items after those deadlines would cause the
Countyto lose any efficiency gains otherwise achieved through automation. Further, it was
clear that holding parties to strict deadlines could compromise the ability to includeitems on
agendas in a timely manner.
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A third solution, an in-house solution, was proposed. The third solution would involve staff
assembling agenda items electronically, using low cost software from Adobe Systems, creating
a hyperlinked Table of Contents (called “bookmarks” in the viewing software) which Board
membersand staff could use from computers, tablets or SmartPhones. This solution allows
private comments to be inserted into the electronic filesto ensure Commissioners could interact
with the electronic agenda before, during and after meetings.
While this approach does not have all the features and deadline-based workflow of the third
party solutions, it meets all the goals set forth in the original request. Further, the electronic
agendas would be quicker to download than the current scanned files, the resolution of text and
images would be crisper and the agendas would be fully searchable.
Lastly, this in-house approach can be achieved with very modest investments in software. This
means this solution is well suited for short-, medium, or long term use. One caveat provided by
staff is that electronic media be considered the default format over paper, with any formatting
conflicts being resolved in electronic format’s favor.
The Board requested staffpursue this third approach, the in-house solution. Since that request,
staff from the Manager’s Office, Information Technologies and the Clerk to the BOCC have been
collaborating to refine the production, distribution and Board member review processes. Staff is
initially encouraged with the results, which promise time savings in production, cost savings in
distribution, a reduction in paper consumption and, in time, greater efficiencies for the Board,
staff and the public.
Information Technologies is meeting with each Board memberinterested in training on the
paperless agenda process. It is anticipated that each Commissioner will begin using the new
system as they become comfortable with the technology and the process. Refinements will be
continually made as feedback is gatheredon the new system.
FINANCIAL IMPACTS:
There is no cost to receiving this report. A modest investment of less
than $1,000has given staff the tools to assemble the electronic agenda materials. Cost savings
from this initiative will depend on adoption levels, but staff anticipateslong term savings from
reduced printing costs and reduced driving costs for delivering hard copy.
RECOMMENDATION(S):
The Manager recommends that the Board receive the report and
provide any comments, solicit any feedback from staff,or provide additional direction to staff.