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Taxpayers Buy Kindles for Cincinnati Mayor and Council Members

by Caleb Johnson on January 6, 2010 at 01:20 PM

Despite the opportunity to save a truckload of money, some Cincinnati City Council members aren't too thrilled about their paper documents going digital.

According to Cincinnati.com, the city will provide its mayor and city council with Kindle DXs, with which they will view and read government-related documents. Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls, who came up with the plan, says it isn't a ploy to get a new gadget. "It saves time and money," she said. The city spends more than $2,600 each month making copies of documents. By purchasing 10 Kindles at $489 each, the city will save more than $25,000 worth of paper each year.

However, some council members question Qualls' motives. "It sounds like somebody just wanted a Kindle but didn't want to pay for it," councilwoman Leslie Ghiz told Cincinnati.com. Others, like Councilman Charlie Winburn, called the purchase "reckless and irresponsible to the average taxpayer." Wilburn even asked the mayor to return the Kindle purchased for him because he wouldn't use it.

Making excessive paper copies, which is both economically and environmentally wasteful, seems much more irresponsible than buying some e-readers. If these council members don't like the change, they should pay for paper copies out of their own pockets. If that was the case, we bet they'd make the digital switch real quick. [From: Cincinnati.com]

Tags: cincinnati, ereader, government, kindle, kindle dx, KindleDx, money, paper, top

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