The Redwood City Council is about to become the first in the Bay Area to buy iPads for its elected officials.
The City Council voted 6-0 Monday night to approve the purchase of the Apple product for all council members.
Redwood City Mayor Jeff Ira says the new electronic device will save the city $36,000. The savings comes from all the expenses connected to paper supplies, which will decrease once the iPads are fired up.
At $600 a piece, the iPads will be paid for with money from Redwood City's capital improvement fund.
There is one council member who is saying no to the iPad. Ian Bain says his constituents would think the council is using their tax money to buy toys while people are being laid off.
The council won't be allowed to log on to the Web during meetings. They also will be banned from making any contact with anyone through the device such as email, Facebook or Twitter.
Ira says City Hall's IT Department can check whether council members are using their iPads to browse the Internet. He said he would also ask council members to sign a statement that promises to behave and not surf during meetings.
While the Apple purchase was the spending side of things, the council also approved more than $6.12 million in budget cuts on Monday night.
The Council will try to close a $7 million budget gap by eliminating vacant positions and reducing city services.
