BlackBerrys go bye-bye

Shortly after Byron Brown took office as mayor, 15 economic development agency employees were issued BlackBerrys. City Hall paid for them with block grant funds -- money that's supposed to be fighting blight and poverty.

Brian Reilly, the city's economic development chief, defended their use, saying they increased worker productivity. Problem was, many of the folks issued the nifty devices spent their days working in City Hall and thus had a phone and computer at their desks.And not everyone issued the devices really learned how to handle all its features.

In short, not the best use of $30,000, especially given its intended purpose.

The second floor of City Hall agreed.

Janet Penksa, Brown's budget chief, took one look at the BlackBerry use and balked. She recommended to the mayor, who in turn ordered Reilly to take back the devices for all but essential work that involved working outside the office. Nine of the 15 BlackBerrys were turned back in last week.

Reilly was among those who had to fork his over. Between that and the demotion, it was a rough week, I guess.

Noteworthy: This blog passed 500,000 page views over the weekend. Thanks to all you readers for your eyeballs.

Comments

[Kenny]

Poor Reilly, poo boy for Brown. He's a waste of money as well, he should be returned, useless frat boy.

[BROWNOUT]

Reilly is far from being the only waste of money at city hall. Blame the genius who hires them - that would be Byron I-Know-Nothing Brown.

[liferocks]

time to key in the real problem in city hall...Herr Casey.

[Brad Termini]

Blackberry’s are no longer considered a luxury or high price item but rather a necessary tool to improve communication and efficiency in the workplace.

It’s an absolute joke that their use would be the subject of a city hall investigation and furthermore a Buffalo News Story. Should we return all the computers and printers at City hall so we can put more money on the streets?

It’s time that the we collectively focus on the meaningful and necessary reform that is needed within City hall and not nonsense like Blackberry expenditures or additional Health Insurance coverage

[O'Reilly]

The focus is correct. Wasteful use of federal money that was intended to be used to fight poverty and improve housing. How did using federal money to pay for $30,000 worth of Blackberries and a health policy for a girlfriend that cost over $9,000 help fight poverty. The fuss is not over Blackberries and technology but over an administration that is misusing money, especially in a city as poor as ours. Blacberries are great but do not pay for them out of Block grant funds. It shows a clear disconnect from the problem on the streets.

[Jim Heaney, author, Outrages & Insights]

Brad - You are missing the point.

Sure, BlackBerrys are a useful tool, for some, anyway. The question is whether paying for them with block grant funds is the best and highest use of anti-poverty money. The Brown administration decided that BlackBerrys are not an appropriate use - or, perhaps, not worth taking the flack over.

As for health insurance, as I pointed out in this blog last week, the dollars are not the issue. Again, it is the bureaucracy's use of anti-poverty dollars to take care of itself rather than using the money for its intended use.

Sometimes, and in these cases, a little bit of spending can tell a larger story.

[David]

Fighting poverty and rebuilding our economy for all to succeed is the mission of the BERC. To see that our city and our news outlets consider it productive to make a story out of a business tool, such as a blackberry, being used to further that goal is despicable. We should be looking to grant such organizations all the tools necessary to rebuild our once great city as their success is our success.

[Brad Termini]

Jim - I understand and appreciate your perspective.

However, is there an additional budget reserved to fund overhead expenses within these City organizations? How they are properly supposed to fund basic overhead expenses?
These questions weren’t addressed in either of the articles.

As Buffalonians we should all be outraged by the historic wasteful spending of our government but it seems paltry to allow the bureaucracy to pretend as if it’s getting to the root of the problem by recouping 9 blackberry's.

We should be demanding real solutions to the spending problems of our government not reselling blackberry's on eBay for $15 in order to balance the budget or to make a headline.

If we ever want to emerge from our "poverty stigma" we should probably find a way for 1 of our City's top officials to carry modern day technology, if he so desires.

[Warren]

If blackberrys are necessary tools of business, then budget for them. In spite of the improved communication supported by computers, email, listserves, excel spreadsheets, cell phones, bizhubs, e faxes, voicemail, 3G wireless, and fiberoptic interconnectivity forming the web that allows information to pass easily and instantaneously between members of the complex and multilayered entities of the city's government, everyone was"surprised" about One Sunset.

So, right, blackberrys are just tools. But at every turn, this administration claims not to know what is being done, unless it appears in the News, so what is the point of providing them?