Remember those stifling hot days back in July, when the air conditioning was turned off in some Bucks County-owned buildings for a few hours in the late afternoon? Turns out the move might save taxpayers some money. Commissioner Chairman Charley Martin said at Wednesday’s commissioners meeting that the county hit two of the five peak days recorded by power companies and “we’ll get some revenue back. So that’s a good thing.”
… Commissioner Diane Marseglia voted against spending $171,000 for a warranty extension and software license fee for the county’s Danaher electronic voting machines. “Are we ever getting out of this contract?” she asked.
Martin, who was the top vote-getter in the Nov. 8 election in which Republicans held their board majority, quickly responded, “Look at the great results we got for the last election, commissioner. We’re happy to use these machines.” Most in the room enjoyed a laugh.
“Yes, I’m feeling real confident,” Marseglia said to more laughter, adding that she hoped the county could get out of the contracts and have its information technology department handle the chores.
County Clerk Lynn Bush said she believed the deals are a “continual obligation. … If there is an end in sight, I do not know about it.”
Martin said unless you use a system with paper ballots “you incur some of these costs.”
Later, in the public comment period, voting rights advocate Madeline Rawley of Doylestown, an advocate of paper ballots, said “this is no reflection on the election or who won because we don’t know because there’s no paper ballots.” To which Marseglia responded “We don’t really know.”
Full Article: Breaking a sweat may save Bucks some bucks – phillyBurbs.com : The Intelligencer.