As the costs of security measures at the Cook County Court House continue to rise, wouldn’t it be more effective to exclude the general public entirely? Perhaps each county department could provide a walk-up window on the exterior of the building to serve the public. County employees would then only need to protect themselves from each other.
Better yet, with the advent of countywide broadband access, why not let all county workers provide government services online from home or “alternate worksites”? Interactive commissioner meetings and court proceedings could be conducted via the Internet and later posted to YouTube or Facebook. Access to all, with no security issues!
The totally locked down court house building could then be the exclusive home to the ever growing technology department, providing the servers and WiFi routers to quickly and efficiently handle all county business. There would be ample room for back-up generators and battery banks to insure redundancy during power outages…although additional funding might be required to guard against the fear of cyber attack.
While post 9/11 paranoia continues to rule our lives…why has no one sought grant funding to address security concerns at the Hovland Town Hall?
Bob LaMettry
Grand Marais
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