Diamond Bar : Your PC Can Reach City Hall

Residents will soon be able to access city records, register for recreation programs and do other business with the city by using home computers, thanks to a new telecommunications system that goes on line Tuesday at City Hall.

City officials hope that many people will forgo a car trip to City Hall and instead use their computers and telephones to communicate with city officials and access public records, including City Council agendas, ordinances and the minutes for various city committees.

Officials say the system will help them meet a mandate from the South Coast Air Quality Management District to find ways to substantially reduce the number of vehicle trips in the city by the end of 1994.

Studies have shown that many people who now do business regularly with City Hall have access to personal computers and modems, said Troy Butzlaff, assistant to the city manager. That computer equipment is all they need to tap into the new “City Online” system.

Nearly 100 computer hardware and software companies have donated computers, modems, image scanners and other computer equipment that has been set up in City Hall at virtually no expense to the city, Butzlaff said.

Diamond Bar’s new computer system, which includes a computer bulletin board that allows residents to leave messages for city officials, is a pilot project that will be watched by other cities in the Los Angeles Basin, Butzlaff said.