City of Dunwoody officially objects to AJC article regarding phone system, writes open letter to residents.

After last Monday's City Council meeting the AJC mistakenly reported the status of an expenditure for a phone & network system as costing 10 times more than what was originally budgeted. After receiving a steady stream of inquiries by the public, the City has now requested that the AJC review the facts and correct the inaccuracies and misrepresentations in the story.

Besides asking the AJC for a correction, Dunwoody City Manager Warren Hutmacher has issued this open letter to residents in order explain the purchase of the phone system.

February 20, 2009

Dear Dunwoody Friends and Neighbors,

Some of you have shared with myself or our elected officials your concerns about Wednesday’s AJC article regarding the purchase of a new phone system for City Hall. As you have conversations with your friends and neighbors, I want to make sure you have all the facts.

It’s unfortunate that April Hunt, the AJC reporter assigned to report on the City of Dunwoody, did not attend Monday night’s City Council meeting. Perhaps if she were able to attend, then her article would not have contained several factual errors.

To set the record straight, below is a recap of the action taken by the City Council.

We approved acquisition of a combined phone, network and Internet system at a cost of $221,819. Of that, $115,000 was for the phone system, including hardware and installation services. The remaining $106,819 was for the build out of the new city hall’s computer network.

With the cost of financing the system over 60 months, the phone system will cost $2,079 per month, or $18,709 for the nine months of 2009 that the system will be in use.

The City will pay approximately $2,500 per month for the phone and data circuit, and when compared to a comparable traditional phone service would save the city thousands of dollars per month.

Ms. Hunt wrote that “Dunwoody will pay 10 times more than anticipated” for phone and Internet service, which is not correct. She also incorrectly reported that maintenance for the system would cost $8,000 per month when in fact the cost is $8,000 per year.

Please be assured that we are always looking for ways to spend less, especially in this tight economy. As always, if you have questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact myself, Mayor Wright or any member of the City Council.

Regards,

Warren Hutmacher, City Manager
City of Dunwoody