Monrovia : City to Donate Computers

The city will donate its obsolete, 10-year-old computer system to a nonprofit agency that gives computers to rural governments that cannot afford to enter the computer age.

The City Council voted Tuesday to give its Burroughs Central computer system, which was recently replaced with more modern equipment costing $580,000, to the National Forum of Black Public Administrators. The group relocates used computers to small towns, mostly in the South, that are still using typewriters and file-card systems to keep track of information.

Paul Harmon, the city’s finance director, told the council that the Burroughs system cannot be marketed because the technology is too outmoded. He said it would bring less than $500 if sold for scrap.