Bringing a small town like San Juan Bautista into the 21st
century takes a lot of time, energy and hard work. For residents
who haven’t caught up to the technological advances available,
Councilman Chuck Geiger is committed to bringing them up to
speed.
San Juan Bautista – Bringing a small town like San Juan Bautista into the 21st century takes a lot of time, energy and hard work. For residents who haven’t caught up to the technological advances available, Councilman Chuck Geiger is committed to bringing them up to speed.
After asking local residents and employees from the school district he works for in Salinas to donate old computers, Geiger received confirmation he will receive 14 used computers for the San Juan Bautista Library. The computers haven’t come in yet, but Geiger said they should be delivered and set up in the next couple months. Currently the library only has six computers – some of which don’t even work. The new computers should enable people in town who don’t have access to a computer to obtain the skills needed to communicate more efficiently in this technological age, Geiger hopes.
“I’m getting all this good equipment. A lot of people in the community don’t have computer literacy skills and I’m willing to take the time to teach them,” he said. “San Juan is a great location for bringing some of this new stuff.”
San Juan Bautista librarian Shirley Hawkins said Geiger comes in from time to time and tinkers with the computers that often break down. Because he’s a computer technology teacher for the Salinas high school district, his donated expertise is a welcome boost to the library’s program, she said.
“When he’s here, he’s a very busy man. He’s helped us tremendously,” Hawkins said. “He’s been donating a lot of time to fix (the computers) up.”
Although he’s always busy with something, whether it be teaching, his council duties or mingling with the town folk to get a better take on residents’ vision of San Juan’s future, he believes it’s important for him to make time to implement better technological systems in San Juan, he said.
“I really enjoy the technology,” he said. “To me, it’s a great tool.”
Besides bringing the library up to speed, Geiger has also given everyone at City Hall a new and easier to use e-mail address and is working on re-wiring the electrical system at City Hall to provide more power, he said.
“We’re trying to get some things done that need to be done. We’re trying to make things go right as best we can,” he said. “We’re all in this for one thing – making San Juan a better town.”
The library is still looking for tables to put the extra computers on and other computer equipment. Anyone who would like to volunteer at the library or provide any computer equipment that is compatible with Windows 98 should contact Shirley Hawkins at 623-4687, or Chuck Geiger at [email protected]
Erin Musgrave covers public safety for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or [email protected]
