The City of Lawton has just one more tardy audit to complete, the City Council bought cyber insurance, and municipal officials heartily endorsed a “Safe Haven Baby Box.”
• The City of Lawton will pay $180,000 for a $2 million cyber insurance policy. “This strategic investment not only provides financial coverage for potential losses but also supports a swift and efficient recovery process,” said Information Technology Service Director Judy Franco.
City Hall’s entire network was shut down in August 2017 from a malware infection that affected more than 500 computers. Employees couldn’t access email nor use the internet, and residents couldn’t pay their utility bills or fines online, because of the virus.
• Dede Armes and Natalie Fitch made a presentation about a Safe Haven Baby Box that will be installed at a Lawton fire station.
Boxes such as these “prevent illegal abandonment of newborns by raising awareness, and serve as a last resort option for safely surrendering an infant,” Fire Chief Jared Williams said.
Lawton’s will become the fourth in Oklahoma. The other three are at Duncan Fire Station #2, Oklahoma City Fire Station #21, and St. Anthony Hospital in Oklahoma City.
The baby box will be placed at a fire station “because they’re always manned,” the women said. Although the incubator costs “about $20,000” and the installation fee will be approximately $10,000, “This will cost the city nothing,” the council was told.
“Hopefully this will prevent some baby from being placed in a trash dumpster,” Don Armes told Southwest Ledger.
• “We are closing the door” on the city’s Fiscal Year 2023 audit, and anticipate finishing the FY 2024 audit “in 10 weeks,” City Finance Director Rebecca Johnson told the council on Jan. 14. The FY 2023 audit was finally finished and submitted to the State Auditor and Inspector’s Office a little over a year after it was due.