Phone Bill Disagreement

San Gabriel Mayor John Tapp is complaining that Vice Mayor Frank Blaszcak is dialing a wrong number.

The two, who were elected in April on a slate of slow-growth candidates, are engaged in a spat about whether the city should pick up the tab for a phone Blaszcak has installed in his car.

Blaszcak, who works as a public affairs director for the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts, has billed the city $2,000 for the purchase and installation of a portable phone.

“I think it’s an extraneous expense for an item that’s for the personal convenience of a council member,” Tapp said. Councilman Sabino Cici, the only holdover from the previous council, is also opposed to the expense.

Blaszcak insists that the phone is a necessity for him to conduct city affairs. “Initially I rejected the idea,” he said. “But then I began to have second thoughts because of the number of calls I was getting and having to make related to city business.”

The council will decide what to do about the phone at its meeting Tuesday.