Board to Curb Personal Use of County Vehicles

County supervisors voted Tuesday to tighten controls over the private use of county cars.

In a unanimous vote, the board ordered the administrator’s office to draft countywide regulations on the use of government cars by county employees.

The action comes on the heels of a July report detailing widespread use of San Diego County cars for the daily commute to and from work by public employees. Allowing employees to keep 25% of the car fleet home overnight costs the county more than $1.25 million annually, the study found.

Blueprint Ready in Month

A draft of the new rules will be ready within a month, said David Janssen, assistant chief administrative officer. The administrator must also report back to the supervisors within two months on a proposal requiring employees to reimburse the county for mileage expenses incurred during the daily commute.

In a departure from past practice, the supervisors also asked the chief administrative officer--rather than individual department heads--to designate employees who legitimately require a county car around the clock. The study found that policies about home-garaging were applied inconsistently from department to department.

“Yes, I think there are concerns over the past handling of the policy by the departments,” Supervisor John MacDonald said. “We are not trying to tell the sheriff how to run his department, but it’s our responsibility to take a look at how the money is spent.”

Most Prevalent in 3 Offices

Last month’s report showed the practice was most prevalent in the sheriff’s, district attorney’s and marshal’s departments. Workers in these three offices take home 492 county cars daily--92% of all county cars kept at home overnight.

Department heads have defended home-garaging as essential to law enforcement. They argue that county cars allow off-duty employees to respond directly to crime scenes and that their two-way car radios make these employees accessible at all times.

County Marshal Michael Sgobba said that though his employees take home 52 of the 84 cars assigned to them, all but two of the vehicles are used by deputies who serve warrants and make felony arrests.

“They can start their day at home and go straight to an assignment without stopping at the office,” he said.

Only two administrators at the marshal’s office commute to work in county cars--Sgobba and the assistant marshal.

“Sure (home-garaging) is costing a lot, but I feel we have received increased production from it,” Sgobba said.

Sheriff’s and district attorney’s employees have said that a county car is a perk available to their counterparts throughout California, Supervisor Susan Golding said. “I am not sure that it should be, but if it’s part of their compensation, it should be openly disclosed as such.”

The new rules will reduce the number of county cars garaged at home by employees from the current high of 537, Golding said.