4 Supervisors’ Portable Car Phones Cost $4,700

On top of annual car allowances and other financial benefits, four members of the Ventura County Board of Supervisors have the use of portable car phones that cost taxpayers more than $4,700 in the last year.

A county report released Thursday said the supervisors rang up a total cellular phone bill of $4,785.04 from October, 1991, to September.

Supervisor Maggie Kildee, who along with her colleagues has come under fire recently for the many benefits they enjoy in their elected positions, had the highest bill--$1,762.36, according to the report. That included $387.12 in service charges.

Supervisor John Flynn had the lowest--zero--because he has never requested a cellular phone, according to one of his aides.

There are a total of 161 portable phones in use by county officials, said George Mathews, director of the county’s Information Services Department.

In addition to the county supervisors, Chief Administrative Officer Richard Wittenberg and 11 department managers have portable phones, Mathews said. The vast majority of the phones are used by law enforcement and fire officials, he said.

Use of cellular phones by supervisors drew mixed reviews Thursday from two of the most vocal critics of the overall benefits package that the county’s top leaders receive.

Jere Robings, executive director of the Ventura County Taxpayer Assn., said he believes that some department heads may have a real need for a portable phone, but is not convinced that the same is true for the county supervisors.

And he added that he was surprised by the amount spent by Kildee.

“Isn’t that something?” he said. “One supervisor can get by without one and another is spending $1,700 for that convenience. It’s a nice luxury being picked up at taxpayer expense.”

A more sympathetic view was expressed by Lindsay Nelson, president of the taxpayer association and a member of the panel reviewing the county’s pay and benefits package.

“It’s money well spent,” he said. “I’ve got two of them. If you spend a lot of time driving, it can make that time productive. I think it’s the greatest thing since ice cream.”

Supervisor Vicky Howard had the second highest bill, $1,173.51; Maria VanderKolk was next with $977.84, and Susan Lacey was last with $871.33. Howard and VanderKolk’s bills each include $387.12 in service charges, while Lacey had $407.18 in similar fees.

Howard said her car phone makes up for the time lost driving between her Simi Valley office and the Ventura County Government Center, an 80-mile round trip she makes at least two times a week.

“My car is my linear office,” Howard said. “I spend about four to 10 hours a week driving from Simi Valley to Ventura for meetings. If I was driving without a cellular phone, I would be at a tremendous disadvantage.”

VanderKolk, who travels from her Thousand Oaks office to Ventura about twice a week, said she is careful about using her phone and could easily get along without it.

“For my purposes, I don’t think it’s important to have one,” VanderKolk said. “I would be more than willing to give mine up.”

Kildee and Lacey did not return phone calls Thursday. Flynn, who was out of town on business, could not be reached for comment.

Mathews said the county has a policy that cellular phones not be used for personal business, but that phone records are not usually checked unless they are inordinately high. He said most officials, such as Howard, are good about reimbursing the county for personal calls.