When Talk Isn’t Cheap : Government: With $38,000 charged to the city for cellular calls in the last 39 months, Inglewood City Council members say it’s time to limit use of car phones.

Inglewood City Council members are talking a lot these days about phone bills. That’s because it has come to light that in the 39 months since they received cellular car phones, they have done more than $38,000 worth of talking--at taxpayer expense.

Now, they say, they’ve gotten the message: With the city facing a $3-million budget deficit, it’s time to stop reaching out so much.

“I think it’s getting a little out of hand,” concedes Mayor Edward Vincent, who proposed Tuesday that city staffers draft a proposal to limit council members’ monthly phone bills. The mayor did not elaborate, except to suggest that the limit should be in the range of $125 to $150 a month.

Vincent racked up cellular phone bills of more than $6,500 over the 39-month period--from November, 1989, through January of this year. But he didn’t come close to Councilman Daniel K. Tabor, the talkathon leader with more than $17,000 in bills--an average of more than $435 a month.

Tabor said the only reason he got the phone was because people were complaining that he was not returning their calls.

“So now, I’m being jammed for calling them back,” Tabor said. Responding to Vincent’s call for a cap on phone bills Tuesday, Tabor said he has no problem with the proposal.

“It could just (as well) be $50,” he said. “It would not stop me from using it. It just means I’m going to pay more of (the bill). My phone is a tool of office and I’ll use it.”

Cellular phone calls by council members, whether incoming or outgoing, cost the city 39 cents a minute. If a councilman places a call and nobody answers, it still costs the city 19.5 cents. Councilman Jose Fernandez, whose phone charges ranked among the council’s lowest, says he, too, supports the mayor’s call for a spending limit.

“I’m very concerned about some of the practices of my colleagues,” said Fernandez, whose own phone bill, however, has been rising. His charges totaled only $957 in 1991 but doubled in 1992.

Councilman Garland Hardeman said he will review the more than $8,000 worth of cellular phone bills he accumulated and reimburse the city for calls made home to his family. He estimates that will be about 5% of the total charges.

Hardeman, who did not offer an opinion on the mayor’s proposal Tuesday, also has a beeper and an answering service to page him whenever he has a call. That cost the city $1,576 in fiscal 1991-92. He is the only council member with that perk. Vincent said he wants his spending limit to include the cost of beepers too.

Councilman Anthony Scardenzan said council members should make do with the $50-a-month allowance they receive from the city to help pay for their home phones. As for cellular phone service, he said, “no member of the council needs to have it.”

Scardenzan’s average monthly cellular phone bill over the 39-month period was only $43.30--and the first $35 of that was the basic monthly access fee. Scardenzan, who is facing five challengers in the April 6 City Council elections, says he fears the phone habits of his fellow council members have made him look bad.

“It is just a convenience for us and we’re abusing it,” he said.

The phone bills came to light recently when Mary Allen, one of six people challenging Tabor for his council seat, passed out copies of Tabor’s phone bills. In a letter to City Atty. Howard Rosten, Allen demanded an investigation.

Since then, other council candidates and reporters have asked to see the phone bills of all council members. And Hardeman said the cellular phone bills of such executives as City Manager Paul Eckles ought to be checked. That has sent top city staffers digging through financial records to produce their own bills, which proved to be well under $100 a month.

Car Talk

Here is a listing of cellular phone charges incurred by Inglewood City Council members in 1990, 1991 and 1992. The city provides each member with a car telephone and pays the bills.

1990 1991 1992 Daniel K. Tabor $5,060.61 $5,805.11 $5,992.24 Garland Hardeman $2,680.30 $2,238.43 $2,829.31 Edward Vincent $1,937.04 $2,174.51 $1,784.46 Jose Fernandez $1,062.10 $957.43 $2,072.57 Anthony Scardenzan $532.35 $515.62 $523.29

Source: City of Inglewood