O.C. Sets Rules for Employees’ Cellphone Use

Orange County officials are taking a closer look at their cellphone bill, which now exceeds $1.5 million a year, by adopting a policy for more than 3,500 phones issued to workers.

Though the county has enough phones to equip about one in five employees, it had no comprehensive policy governing their use until County Executive James Ruth issued the four-page set of rules this week.

County spokeswoman Diane Thomas-Plunk said the new policy was not a sign that the cellular telephones were being misused, but rather an effort to create countywide guidelines to supplement those adopted by several county agencies.

Cellphones and similar devices “are an integral part of the way we do business,” said Thomas-Plunk. But Ruth wants to “provide those resources in a very cost-effective way.”

A review of county cellphone bills provided to The Times showed that total charges increased 82% from the 2000-01 budget year to $1.58 million in 2002-03. The number of phones has increased from 1,812 in 2001 to 3,575 in 2004.

Each department makes its own deal with cellphone providers.

Some county employees’ cellphone bills totaled thousands of dollars.

For example, a secretary assigned to the public works department had charges of nearly $2,400 during six months in 2003. The county’s chief labor negotiator’s bill was $7,400 during the 2001-02 fiscal year. And a supervisor of the county’s HIV program had $4,200 in charges during the last six months of 2003.

None of those employees reimbursed the county for personal calls -- a sign that all the calls were related to county business or that the employees made personal calls at county expense.

Herb Nakasone, the county’s director of public works, said the department wanted to question the secretary about her cell telephone expenses, but she left her job this summer before she could be questioned. He would not say whether she quit or was fired.

“We felt that she did misuse the telephone,” Nakasone said. “We wanted to talk to her.... We were never able to have a discussion with her about how she racked up all that time.”

The labor negotiator’s bill spiked during a period of intensive talks with several labor unions, officials said.

And Pat Markley, spokesman for the Health Care Agency, said the HIV program director assumed new responsibilities that caused her to use her cellphone beyond the minutes included in her plan.

The department has since adjusted the employee’s calling plan, Markley said.

“This was an anomaly with this particular employee.... We should have caught it, but we did not,” Markley said. “We have switched her to a more cost- effective plan.”

Supervisor Chris Norby said he was concerned by the bills.

“I would think these people who have offices would use the telephones in their offices, unless they’re out of the office a lot,” said Norby, who does not use a county cellphone and does not permit his staff to use them.

Although employees may seek reimbursement for business use of personal phones, Norby said he and his staff don’t.

The amount of money the county spends on cellphones is less than 0.5% of its discretionary spending, but in a county still weighed down by debt from its 1994 bankruptcy, all spending is significant, county officials say. Earlier this year, Ruth issued a directive to staff to search for ways to trim spending, including turning off lights in rooms that are not being used.

Before Ruth’s new guideline, the only countywide policy was a one-page memo that former County Executive Jan Mittermeier issued in 1997 directing managers to review cellular bills monthly to ensure usage met department policy.

Individual departments for years have used their own cell telephone policies. Cell telephones are issued to employees in virtually every county department, including sheriff’s detectives, public defender investigators and social workers.

The new guidelines suggest that the county buy cellphones only when there’s a “demonstrated need,” such as improving worker safety, increasing productivity and providing better service to the public.

Under the new policy, employees are discouraged from using their county-issued telephones to make personal calls other than for “personal emergencies” and occasional incidental calls that do not exceed five minutes.

Employees whose personal calls exceed those guidelines will be required to reimburse the county for those expenses.