Subject: [NEXTEL-1] County cell phone policy revisited

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 26 Feb 2003 00:58:25 -0500

County cell phone policy revisited

Employees could be reimbursed for business calls.

CARA ROBERTS MUREZ
Statesman Journal
February 25, 2003

Marion County employees can’t use county-paid cell phones for personal calls, but
soon they might be reimbursed for business calls made from their personal cell
phones.

The Board of Commissioners asked staff Monday to look into what it might cost to
reimburse employees for those calls. Chief Administrative Officer Ralph Grim said,
right now, he thinks it could be expensive not only because of the cell charge but
also the accounting costs estimated at $20 per bill.

“Financially, I think that’s not cost-effective,” said Grim, who agreed to do more
research.

Grim said he also would look into what other government agencies are doing and how
individual departments are handling reimbursements. It could be that one department
pays for business cell phone calls made on personal phones now and that another
does not, Grim said.

“We’re trying to make sure that we have policies in place that certainly follow the
rules and regulations of the Government Standards and Practices Commission,” said
Commissioner Mike Ryan.

Last July, Marion County adopted a strict cell phone policy that follows state ethics
commission guidelines, after the commission ruled that an earlier policy put
employees at risk of breaking laws. The ethics opinion placed several restrictions on
use of cell phones by all public officials, including one that says public cell phones
cannot be used for personal use except in clear emergencies.

Any county reimbursement policy would be in addition to, but not a replacement for,
the cell phone policy.

The county has about 1,400 employees. At last count, in August 2001, Marion
County was paying for about 585 cell phones issued to departments for employees
and volunteers who might need them, such as search and rescue, at a cost of
$17,000 per month.

The several hundred employees who do not carry county-paid cell phones
presumably could choose to seek reimbursement for their business calls, if it’s
allowed. Grim said he doesn’t yet know how many now are seeking this kind of
reimbursement.

Undersheriff Greg Olson said the sheriff’s office doesn’t reimburse employees who
use their own cell phones for business calls.

“I don’t think anybody’s asked and, frankly, I can’t see why we’d have a need to
reimburse,” Olson said.

Some employees could decline a county-issued phone and simply seek
reimbursement on their own phones, if it becomes policy, rather than take the chance
of violating ethics laws by getting or making personal calls on county-paid phones.

Commissioner Mike Ryan, cleared of cell phone-related ethics violations in
November, said Monday, “We have people who don’t want to find themselves in the
position where, inadvertently, they could be questioned.”

http://news.statesmanjournal.com/article.cfm?i=57332

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