Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Cranston, R.I., Leaders Won't Make Cell-Phone Information Public

From: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 06 Oct 2003 15:33:18 -0400

Cranston, R.I., Leaders Won't Make Cell-Phone Information Public

October 6, 2003 11:33am
Knight-Ridder / Tribune Business News

Oct. 3--CRANSTON, R.I.--Mayor Stephen P. Laffey's administration this week decided
that the public is not privy to information about who the mayor and other top
officials are calling on their taxpayer-financed cell phones.

Responding to an Aug. 20 Access to Public Records request by The Providence
Journal, City Solicitor Jametta O. Alston said
Wednesday that the phone numbers called by city officials are not public
information. Alston said she based that conclusion on an opinion she had sought
from the attorney general's office.

On Sept. 8, the mayor's office did release copies of the phone records -- with
phone numbers whited out -- which showed that Laffey and his staff were spending
much more time on their phones than their service plans allowed -- costing
taxpayers additional thousands of dollars.

The 20 phones assigned to administrators and other key city employees have plans
costing a total of $965.70 a month. But instead of spending the $5,800 they should
have in Laffey's first six months in office, city officials spent a total of
$10,382 according to the mayor's office.

Three of the 20 people had no overages during that period, and 11 other employees
had overages totaling less than $100.
Others however went well beyond what their plans allowed.

Laffey's local cell phone plan gives him 1,000 peak minutes and 9,000 off-peak
minutes per month, plus unlimited Nextel "direct connect" minutes -- a feature
where the phone functions like a walkie talkie with other city officials' phones.
In his first month with the phone service, Laffey exceeded his plan by 263
minutes. At 40 cents per minute, that overage cost the city $105.20. Laffey also
ran up a $78.18 bill for long-distance calls not covered by his plan.

The next month, Laffey exceeded his plan by 510 minutes, costing taxpayers $204.
He also ran up an additional charge of $21.13 for long-distance calls.

In March, Laffey upgraded from a $51-a-month plan to a plan costing $137 a month.
While he did not have any overage charges in the ensuing four months, he did run
up a total of $38.69 in long-distance charges.

The biggest phone user by far was Public Buildings Supt. David DeAngelis.
According to bills released yesterday by Laffey's office, DeAngelis ran up a
$2,596 bill for his first seven months with a city cell phone.

His plan which included 1,000 peak minutes, 9,000 off-peak and unlimited
direct-connect minutes cost $51.49 before taxes. In
seven months, the cost without overages would have been $360.

The vast majority of added expenses for DeAngelis were for exceeding his monthly
allotment of minutes.
For instance, in his third month with the phone, one of the most expensive billing
periods, DeAngelis exceeded his allotment by
1,050 minutes -- or 17 1/2 hours.

But who DeAngelis, Laffey and other city officials called -- and whether these
calls were made for business or private reasons remains unclear.

When a similar request was made recently of state officials, detailed bills --
with the phone numbers called -- were provided to
the Journal. A majority of City Council members contended last month, when the
overspending was first reported, that the mayor should release such information.
Alston, the city solicitor, denied the request based on a Sept. 29 advisory
opinion from the attorney general's office.

In that opinion, Special Asst. Atty. Gen. Joseph Gaeta wrote that information on
individuals or locations called from cell phones
assigned to city employees are not public record.

Gaeta based his opinion on a 1995 opinion by his office, involving the City of
Providence, that stated phone numbers called from municipal cell phones were not
public record.

A footnote to that opinion said: "Disclosure of locations called by individual
employees would appear to be an unwarranted invasion of the personal privacy of
not only the employee, but also of the individuals called by the employee.
This would be even more true where the telephone numbers called are unpublished
telephone numbers."

Three weeks after The Journal requested information about cell phones from the
city, Laffey announced that any employee who
exceeded basic phone-time minutes -- whether or not for official use -- would have
to pay the city for the overage.
The mayor said he made the decision as part of a routine six-month review.

At the same time, Laffey reimbursed the city for most of the cost of his
city-issued phone, and then turned in the phone.
The city also initiated a new cell-phone usage policy, approved by Laffey on Sept.
4. A few weeks prior to that, The Journal was told that no written policy existed.

The new policy "strongly" discourages using the city-owned phones for personal
calls, states that any costs above the allotted amount must be paid for by the
employee within 60 days and that the cell-phone plans will be reviewed every six
months.
"Personal use of cellular telephones is only permitted if such use is infrequent,
unavoidable and fully reimbursed to the city," the
policy states. "As the reimbursement process is time-consuming to both the
employee and the city, personal use of cellular telephones is strongly
discouraged."

To see more of the Providence Journal, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to
http://www.projo.com

http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/business/6930950.htm

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