Supervisors tackle employee cell phone usage

EL CENTRO — Even though the Imperial County Board of Supervisors approved a draft of the county’s new cell phone policy Tuesday, it wants an update on the usage and who gets a cell phone in about a month.

Information and Technical Services Manager Henry Felix walked the board through the new draft policy, in which the CEO’s o ce would have to approve a cell phone for a county employee.

The supervisors wanted to know what the county would deem necessary for an employee to be issued a county cell phone.

Supervisor Jesus Eduardo Escobar said the county needs to come up with a much better game plan.

“We need to get into the 21st century,” he said, adding they are on the right path, but not close to where the county needs to go.

Escobar wants to add the words “up to and including termination” to the policy section that states improper use of any cellular device could also lead to disciplinary action.

“We need to be very clear on the ramifications,” he said. “That sends a clearer message.”

He also thought the term “excessive” was too open-ended because what one person might consider excessive, another employee might not.

The Verizon phones the county uses are generally the iPhone 7 model.

Supervisor Ryan Kelley wanted to talk about eligibility requirements, as the county has more than 700 cell phones for about 2,100 employees. He asked if the county was looking into the number.

Henry said the county cannot make that decision because that is up to department heads.

Kelley said he has looked at all of the employees who have been issued county cell phones.

“I have gone through the list, and there are positions that are not justified,” he said.

County CEO Tony Rouhotas said it has been an ongoing issue of who gets a cell phone and who does not.

The county also provides hotspots, Wi- Fi cards and tablets.

Kelley does not understand the need for hotspots and Wi-Fi cards, as the phones have the ability to be turned into a hotspot.

“We should not be paying for the other three devices,” he said.

Felix estimates the monthly cost to the

county for the more than 1,000 devices is between $35,000 and $45,000.

Escobar wanted to know why there is no significant policy in place on who gets a cell phone and why.

“We have to go to the right path,” he said, and likened the policy to a club sandwich with just the bread.

The supervisors approved the policy, while knowing there is still work to do on the cell phone usage and the number of devices.

“We need to have a footprint in the sand,” Kelley said.