By Tracy Overstreet
tracy.overstreet@theindependent.com

City Administrator Jeff Pederson said he made the reimbursement determination after reviewing cell phone records requested by The Independent for a national Sunshine Week project.

As part of that project, cell phone records for Pederson, Fire Chief Jim Rowell, Human Resources Director Brenda Sutherland, Police Chief Steve Lamken, Public Works Director Steve Riehle, Utilities Director Gary Mader, Emergency Management Director Jon Rosenlund and Assistant Director Larry Smith, Parks and Recreation Director Steve Paustian and 13 additional utilities employees were reviewed.

Those records cover just a handful of the 95 government-issued cell phones the city pays about $4,500 a month to maintain.

"I think the No. 1 reason anybody's been issued a cell phone is so that the city can get a hold of them very quickly," Pederson said of who has phones. "I think, in many of the instances of where employees have cell phones, it also involves the expectation that the city be able to reach them off hours anywhere.

"I expect to be able to reach the chief of police at any time," Pederson said. "I think the mayor expects to reach me at any time. I think the electric utility director expects to reach the distribution superintendent at any time. And we do. This technology allows for that.

"It allows for productivity increases and a higher degree of responsiveness," Pederson said.

But a review of the records shows the cell phones belonging to the police chief and utilities director are among the least used of government-issued phones.

Lamken's bill runs about $12 a month. Mader has a $40 cell phone bill monthly. Riehle's cell phone costs about $65 a month, as does Rowell's monthly bill.

But Pederson, Rosenlund and Paustian all have cell phone plans costing at least $100 a month.

The biggest user

In fact, of those records reviewed, the city's biggest single cell phone user was Pederson himself.

His monthly bill from mid-October to mid-November was $173.

Nearly half of the cell phone calls Pederson made that month were personal calls to Dodge City, Kan. Of the just more than 1,000 minutes used in that month, Pederson racked up more than 400 minutes in outgoing calls to Dodge City. Numerous other personal calls were incoming from the same.

Pederson noted that he did have a lot of personal calls then because he had moved to Grand Island, but his family remained in Dodge City to complete the school semester. The personal calls were made at a variety of times during the day, some at night and on weekends.

The level of personal calls has decreased on Pederson's cell phone records since the beginning of this year, when his family moved to Grand Island. Pederson has a college-age son remaining in Dodge City and noted that those calls do still show up on his phone records.

In addition to the Dodge City calls, Pederson's records also showed numerous out-of-state calls on his cell phone during weekday work hours. The calls included some to a Florida law firm and to numerous city administrator colleagues across the nation.

Pederson said he consciously uses his cell phone for those calls during the workday to avoid long-distance charges on his landline. His cell phone plan has the minutes, and he sees that as a more economical way of placing those calls.

Pederson said such use does not violate city policy.

But the city lacks a specific policy regarding cell phone use.

"The city of Grand Island has no written cell phone policy, and the personnel rules and regulations do not directly address cell phone usage," Pederson said.

He surmised that the ever-changing technology relative to cell phones has made it difficult to develop firm policies.

The unwritten cell phone rule, he said, follows the city's written rules on landline phone, computer and e-mail use. Those calls and communications should not cost the city, should be only a moderate use of time and should not interfere with the employee's or co-workers' time or network bandwidth. Personal long-distance phone calls are prohibited, but an allowance is made for calls charged to a personal calling card, home phone or a collect call, the city's "telephone usage" policy states.

"It would appear to me these standards are being adhered to," Pederson said. "I didn't see premium calls. I didn't see patterns of employees hanging on cell phones during business hours for extended periods of time. I didn't see indications of inappropriate use by calling a 1-900 or solicitation call if you will."

A few changes needed

But he did see a few things he wants to change or at least monitor.

Pederson noticed some calls that appeared to be personal. Although the personal calls didn't result in extra air time charges, some had resulted in roaming charges.

Specifically, Rosenlund had roaming charges for personal calls made while he was at an out-of-state conference. There should be an allowance for a certain amount of calls to check back home while a city employee is traveling, Pederson said, but calls need to be brief.

Pederson said Rosenlund, who started in May 2007, is a relatively new employee and may not have been aware that he incurred a roaming charge.

"I believe he has taken note of that and that there was a personal phone call or two that roamed, so he is aware of that and he has or will reimburse the city for that," Pederson said.

"If there's a roaming charge on there for a personal phone call, I think the spirit of this policy would be that is a cost that is incurred for a non-city thing and so the employee should pay for it," Pederson said.

Paustian also had five personal calls to a relative in Las Vegas and some roaming charges. He also had numerous calls made to his home in Phillips.

Rosenlund's roaming charges were under $50. Paustian's were under $25.

Paustian referred all questions about the calls to Public Information Officer Wendy Meyer-Jerke. Paustian said department directors were specifically told not to talk about the cell phone records after the records were requested.

"No can do," he said.

Meyer-Jerke said that, because the cell phone records involved every city department, she requested that all department directors coordinate the city's response through her.

Neither she nor Pederson had any further explanation of Paustian's calls.

Pederson declined to list a percentage of acceptable personal calls on a government-issued cell phone.

"I never thought about it in those terms," Pederson said.

When asked if 50 percent of air time being spent on personal calls would be considered excessive, Pederson said it really depends on the timing and the use.

"I don't know. To look at it that way would be to suggest that, if only 50 percent of their air time were for city business, then maybe they don't need that much air time or whatever," he said. "The importance of the city calls is the real issue the importance of the ability to communicate."

Pederson said the key is not the percentage of personal calls but whether the calls are disruptive to the work being done. If a city employee is riding in a vehicle to an out-of-town meeting or in a hallway waiting for a meeting to start, a quick personal call may be appropriate, he said.

No review of contracts

In reviewing the records requested by The Independent, Pederson also noticed that the city has more than one cell phone carrier, which he said may not be the most cost-effective setup.

"We may be lagging behind," Pederson said. "Plans change so frequently."

Meyer-Jerke said each city department has been managing its own cell phone accounts, which resulted in multiple carriers. It has U.S. Cellular and Alltel now. No overall review of cell phone contracts has been done that she's aware of.

But while each department has been handling its own cell phone needs, some departments don't have cell phones at all.

Finance Director Dave Springer, whose department pays the cell phone bills, said Building Department Director Craig Lewis, City Attorney Dale Shotkoski and Regional Planning Director Chad Nabity don't have city cell phones. Neither do their departments.

"I didn't want to carry two," Nabity said of why he declined a city cell phone.

Nabity said he's usually in the office, where he has landline access. He does carry a personal cell phone, which city staff can call.

Nabity said he has not requested reimbursement for city calls he has taken on his personal cell phone.

Pederson said the records request called his attention to something to which he hadn't paid much attention. It illustrated to him that the city may need to do periodic reviews on policies involving technology.

"I guess, if I would do anything, I would just put a new category for cell phones" in the city policy handbook, he said. "But I think the practice that we have is reasonable.

"I think it's one that also recognizes that our employees are human beings and that they cannot always totally separate their work lives from their personal lives," Pederson said.

Number of Grand Island city cell phones by department

Fire Department 15

Emergency management 4

Administration 3

Human resources 1

Utilities 13

Planning 0

Parks and recreation 4

Finance 2

Legal 0

Library 1

Public works 27

Building 0

Police Department 25

Total 95