22 Top County Officials Allowed to Charge Personal Calls to Taxpayers

Twenty-two Los Angeles County officials with cellular phones have a very special privilege--they are allowed to make personal calls at taxpayer expense.

Billing records obtained by The Times show that the five elected county supervisors and the 17 department heads who operate under the special plan have logged some of the highest single-month bills among the approximate 2,400 county employees and officials who have cellular phones.

Department of Children’s Services Director Peter Digre had a $714 bill in July 1993.

In December 1994, Fire Chief P. Michael Freeman had a $565 tab.

County Counsel DeWitt W. Clinton has two cellulars paid for by taxpayers--a car phone and a hand-held portable. In March 1995, he had a $170 bill on his car phone and $155 tab on the other.

The rationale behind the policy is that, because these top officials have high profiles, they are at risk of possible physical harm. Therefore, they have been told to stay in the safety of their cars when making calls on the road.

In exchange for that restriction--although many might consider it more of a perk--the club of 22 can phone home for free, unlike other county workers.

There is no way to determine what portion of the $60,000 they spent during a 20-month period studied by The Times was for personal calls because the county refused to release detailed billing records, saying such records would be an invasion of privacy even though the public is paying the costs.

County Executive Officer Joanne Sturges, who averages $235 a month on her cell phone, said she does make personal phone calls at taxpayer expense but she tries to keep them to a minimum.

“I don’t make that many,” Sturges said. “On the way to work, I take care of some calls.” Still, Sturges added, “I would imagine, like anything else, if you have a phone in the car, it’s not always the most cost-effective way to go.”

On the surface, some of those allowed to make free personal calls, such as Sturges, do not seem to be obvious targets for violence. For example: county agricultural Commissioner E. Leon Spaugy, Assessor Kenneth P. Hahn, and Registrar-Recorder Beatriz Valdez. But Greg Cherep, management analyst for the county’s chief administrative office, insisted that everyone on the list deserves to be there.

Cherep said the county’s animal control officer was placed on the list, too, after he was threatened and his house was vandalized. When the threat passed, Cherep said, he was taken off.

Of the nearly two dozen officials who are not required to reimburse taxpayers for personal calls, Digre spent the most during the 20-month period studied by The Times--$7,550, for an average monthly bill of $550. But Digre said during an interview on his cell phone that, despite his special status, he reimburses the county for personal calls.

In fact, he said, he keeps a log in his car of every personal call.

“I write it down, the minutes I spent, and multiply it by the per minute rate,” Digre said. “I actually multiply it by a little higher than the rate per minute.”

Adjusted for the reimbursements he said he has made, Digre’s average monthly cell phone bill is still about $544, among the highest in the county.

Defending his bills, Digre said his cellular phone gives him two or three extra hours a day to stay atop the myriad details involved in running his vast department. Nonetheless, Digre said, the issue of soaring costs for cellular phones in Los Angeles is “an important one.”