Personal calls on city cell phones common

Erin Neff

Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2000 | 10:53 a.m.

Some city of Las Vegas employees make personal calls roughly one-third of the time they use their city-issued cell phones, according to billing receipts.

From January to June of this year, employees reimbursed the city more than $20,000 of the total $61,250 charged on their cell phones.

That figure may not be accurate because employees are largely responsible for monitoring their own bills and because some overpay because they don't want to examine each call on their bill.

"Personal use of anything, whether cell phone, land line, personal computer, is very much discouraged," said City Manager Virginia Valentine.

But a cell phone cash receipt report suggests many employees need some encouragement to pay up.

Some employees did not make their first reimbursement of the year until late July, just days after the Sun formally requested cell phone records for 365 of the city's workers.

Others made their second or third payment of the year in July after several months of ignoring the cell phone bills.

William Cassidy, Mayor Oscar Goodman's executive assistant and the owner of the city's largest cell phone bill, repaid the bulk of his $1,686 in calls after learning of the Sun's request.

Cassidy paid the city $100 on Feb. 15 and then paid $342.61 on July 11, $1,000 on July 26 and $1,000 on July 27. The receipts also counter his claim that he paid $3,000 total for the use of the phone.

A review of Cassidy's bill shows that he also continued using the phone while on an extended leave from his $52,000-a-year job to work for the defense team in the Binion murder trial.

Valentine said the city's policy was not specific enough about leaves of absences and the use of city property.

"We're going to make sure in the future that when someone goes on leave that they turn in their cell phone when they go," she said.

Cassidy wasn't the only employee who coughed up personal money for his cell phone bill after the Sun made its records request.

Stephanie Boixo and Chris Castro, who also are Goodman assistants, reimbursed the city for the first time in July. Castro paid back $70 of his $1,000 bill, and Boixo turned in $47 of her $184 bill.

Councilman Michael McDonald's staff all made payments in July. Rick Henry and Doug Rankin, McDonald's ward liaisons, paid $150 and $34 respectively -- their first payments of the year. His secretary, Mary Schoenfeld, paid $165 back to the city in July.

McDonald, however, did not reimburse the city for any of the $300 worth of calls on his bill. Every call was placed to his personal cell phone.

Valentine said that failure to reimburse the city for personal use of its equipment is a violation of policy subject to disciplinary action. She also said, however, that normally an employee's supervisor monitors those violations.

"It should happen with the council members, but they're different," Valentine said. "I would say the public enforces it.

"The elected officials are accountable to the public," she added.

Reached on his cell phone, McDonald said he would call back later. He never did.

The other council members all made some form of reimbursement for personal calls.

Gary Reese paid back $109 of his $268 bill; Lynette Boggs McDonald repaid $58 of her $519 bill; Larry Brown repaid $161 of his $911 bill; Lawrence Weekly paid back $172 of his $1,139 bill and Michael Mack paid for $121 of his $894.

Reese and his ward liaison, Susie Martinez, made their first reimbursements of the year in July. Weekly's ward liaison, Ricki Barlow, Brown's secretary and Brown's former ward liaison, Patrick Smith, also made their first repayments of the year this month.

Goodman uses his personal cell phone for city business and only had one 11-cent bill on his city phone all year.

Other employees who made their first reimbursements of the year in July are: Human Resources Director Rick Anderson, Building Services Manager Orlando Sanchez, Deputy Public Works Director John McNellis, Leisure Services Director Barbara Jackson, Communications Manager David Riggleman and Neighborhood Services Director Sharon Segerblom -- all according to the receipts.

About 76 employees have a certain amount deducted from their biweekly paychecks to cover the estimated costs of their personal calls. They paid back $324 in the first six months of the year.

"They have a hard time going through the bill," said Finance Director Mark Vincent. "My presumption is, if the amount taken out of their check doesn't cover it, they would submit the difference."