Reprinted from The Trumbull Times © Copyright 2009
December 23, 2009

By Donald Eng

Can you hear him now?

Vowing to leave no stone unturned in his budget-reduction efforts, First Selectman Tim Herbst has targeted the 150 town-owned cell phones as a potential opportunity to save money.

"I am sending the message right now that the party's over," Herbst said. "This administration will do everything possible to contain costs."

According to Town Treasurer John Ponzio, 79 town employees have town-owned cell phones. School Supt. Ralph Iassogna said that school employees had 71 more. The total cost to the town for the 150 phones is about $77,000.

Herbst said he intended to reduce the number of phones by about 60% and issued a memo to all department heads to come up with a plan to consolidate and reduce the number of phones.

Ponzio's initial estimates were that the town could do without 27 of the 79 phones under its control, potentially saving about $16,000.

The police department accounts for the greatest number of phones, with 21. Public Works has 30, split between the Highway Department, with 16, and 14 more in the Parks Department. Ponzio plans to cut 22 of the 51 phones in those two departments.

The remaining reductions would potentially come from the Sewer Department, which Ponzio plans to cut from seven to three, and the Recreation Department, which would lose one of its five phones.

Of the remaining 16 phones, three are in the First Selectman's office, one in the Purchasing Department, two in the Building Department, three in the Fire Marshal's office, one at Tashua Knolls, two in the Technology Department and four that are used in the senior transportation program.

School Board Chairman Ted Lovely has also begun reviewing the 71 phones issued by the school system. Currently, 21 phones are in the hands of school administrators, and head custodians at the 11 buildings also each have one. The 10 maintenance workers each have a phone, and 11 more are dedicated for school trips.

The Technology Department has nine phones, and security guards and various department chairs split the remaining nine.

Of the town-owned phones, Herbst himself incurred a $314.97 charge in November, and Recreation Director Mary Markham tallied $227.18. Herbst received a new phone upon taking office, and Markham's old phone, which was several years old, was replaced, accounting for the higher fees. Sewer Director Joe Solemene accumulated $104.42 in charges.

Town-issued credit cards

In addition to the cell phones, Herbst also announced last week he wa cutting the number of employees who have town-issued credit cards from eight to three or less.

"I understand that departments need to buy supplies, but the Purchasing Department is there to bid these items out in larger volumes," he said. "Running out to Staples and paying full retail for something is an example of poor internal control."

Various departments, including Public Works and Recreation, have town-issued cards to make purchases when getting a purchase order through the Purchasing Department would be impractical.

For example, Markham said the Recreation Department frequently runs arts and craft projects, which require small amounts of various items. Unlike copier paper, which the town can buy by the case, smaller purchases make more sense to buy locally, she said.

"In many cases, it's cheaper for me to shop the sales at Michael's and AC Moore because we need glue sticks and pipe cleaners, and it wouldn't be practical to order a case of pipe cleaners." she said.