By Kenneth C. Rossignol

ST. MARY’S TODAY

LEONARDTOWN --- Only 5 years ago there were only a handful of important St. Mary’s officials who had cell phones but now there are cell phones for about 30 percent of all county employees with the monthly bill regularly topping $6,000 per month.

Three years ago there was no effort made by county government to negotiate a better rate for cell phone service from providers.

But now, according to a response to a public information request from ST. MARY’S TODAY filed with St. Mary’s County Attorney John Norris, the county piggybacks on a state contract in order to obtain a better rate.

Bus drivers, recreation staffers, public works staff and nearly every department has obtained cell phones in recent years.

This year the county says it has 4 fewer cell phones, perhaps due to the departure of several top county officials who were not replaced, than last year.

In 2002, the county had 147 cell phones to this year’s 143.

The county said that there were no records available for the number of cell phones in use in 1994 or 1998.

Of the total number of cell phones in use last year, 34 of them were obtained through Nextel and 113 were with Verizon Wireless.

The county has become disenchanted with Nextel, which, according to the response, which had asked for the county to describe what efforts had been made to obtain the most effective and inexpensive service. Nextel was found to have been more expensive to use and had an inferior reception in the area.

In April of this year the county spent $4,613 for 131 phones with Verizon, an average cost of $35. The county’s 12 Nextel phones cost $130 on average. Nextel phones can also be used as walkie-talkies. The total for April was $6,182.

By September of this year the Verizon Wireless bill had reached $5,397 and the Nextel bill had dropped to $687.90, for a total of $6,085.48.

"The Information Technology Department monitors the cell phone usage monthly upon receipt of bills and makes recommendations for a plan changes to Departments when warranted," read a statement provided in response to this newspaper’s request. "The communication requirements for each department determine which provider is selected for individual use."

While the county’s cell phone use has hovered around $6,000 each of the last six months, it spiked upwards during August when it reached $7,350.70, a time when many county employees, department heads and elected officials are on vacation and presumably using their phones less.

The county taxpayers paid for a number of county staff directors and several commissioners to venture to Ocean City in August for the annual Maryland Association of Counties convention.

While Commissioners Larry Jarboe (R. Golden Beach), Kenny Dement (R. Callaway) and Dan Raley (D. Great Mills) stayed home, Commissioners Tommy Mattingly (D. Leonardtown) and Tommy McKay (R. Hollywood) went on the MaCO trip with several department heads. Mattingly billed the taxpayers for his hotel while McKay paid for his own room.

Between the county officials being in Ocean City and other unexplained increases in use, the cost of cell phones was boosted by $1,300 in the month when it may have been expected to decrease.

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