HOLLISTER
As of December, San Benito County issued 133 cell phones to its employees costing a total of $6,710 for that month’s invoices, while the City of Hollister issued 47 of them costing $1,734 in that same period, according to records of the figures requested by the Free Lance.
For San Benito County, nearly one-third of the phones were issued to the sheriff’s office, with 52 of them costing $2,667. Among other departments with relatively higher cell phone use, health and human services issued 22 costing $846 for that month, probation issued 11 costing $406 and the agriculture commissioner’s office used nine for $317, according to the records.
In the city, the fire department issued 11 costing $257, the police department used 10 for $456 and animal control issued five costing $172, the figures show.
The county also issued 35 cell phones in November specifically for Election Day and only at that time. They are disclosed on the document and, with the others, make for a total of 168 phones with December invoices.
Sheriff Curtis Hill addressed his department’s phones and called them a “huge public safety tool.”
“I’m tech savvy,” Hill said. “I want to be able to contact my staff and get an answer right away, and vice-versa. We’re communicating all the time.”
The phones are helpful in particular for situations in which secure lines are needed and for use in the event of a disaster, he said. Hill also noted that the office continually reviews who is using them, how much they are being used and the status of plans. He said the office often searches out better deals and examines equipment to potentially relinquish.
“We’re trying to stay on top of it,” he said.
County Administrative Officer Susan Thompson also noted that in “most or all cases,” the county uses a state bidding process to get “really good rates.” Although there is no “hard and firm written” policy on cell phones, Thompson said those who get them are “your department heads and also people who are staffed in the field.”
“When I have people out in the field, who are on their own, women or men, I need to be able to communicate,” she said.
City Manager Clint Quilter also pointed out, regarding the Hollister police and fire departments’ combined 21 phones in use, that they can be helpful in some “dead spots” in the dispatch area.
Quilter said city officials examine cell phones each year during the budgeting process. Aside from the police and fire departments, most of the phones are used by department heads, while there are a “few more” in public works, he said. Quilter also pointed out how the city is examining the possibility of establishing a “more comprehensive cell phone policy.”
