ANSON COUNTY— Following January’s late month discussion on the county providing work-related cell phones for commissioners, the board again entertained discourse on the issue during their February 4 meeting, before ultimately failing to vote decisively on the matter.
The commissioner at the heart of the controversy is Joshua Ellerbe, whose request for a county-provided cell phone set off the brouhaha in January.
“I really don’t understand or comprehend how something this minute could carry on for a month. To me, it can’t be about the cellphone. It just doesn’t make sense to me that all the county manager has to do is say to the IT guy order a phone- the phone that cost $1 to the county,” said Ellerbe who adds he wants a county-provided cell phone to act as his digital trail.
At his words, Chairman Jamie Caudle reminded fellow board members that while the device may cost .99, the monthly cost for maintaining a phone works out to $35 or $40 for the county. Part of that maintenance, Caudle pointed out, relates to changing the number and wiping data from the phone once a commissioner returns the device to the county.
When commissioners again introduced the idea of a $40 stipend in lieu of a commissioner accepting a cell phone procured through the county’s coffers, Caudle likened the idea to commissioners receiving a set amount to spend on a meal while on out of town travel related to county business. Caudle said it’s the commissioner’s prerogative to have a meal or not- they are not required to do so- but it is available to them if needed, which is how Caudle says he feels a county provided cell phone should be considered.
County Attorney Forbes informed commissioners a cellular phone policy would be better as a stand alone policy as it would only affect commissioners and not apply to other county employees. “It could be added to the ordinance but it would not be a part of the ordinance,” explained Forbes.
Saying he felt it would make for a cleaner policy, Commissioner Ellerbe made a motion for commissioners to keep the option of a stipend or a cell phone. His motion was seconded by Lawrence Gatewood.
When this motion failed, Ellerbe next suggested, “Under the contract we currently have county commissioners are included – just add it to the contract- I mean, it’s already paid for, including elected officials.”
This time Commissioner Jarvis Woodburn seconded Ellerbe’s motion, which again failed.
“It is the majority consensus of the board that we don’t need a phone, we don’t need a county provided phone, we don’t need a county provided stipend- it was not included in the county policy because there has been no need for it,” said Caudle. “So if we have a need, if we are developing a need, then that is why we have to amend that document because it has never been needed before.”
Interrupting in order to clarify, Ellerbe said, “It’s not a need, it’s a desire. Because I am serving the county, I want to make that clear, it is not a need.”
For his part, Commissioner Woodburn said he would be open to changing the personnel ordinance to include county commissioners.
Following Ellerbe’s last attempt to move the ball- Commissioner Kyle Leary proposed adopting the County Manager’s Cellular Phone Policy as it was presented to the board with changes to the language of the document such as changing ‘telephone’ to ‘cellular phone’ and stipulating individuals must have a public contact cell phone number.
Leary’s motion was seconded by Caudle.
Ellerbe questioned why if no one needed a cell phone until now, commissioners would even consider taking the money, or stipend, for the phone they have not needed.
Caudle answered that the board is trying to accommodate Mr. Ellerbe’s request for a cell phone given no such policy currently exists. Ellerbe answered, “I don’t need that accommodation.”
Commissioner Gatewood followed Ellerbe’s words with his own protestations. “I do not need a phone or stipend. I just wanted to make that publicly known,” said Gatewood, which set off a round of commissioners declaring the same.
“I don’t need a phone and I don’t need a stipend, but it is general practice and I want to make that clear,” said Ellerbe, prior to the vote.
The Leary-Caudle motion also failed with three yeas- Leary, Caudle, and Woodburn, and four opposed- Gatewood, Mims, Ellerbe, and Little Reid.
“I just want to state for the record, currently there is no cell phone policy that allows a cell phone for an elected commissioner,” said Chairman Caudle, concluding the discussion.
