Reply With QuoteThat's an old list. Several of the names are retired or resigned, and one is deceased. Many of those numbers are changed, or no longer in service.Originally Posted by JTFry
I know you guys are always talking about a certain website...(amherst times) ...so I checked it out for myself.
First I was shocked that a list of all employees cell phone numbers was posted.
Second, how does one get this information? Is it public knowledge?
Third, I noted that Maureen Cilano was STILL on this list. Isn't that the the previous comptroller? Are we still paying for her cell phone? AND WHY would a comptroller NEED a cell phone anyway???
Fourth, as stated previously..new to all this..is there anyone else on the list that shouldn't be? (retired;resigned;fired;etc.)
Thanks
That's an old list. Several of the names are retired or resigned, and one is deceased. Many of those numbers are changed, or no longer in service.
Remember how Erie County went to $h!t & remains there? Yet, the first thing our new Erie County Comptroller, the Independent Watchdog, went after was cell phones while Rome continued to burn. Same thing in Amherst. Fine, keep an eye on those cell phones; however, there are bigger problems, with one of them being a Councilmember who is not only an Attorney, an Officer of the Court, but who also wants to be our next County Executive. Anthony Canna collected $300,000 sitting at home waiting for his personnel matter to resolve. It could have been resolved much sooner & for a lot less money because Dan Ward knew the process was flawed during Round 1 & did not feel he had any duty to bring it to anyones attention. Therefore came Round 2 to the tune of $500,000 with the same result as Round 1 anyway. Canna was Ward's appointee, Ward's Friends & Family plan. One thing's for sure if Ward would end up as County Exec, which is a snowball's chance in hell anyway, every drinking, oops, "social" buddy of Ward's would have a job within the County & we'd have a daily 2 hour afternoon siesta time. Back to Canna though, doesn't anyone find it strange that Ttrriccolli & Ward are so silent regarding the whole Canna matter? If you want proof that Ward knew of the flawed process & didn't care to fulfill his fiduciary duty to the citizens of Amherst who for some reason keep him in office & pay his salary, just watch a tape of the August 7th Board Meeting when he is confronted with the letter he wrote.
I also found an interesting blurb on "the Dan Ward Website" regarding what kind of Board Member he really is on top of this Canna debacle:
...ATB Meeting of 04 Apr 2004 - Tom Finger of CSEA rips Dan a new one regarding what Dan Ward did to Town employee Antoinette Black for his own political gain.
ATB Meeting of 02 Aug 2004 - Dan votes "yes" on Councilmember Woodward's resolution regarding the names of traveling Town employees appearing in the meeting minutes. Less than 10 minutes later, he introduces his own resolution in this regard, criticizing Jane Woodward's version that he just voted on in the affirmative. Dan didn't recall what he had just voted for & looked completely looped & disoriented - one too many glasses of wine before that meeting & the proof's right there on tape.
ATB Meeting of 07 Aug 2006 - Sheila O'Brien brings to Dan Ward's attention the FOIL request he made, proving he could have stopped a second Canna hearing at the cost of $500,000 to the Town, not to mention the salary that Canna continued to collect in the sum of approximately $300,000. Dan Ward failed to fulfill his fiduciary duty to the people who elected him in Amherst. The police should indeed at this point proceed with their investigation of this & the investigation should perhaps go higher than just local law enforcement.
The incident where Dan Ward arrived at an ATB meeting last year so loaded that he missed his chair, was not caught on tape...
Beans, Truer words were never spoken.....BUT, this is a cell phone thread. Start a new thread on Ward's duplicity. It is needed.
About cell phones: I do not know if things have changed, for the better, but the Court Administrator, Jim Loughran and Town Justice, Mark Farrell at one time held the highest cell bills in the town. This is completly unnecessary. If the administrator worked 9-5 every day, he could use the land lines at the court. He makes $90K a year. The Justice works 2 days per week. His salary is $80K. He is called in to arraign at odd hours, but the other Justice, who carries the same case load has a cell bill 1/8 less. Why? Could these two be using the town cell phones for private business or personal business? My neighbor FOILed these records two years ago, I've seen the records, I had written about this at the time.
Employees who work outside of an office for most of the day need cell phones, for town business only. I don't care if you are a patronage appointment or a Judge...if your cell bill is still the highest in the town, pay it yourself!
these are public phones make the phone record public so everyone can see who they call and at what hours. if the calls are not public business then take away the phone and send them the bill for the cals they made
One good thing about growing old is your secrets are safe with your friends they can't remember them either
my boss gave us phones to use on our trucks to call the next customer or contact the office every record was gone over and if we called home or made after hours calls we were billed for them. these workers should pay for every private call and if it is too hard to trace them take away the phones
One good thing about growing old is your secrets are safe with your friends they can't remember them either
Unfortunatly, the court can claim 'confidentiality' on the numbers called and received. We will never know how many calls are to or from Loughran's brother, or for the justice's private practice. Nice, huh?
Isn't that what is sort of happening with the furniture and the county? Sealing the records and making them pay only half of what they over charged the community?
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If an employee needs to call home and check on kids, elderly parents, etc. IMO, that should not be a chargable call. On the other hand, the length of the call and the number of times should be reasonable. Not to talk about what's for dinner or can you stop at the store and pick up some peanut butter.
Life, Liberty and the Pursuit Of All That Threaten It
What if the Hokey-Pokey IS what it's all about?
that was allowed but when the same person makes calls "home"five or six times a day the bills are checked. its easy drivers only make so many calls a week when one has twice as many flares go off. is the phones are issued by the public for public business then the bill should include a phone record that can be checked by someone. and if they claim invassion of privacy they can use their own phone for private calls.
first off each job should be checked if the person works at a desk they dont need a cell phone. if contacting other people is not part of their job they dont need a cell phone
One good thing about growing old is your secrets are safe with your friends they can't remember them either
granpa,
I agree with you, that the excess should not be tolerated! Cell phones should be issued by the Town if their job requires them to be out of the office, (i.e. The Building Inspectors). Town employees should be allowed to use the cell phones to call home, but like I said, a reasonable amount of times and not to stay on long, to check on kids or elderly or sick parents, etc.
Life, Liberty and the Pursuit Of All That Threaten It
What if the Hokey-Pokey IS what it's all about?
This is where I'm going to disagree with a lot of folks I usually agree with here. I don't think there should be one single Town issued cell phone. Most of the front line employees in the Town (lowest paid) use a cell phone on a regular basis as part of doing their job - and they pay for it themselves. It is only the highest paid Town employees that are issued these phones and they're stuck in an office most of the time.
This is where the Town shoots itself in the foot. If you have employees making 80K and up per year plus bennies, make them get their own damn phone. Town board members, department heads, asst. department heads (which we don't need either) DO NOT need a mobile phone courtesy of the Town.
Then again, those employees could live like the rest of us do and buy their own cell phones for personal use. There is no reason in the world for taxpayers to foot the bill for even a single personal call. IMO.
By the way, I don't know if Mohan or the town board members have town-issued cell phones, but if they do, the same rule should apply: No personal calls. Each and every one of those guys can afford to buy their own cell phones for personal business.
Years ago Billy-O said the police officers had and used town supplied cell phones. That is incorrect also. They use their own cell phones at their expense to make business and personal calls.
Why on earth would anyone other than a manager or supervisor need a cell phone for business use? I do not agree that building inspectors "need" a cell phone paid for by money collected from residents. I'm sure it's a "nice-to-have" convenience... but it is not necessary... even in today's environment. And if anyone is allowing resident's money to pay for non-emergency personal calls , they should be exposed and ousted immediately. The town employees have had too good for too long. Residents are not here to hand personal conveniences to them on a silver platter. Business phones are for business. I say charge every employee the highest rate allowed by law for each personal call. If it happens more than three times in a calendar year, fire the employee.
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