City Government
Records Of Publicly Funded Phones Are Public
November 14, 2012 
If Boise City Councilors follow through with their move to take $150 a month for an auto and phone allowance, the GUARDIAN reasons those phone records should be available to the public.
Boise coppers get iPhones with data packages so they can text, tweet, call as part of their duties–for$50 a month for each phone. Coppers are aware the phone records are subject to public scrutiny. Many carry a personal phone for that reason.
It is only reasonable to provide either the same phones for each councilor at the same rate and reveal who they call and what they text on the phones owned or leased by the taxpayers.
If these part time politicos choose to use their own phones for city business and charge taxpayers for the use, we certainly have a right to know what we are paying for.
A clever politico would forego the $50 monthly phone payment or risk explaining why they were talking to various vendors and contractors. No doubt some of the Tweets and texts would make interesting reading as well.
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Comments & Discussion
Comments are closed for this post.
Nov 16, 2012, 8:11 am
Every time I see a cop driving down the road he’s on his cell phone.
Nov 16, 2012, 8:37 pm
not texting I hope…
Nov 20, 2012, 5:33 pm
So you are advocating to break open meeting rules by using ones private phone? I would just use my own for the simplicity of having one phone.
Nov 20, 2012, 6:42 pm
Pssst: The NSA is listening to and reading everyones communications.