New phone system in place in Connellsville
CONNELLSVILLE – City employees and officials will be required today to punch a few more digits when placing calls from their city telephones as a new validated code system is put in place. City Controller Jean Wrote said 40 personal codes will be distributed to users and will have to be dialed prior to making any long distant calls from city telephone lines.
The new system was initiated after Wrote discovered the telephones were used to make non-city business-related calls which translated into increased charges levied on the city.
“I believe the city is going to see a decrease in the number of telephone calls made and the cost for the telephone service,” said Wrote.
Over the past several months Wrote said she has investigated the outgoing calls and determined while the bulk are legitimate, others are not tied to city business.
In April, said Wrote, a Brownsville disc jockey was contacted by someone using city phone lines, while in June, the Stonewall Resort in West Virginia was contacted. In several instances, calls were made to a Las Vegas resort in addition to other locales.
While employees are required to log all long distance calls, Wrote said the majority of them are not listed.
In April, 397 phone calls were made with 148 logged by employees; in May, 340 telephone calls were made with 47 listed and in July, 344 calls were made with 39 logged, according to Wrote.
“I don’t believe city employees should be making their vacation plans or party plans during working hours at the taxpayers’ expense,” she said.
In addition to Wrote, city officials including the mayor and four council members, city treasurer, tax office administrative assistant and one worker, street department foreman and one worker, health officer, city clerk, administrative secretary and bookkeeper, recreation department foreman and one worker, fire chief and three firefighters, police chief, 17 officers and the department administrative secretary will take part in the program.
Three members of the street department declined to take assigned codes said Wrote, because they do not utilize the city telephone system.
Identification codes will not be issued to the part-time police department building monitors or the part-time city janitor, added Wrote.
The employee codes will only be known by the employee, city clerk David Pinkosky and Wrote.
“They will not be shared,” said Wrote.
With the in-place code system, each telephone bill will document the number dialed and the employee placing the call.
There is no charge for the validated code system.
Wrote said that employees will continue to be required to log their calls and any calls found to be not related to city business will be charged to the city employee.
“I will continue to scrutinize the phone bills,” she said.