Cities, counties report fewer cell phones than state

Gov Jerry Brown (D-CA) made national headlines this month when he demanded steep cuts to the number of state-issued, taxpayer-funded cell phones. But in Silicon Valley, government officials haven't felt a burning need to cut back to the 20 percent level Gov Brown demanded of state workers. Then again, local governments haven't equipped as many bureaucrats with cell phones as the state.

"We've had a pretty restrictive cell phone policy for a while that limits county cell phones to employees who really need them," said Santa Clara County Executive Jeff Smith. The county has issued cell phones to 3,450 employees, less than a quarter of its work force of 15,000. The $1.5 million annual phone bill comes to about $36.50 a month per phone, a rate similar to the state's and one that is considered average. Figures provided under a public records request indicate that the total number of city-paid cell phones in San Jose is 1,761 -- 30 percent of the work? force. Though that percentage has grown since a 2004 city audit indicated that the city had more cell phones than it needed, costs have shrunk.