L.A. City Hall Cell Phone Bill at Nearly $5 Million: City Controller Wants That Cut by More Than Half

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If only City Hall were this discriminating with its mobile phone use.

Jerry Brown's not the only Debbie Downer at the all-you-can-eat buffet known as California public employment. Wendy Greuel stepped forward Tuesday to call for L.A. City Hall's cell phone use to be cut in more than half.

L.A.'s mobile phone bill is (gulp) nearly $5 million a year.

And you're paying for it.

Greuel is turning in her own mobile phone, saying ...

... When we're closing libraries and leaving potholes unfilled, it defies comprehension that nearly 12,000 City employees need cell phones. With the City facing a $350 million budget deficit, only those employees considered essential - such as Emergency Management and first responders - should be receiving this perk.

Sing it, sister.

What do all those City Hall drones need 11,812 mobiles for anyway? Mayor Villaraigosa has a staff of more than 200, very heavily weighed on the public relations side. And they don't return our calls!

Ring-ring.

Hello?

It's the public calling. We want our cell phones back.

Actually, the biggest violator when it comes to mobile abuse is, of course, the fat-cat Department of Water and Power, which Greuel says has a whopping 3,971 phones.

The next department on the list at 1,525 is understandable: the LAPD. You want them to be in touch. (Why in the world would the DWP need more phones than the nearly 10,000-strong LAPD?).

Next up: Los Angeles World Airports, including LAX, at 872.

LAFD: 798

General Services Department: 580. (Generally, they're reaming you).

Department of Building and Safety: 494. (Hello? That permit come through yet? No?).

Greuel wants a 60 percent reduction in city cell phones by July.

" ... That money can be better spent," she says.

Ya think? We can here you now, Wendy.