Council approves cell phone policy, Safety Pays awards

By ROB LARSON
Daily Press Staff Writer
Human Resources Director Bill Thalman approached the Artesia City Council Tuesday with a plan to put into effect a new cell phone and personal device policy as well as to gain approval for the payout of the “Safety Pays” program for Artesia’s public employees.
The council first discussed the cell phone policy during their Nov. 14 council meeting but decided they would look again at the policy when the majority of the council was present to make amendments. … For the rest of the story, subscribe in print and on the web.
Thalman and the council ultimately added a few new phones to the policy, including one for the bailiff at the Municipal Court and another for the Planning and Zoning coordinator.
Six phones will also be provided to the Artesia Fire Department’s lieutenants, but five of those are simply being swapped with phones currently carried in the ambulances, which were deemed unnecessary. Thalman told the council the ambulances have received a total of six phone calls in the past three months.
As Thalman stated at the last meeting, the new cell phone policy was drafted in order for the city to address the use of smart phones, which typically have data plans. The previous policy did not address smart phones because they weren’t popular at the time it went into effect.