Opinion: $18,000 in taxpayer cash goes to one council member's cell phone bill
By John Archibald | jarchibald@al.com
Birmingham, AL
Birmingham City Council President Johnathan Austin – already known for roaming the nation and the world on the city dime -- ran up thousands of dollars in international roaming fees on his city cell phones and other devices in the first 10 months of the year, according to city records.
Fees for his city issued cell phone, iPad and mobile hotspot pushed his bills so far this year to $18,255, or more than seven times anyone else's in the offices of the mayor or council. His usage bill alone was three times higher than the week-long taxpayer-paid trip he took to Germany in December for the Hamburg Aviation Forum.
The bills – which city workers say could have been minimized if Austin had contacted the information management department in advance, allowing them to negotiate a better temporary rate with the service provider– dwarf all others in the officers of the council and mayor.
Birmingham Councilman Johnathan Austin (Frank Couch/AL.com FILE)Edward T. Bowser | ebowser@al.com
Second in charges was mayoral spokeswoman April Odom, with $2,600 in charges. Next was Austin's assistant Courtney Hunter, with $2,200.
The mayor's bill – like almost all members of council and the staffs, was less than $1,000. Only Austin, Odom, Hunter, Austin staffer Kamilah Gray, Councilman Jay Roberson, Councilman Marcus Lundy and Council Administrator Cheryl Kidd had bills over $1,000.
Austin said he was surprised by the amount of the bills, saying he had never been notified of the amounts. He said he was unaware of any policy requiring employees to notify the city of their international travel.
He said he will not stop using his devices because "I am an elected official 24-7 whether I am in the city or not. Elected officials have to stay in constant contact."
Austin's highest bills came from trips that were not paid for by the city and were not directly related to city business. In April he went to Israel with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. His phone bill that month was $3,384. In May and early June he went to China on a trip with the American Council of Young Political Leaders. His combined bills for May and June came to $8,919.
Odom's high bill came as a result of a trip to Paris in June. She said it was a last-minute trip and prior arrangements were not made in time to reduce the bills.
In the midst of all this the mayor and majority of the council remain at odds over virtually everything, a state of affairs that resulted this week in an actual physical altercation between Lundy and Bell that sent both to the hospital, and ground city business to a screeching and embarrassing halt.
Austin even blamed the mayor for his bloated roaming fees.
"Why didn't they tell me my phone bills were high?" he said. "They want to make me look bad."
Austin said a policy should kick in automatically if an official goes abroad. He said he will take the issue to the Government Affairs Committee for consideration.
"It is something we need to look at," he said, adding that he would not be in favor of anything that limited the phone or data usage for elected officials.
So far this year Austin's combined city-paid travels and cell phone service cost taxpayers $47,255.38, although the public has been told practically nothing about what benefit they might have brought to the city.
This city council may be Birmingham's worst ever
What a colossal accomplishment in the field of failure.
Both the mayor and council have travelled extensively in recent years, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in city money on trips to London and Paris and Liverpool and Stuttgart and Tokyo and points all across the country and the globe. They travel to partisan and special interest events of questionable value, and the spending dwarfs those by other Alabama cities.
The rift remains between the mayor and council, even though Bell and Lundy hugged and made up in front of cameras Thursday. But travel is one thing both sides agree on. Officials in both offices have said they must continue to travel, for the world needs to hear about what is going on in Birmingham.
The world, this week, heard exactly what was going on in Birmingham. All it took was a few punches and a police report. And not a single roaming fee.