ORLANDO, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35 ORLANDO) -
The Orange County Commission shot down a reform package from Mayor Teresa Jacobs addressing how commissioners text about county business from their personal cell phones. The resolution would have banned commissioners from using their personal phones at all for county business.
Commissioner Ted Edwards called the idea impractical, saying he cannot control who sends a message to his phone. Edwards told the Board even if he did use a county cell phone, he could not stop people from calling his personal phone, since he has had it for so long.
Edwards led a lively discussion at a meeting on Tuesday. He and other commissioners have been under fire over texting, since it was discovered that some were sending and receiving messages from a lobbyist during a September 2012 meeting where a ballot measure was being discussed that would provide earned and paid sick time for nearly all full time employees in the County.
"Since September 11th, I can't imagine anyone doing it again. I think the horse is out of the barn. I think that people have learned. I think we're pretty much beating something up that is a dead issue," said Commissioner Ted Edwards.
"And the old saying is, 'There's no horse too dead to beat,'" replied Commissioner Fred Brummer.
Commissioners also delayed a measure that would tightened the rules on lobbying commissioners, saying they wanted to come up with a more thorough definition of "lobbying," and "lobbyists."
