Mayors call for flexibility and common sense on laptop use

Mayors, flabbergasted by a police decision to charge a Gozitan mayor with misappropriation after his daughter used the council laptop, were told by the Local Government Department it was “natural” to take a laptop home.

In response to a number of queries by mayors who use laptops bought by council funds, local government director general Martin Bugelli yesterday issued a memo to all councils, putting their minds at rest that laptops were meant to be used outside council premises.

He said mayors had to assume responsibility for the laptop while it was in their possession outside the council’s building and the hardware had to be registered as one of the council’s assets.

The guidelines do not spell out clearly whether allowing somebody else to use the laptop for non-council work is inappropriate but two mayors who spoke to The Times have called for a measure of flexibility.

The mayor of Kalkara, Michael Cohen, who is also president of the Local Councils Association, insisted mayors were part-timers with a full time job. Without entering into the merits of the Gozo case, he said it was reasonable to expect a mayor to have a laptop because a lot of work was done outside council premises.

“We have to keep in mind that the internet service is not paid by the council. In the circumstances, how can we make a distinction between council property and its private use if somebody else at home uses the laptop to access the internet? If as mayor I use my private car to run council errands, shall I stop doing that?”

While condemning abuse, Mr Cohen called for some “flexibility” because micro-managing all that happens in councils could create instability.

His stand was reflected in comments by Pietà mayor Malcolm Mifsud, who described the charges filed against the Gozo mayor as ridiculous. “I cannot see how a mayor is charged with misappropriation of council property if, after he does his job, a member of the family uses the laptop to access the internet,” he said. There has to be awareness that the laptop is council property, Dr Mifsud added, adding that the affair was petty.

“What if I phone my wife from the council office to tell her I am late or to ask her something private? Will this also be understood as amounting to misappropriation of council property? While abuse must be curbed, we have to use common sense,” Dr Mifsud, a lawyer, said.

The mayor of Żebbuġ in Gozo, Charles Saliba, was summoned to appear before a magistrate at the Gozo Courts to face charges of misappropriating the council’s laptop and misusing public funds by allowing his daughter to access a Facebook account from the computer.

He resigned from the Nationalist Party to be able to better defend himself against the charges. However, he stayed on as independent mayor.

In his resignation letter, Mr Saliba denied any wrongdoing but explained he wanted to be in a better position to defend his innocence without in any way prejudicing the party.