Supervisor Neil Derry and staff to halt Blackberry pin communications

Effective immediately, Supervisor Neil Derry and his staff will no longer use Blackberry pin numbers to communicate with one another on county time, said George Watson, his chief of staff.

The new directive comes after former federal prosecutor John C. Hueston noted in a report released last week that former county Assessor Bill Postmus and his staff bypassed county servers by communicating using Blackberry pin numbers, which are not traceable. Utilizing such communication tactics precludes the media from being able to access the electronic communications via California Public Records Act requests.

Watson said the move is to further Derry's campaign promise of bringing transparency to government.

joe.nelson@inlandnewspapers.com