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A sweep for bugs in Girard city offices
The security checks were made in the last two weeks.
GIRARD — City officials, curious about private office conversations filtering to the public before details could be released, have had city offices searched for listening devices and office locks changed.
Safety Service Director Jerry Lambert said he ordered his and the mayor’s office to be swept for listening devices within the last two weeks. He said that on several occasions conversations between himself and Mayor James Melfi seemed to make it to outside ears before officially being released.
Lambert said the most resent incident involved a news reporter asking questions related to a conversation the two officials had in one of the offices less than an hour before. He said neither he nor the mayor had released any information.
No listening devices were found in either office.
“This has happened on several different occasions,” said Lambert. “I just decided enough is enough with the coincidences. I may have been a little paranoid, I don’t know. But I am happy that nothing was found.”
Lambert said locks to the offices were changed because he was concerned with the possible number of duplicate keys.
“There are a lot of personnel files in these offices and I wanted to make sure the security of these offices would not be breached,” he said.
Lambert said the cost of the listening device check is about $100. But the person who did the sweep told city officials that — with today’s technology — someone theoretically could have been listening from a remote location, without having any device in the office.
The locks were changed through a company the city uses to routinely change locks on office doors. He is unsure of the cost for the work to the two office doors.
According to Lambert, the peace of mind and added security are worth the effort.
“As far as I am concerned, I feel the offices are more secure than they were before,” he said.
jgoodwin@vindy.com