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Jul 1, 2008 10:49 am US/Central
Report: Official Wanted More Guards At Mansion
Official Worried 1 Trooper Wasn't Enough During Renovation Project, Report Shows
AUSTIN (AP) ―
Several months before a fire nearly destroyed the Texas Governor's Mansion, the building administrator told security officials that one trooper might not be enough to guard the historic building during renovations.
Ellen Read conveyed her concern at an October meeting among state officials and private firms involved in the renovation project, the Houston Chronicle reported in Tuesday's editions after obtaining notes under the Texas Public Information Act.
Investigators said an intruder gained access to the grounds of the Governor's Mansion in the early hours of June 8, setting the fire that caused major damage. There was only one trooper on duty at the time, and he had worked an eight-hour shift earlier in the day at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum.
Perry and his wife, Anita, moved out of the mansion last fall at the start of the $10 million renovation project. The mansion had problems with plumbing, rotting wood, lead paint and asbestos and had no fire-emergency sprinkler system.
Read "asked about the security detail available to the Mansion once construction is under way," according to Oct. 1 meeting notes by Susman Tisdale Gayle, the firm that was lead architect for the project, and notes released by Gov. Rick Perry's office.
The Texas Department of Public Safety's Dale Avant, captain of the Governor's Protective Detail, "said that one DPS officer will be on-site 24/7."
Read "expressed a concern that one officer may not be enough and that 3 officers are usually present when the 1st family is away," the minutes said.
Avant "said that he understood the concern and would make the current plan work," and that if adjustments were needed in the future, "other options would be considered," according to the minutes.
Only 13 of the mansion's 20 security cameras were working when the building was set on fire, according to a recent DPS investigator's report. One camera caught an image of a person hurling a device onto the front porch, igniting a fast-spreading fire upon impact. The motion-detector system had been sent out for repairs in May and was not working.
(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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