National Legislative Services and Security Association Newsletter

Region 1

Submitted by Monte Walters, Media Services Supervisor, Nevada

Region 1 held their Training Session in Carson City, Nevada on May 14th and 15th, 1999. The program started out with Steve Watson, President of NLSSA and Chief Deputy Director of the Nevada Legislative Counsel Bureau, welcoming the members from Colorado, Alaska and Nevada. Lorne Malkiewich, Director of the Nevada Legislative Counsel Bureau also welcomed and addressed the members.

The members were then taken to the shooting range and were instructed by Officers Hans Rollenhagen and Fred Rembold on the proper use, handling and safety of a 9mm handgun. Afterward the participants were driven to Virginia City for lunch where there was time to shop and sightsee. Later that afternoon a tour of the Carson City Sheriff's Office was given. The Sheriff's office was built last year and has all state-of-the-art equipment. That evening members had dinner at John Asquaga's Hotel in Reno and watched the Marty Stuart show.

Saturday there was a tour of the Legislative Counsel Bureau where the members were shown the Media Services control room. They were shown how each piece of equipment operates and controls a hearing while filming it. The security and fire systems were also explained. Also that morning a tour of the Capitol was given. That evening members had dinner at the JT Bar in Garnerville with Senator Jacobsen.

Region 3

Submitted by Joe Hill, Life Member, Retired Administrative Assistant, Leg. Reference Bureau, Pennsylvania

Region 3 held their regional meeting in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, May 14th through the 16th, 1999. There were 10 NLSSA members in attendance (8 active members and 2 life members) 4 potential new members with guests totaling 20 attendees.

The workshops and social events were conducted at the host hotel with two side trips, one to Gettysburg

for some history on the Civil War and the other to the State House for a behind the scenes look at the Pennsylvania Security System.

The roundtable discussion was held on Saturday, May 15^th, moderated by Lt. Patrick Dougher of the PA Capitol Police. It was a very informative meeting covering bomb threats and evacuation procedures (the PA State House had two within ten days). There was also a look at using fingerprint access to secured areas.

A regional business meeting was held following the roundtable discussions. The meeting was called to order by Region Chair Lois Spearman covering the following topics: new members; NCSL Annual Conference in Indianapolis; NLSSA Annual Training Conference in Lake of the Ozarks; Conference Workshops; Life Member Nominees; Region Chair and Vice-Chair Nominees; Regional Meeting location for year 2000; members interest in appointments to committees and new business.

Everyone expressed their appreciation to the Pennsylvania members for hosting the region meeting, with special thanks to Mary Hockenberry, Dodie Schwietzer and Ted Mazia.

Report on National Association of State Facilities Administrator's Conference

By David Whatley, Facilities Manager, Legislative Counsel Bureau, Nevada

Construction is booming everywhere. Many capitol facilities around the country are undergoing renovation, restoration or new construction. With that in mind, I thought I would share with you some of the information I picked up at the recent annual National Association of State Facilities Administrators' Conference*. The theme of the conference could have been "what is going wrong in construction today and how to minimize the effects". Great emphasis was put on plans review, commissioning and control of the bid process; all of which are intended to reduce the owner's risk and liability.

The time and expense of independent plans review is a great investment in cost avoidance. The time and expense is minor when compared to the cost of change orders resulting from flawed bid documents. The detailed plans review can be done by a consulting firm specializing in that practice, a consulting architect, a consulting contractor or qualified staff. When design errors are identified, the project architect is required to correct any design deficiencies if the contract has not been bid. The errors can be corrected in the construction document phase, at no cost to the owner, by having the architect issue corrected plans or addenda.

"Commissioning", where mechanical and electrical systems are inspected and verified against the design documents, greatly reduces problems at occupancy and reduces warranty claims and conflicts. It was recommended that the commissioning entity be independent of both the design team and the contractor. A specialty consultant or qualified in-house staff can and have been successfully used for this purpose.

Avoiding the pitfalls of the "low bid" approach to contracting is highly desirable. Quality control can be accomplished by using a weighted bid process. Objective factors that have significant impact on the probable success of the project can be weighted. Some of the factors discussed were: number of similar size and scope projects completed, the superintendent's/project manager's experience, the average number of change orders per job, the average variation from the construction schedule and the financial stability of the contractor. Basically any objective criteria which the owner considers important in evaluating the contractor and the bid can be used. The critical requirement is that criteria must be objective and uniformly applied to all bidders. This process has successfully withstood court challenge and is especially applicable to States that require acceptance of the "best bid".

The session on "Errors and Omissions" was very instructive. Construction law has evolved to the point where architects, engineers and their insurers are liable for "gross negligence", not mistakes. Meanwhile, contractors have the right to assume that construction documents are perfect when preparing their bid. The owner is liable for the difference between the construction document issued and a "perfect construction document". While this is not good news from the owner's perspective, it does explain a lot of what goes wrong during construction and why owners feel they are constantly paying for someone else's mistakes. The techniques described above are all designed to help overcome this environment and to reduce the owner's exposure to construction risks and unexpected costs.

* For those of you not familiar with NASFA, it is a subsection of the Council of State Governments much in the same way NLSSA is a subsection of NCSL. This particular group is made of construction management and facilities management professionals. The membership is principally from the Executive Branch.

Don't Lien On Me

Submitted by: Rod Welsh, House Sergeant at Arms, Texas

The 1999 NCSL annual meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana held a session called Don't Lien On Me that offered insight on an issue that has affected many states across the country. State legislators and other government officials have become targets for harassment by para-military and other anti-government groups. Several states have passed legislation to protect public officials from the filing of false liens by these groups.

The discussion was led by the following panelists:

Alan G. Lance, Attorney General, Idaho
Attorney General Lance is a recognized national leader in the battle against domestic terrorism. Legislation he sponsored in Idaho has become a national model for dealing with extremist groups.

State Representative William B. Schuck, Ohio

Representative Schuck was first elected to the Ohio House of Representatives in 1986. He serves as the Chairman of the Energy and Environment Committee and is a member of the Local Government and Townships, Insurance, and Financial Institutions Committees.

John VanLonkhuyzen, U.S. Department of Justice

John VanLonkhuyzen is a trial attorney with the Terrorism and Violent Crime Section of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice where his responsibilities include prosecution of terrorism and violent crime cases, analysis of legal issues and policy matters, and participation in multi-organizational groups.

A lawful lien is a claim against the personal or real property of another as security for a rightful debt owed by the property owner. The property encumbered by the lien cannot be sold, used as collateral for a loan or as an asset in a financial transaction. Historically, the ease of filing liens has made them subject to abuse, and the property owner affected often is unaware of the lien until the property becomes involved in a business transaction.

Extremist groups in many states have become involved with the filing of false liens and are a part of the national "Patriot" movement, which has many facets and subgroups, but which generally can be characterized by similar radical political and philosophical beliefs. While not all "Patriot" groups have identical beliefs, their underlying philosophies are based on the following precepts:

The federal government has been exceeding its constitutional grant of authority for many years and is therefore no longer a legitimate government.

The people have the right to rise up in arms against this "de facto" government and its followers.

That armed resistance and bloody conflict is inevitable and that the ends of restoring "legitimate" government justify all means employed to accomplish that end.

A huge conspiracy exists within the world's banking community to take over the world government in order to increase the leaders' wealth and power and to suppress the freedoms previously enjoyed by all members of free societies.

Examples of some well-known "Patriot" groups are the Posse Comitatus, the Montana Freeman, the Michigan Militia, the Arizona Viper Militia, the Republic of Texas, the American Nazi Party, and Christian Identity groups. Some tax protester groups also share the so-called "Patriot" agenda.

These groups took action based on their refusal to recognize the authority and sovereignty of state governments. These entities filed fraudulent judgement liens issued by so-called "common law courts" and fraudulent documents purporting to create liens or claims on personal and real property of public officials as well as private individuals. These filings clogged the channels of commerce and amount to harassment and intimidation of public officials and ordinary citizens.

Many of these groups developed a pattern and practice of filing false liens on property belonging to state governments as well as liens in real property records against public officials and private individuals opposed to the philosophy of the group and their goal of taking over the government. The cumulative value of the liens filed with state governments and in real property records by these groups ranged in the millions, if not billions, in some states.

Some groups developed their own "common law" court systems where members could bring their complaints and receive enormous default judgements against anyone that they felt had wronged them. Some created their own imaginary shadow government, which purported to act with the authority of a real government, and engaged in governmental activities, such as: commissioning peace officers with the purported authority to carry weapons and use force, including deadly force, to effect their edicts; convening grand juries; issuing indictments and warrants; electing officers; entering into treaties with foreign governments; and chartering banks.

In response to these activities, many states have enacted legislation that creates a criminal offense for filing a fraudulent court document or record, exercising a function of public office that has no lawful existence, delivering a document that simulates a legal process, and refusing to execute the release of a fraudulent instrument purporting to create a lien or claim. Some legislation creates an expedited judicial process that permits someone aggrieved by the fraudulent filing to obtain a court order declaring the filing to be fraudulent. In addition, some legislation also provides for civil remedies by creating a private cause of action against a person who files fraudulent judgement liens or fraudulent documents purporting to create a lien against real or personal property in favor of a person aggrieved by the filing or an attorney representing the state, county, or municipality.

Legislative Personnel Law: There is a Difference

Submitted by Dina Hidalgo, Director of Personnel, Senate, California

Susan Coskey an Attorney with the law firm of Garvey, Schubert and Barer, was the presenter of this 2 hour session. Ms. Coskey spoke on several points relative to employment law and appropriate conduct as it relates to Legislatures as employers. She discussed everything from the general do's and don'ts of prescreening applicants, provided examples of both proper and improper questions asked during interviews and presented illustrations of inherent biases or stereotypes which are generally prevalent and often go unrecognized. Ms. Coskey also talked about the different types of harassment that can and do occur in the work environment, the importance of not only having a written policy preventing harassment but a policy that clearly spells out the process for filing a complaint. Ultimately, Ms. Coskey emphasized two points- the importance of employers' responsibility in accepting and responding to complaints immediately and the bottom line "Treat Employees with Dignity and Respect"!

The Legislator of the New Millenium

Submitted by Lt. Bill Morgan, Connecticut State Capitol Police

Can you imagine having your email read to you by your computer? Or answering your email by talking to your computer as you drive to the Capitol? How about working on the same document from your lap top computer at home while your staff person works on that same document while he/she is at your Capitol office- 300 miles away?

These were some of the ideas shown to the group during this exciting session. This type of technology is now available. The voice recognition software and "PC anywhere" type programs are operational today. This makes one think of what the future holds. Will computers react as fast as the human brain in the next twenty years? The use of technology will only be limited by what we can envision.

This was the challenge the presenters made to the group. Jim Greenwalt of the Senate Information Systems of Minnesota presented some of his ideas as to where this technology is headed. Steve Watson, NLSSA President, was part of the panel discussing the interfacing of the newest technology into the legislative process.

So think out of the box, push yourself and the applications of technology in the systems of government to the limit.

Indiana State Capitol Tour

Submitted by: Kae Warnock, NCSL Liaision to NLSSA

Members of NLSSA had the opportunity to tour the Indiana State Capitol during the NCSL Annual Meeting in Indianapolis in late July. As always, the chance to see a capitol and see how it is used was a great experience.

Although Indiana became a state in 1816, there was no single place from which the legislature, Governor and other officers of the state could work until 1835. That statehouse stood on the south end of the present statehouse. However, the ceiling of the House Chamber collapsed in 1867 and a few years later the building was so dilapidated that a commission was created to build a new statehouse. The current statehouse was constructed over a period of nine years. The exterior of the building was completed in 1886 and the General Assembly held its first session in the new Statehouse in 1887. The Statehouse was remodeled several times over the next 101 years. The most recent renovation was completed in 1988 and took the Statehouse back to the original colors and look of 1888.

Although most of the original light fixtures were missing, restorers were able to make reproductions of the original wall sconces. The chandeliers on the fourth floor are the only original light fixtures remaining from the 1880s.

In the rotunda is a beautiful stained glass dome 72 feet in diameter, supported by eight granite columns. There are eight marble statues in the rotunda representing the hallmarks of civilization -

Law, Oratory, Agriculture, Commerce, Justice, Liberty, History and Art. Only two of the statues are male - Law and Oratory, and only one - Justice, was modeled after a real person - Mrs. May Wilson, the wife of an Indiana Judge.

There are four atriums leading away from the rotunda (North, South, East and West) and from the atriums you can see that on each floor the columns supporting the dome change style - Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian.

The House Chamber is on the third floor. On the wall behind the Speaker's podium is a mural depicting Indiana statehood as a woman in an empire style gown. William Henry Harrison stands next to her and behind them are a Sycamore tree, the Wabash River Valley and the Wabash and Erie Canal. To the right is the Goddess of Agriculture and to the left is Education.

Above the chamber is a chandelier with 100 lights representing each of the members of the House of Representatives. Access to the gallery is on the fourth floor.

The Senate Chamber has a very unique design where the walls of the chamber are actually windows from the offices of the senators and staff that look out upon the floor. Access to the gallery is on the fourth floor.

The desks in both chambers are wired for telephone and Internet access and both chambers use automated voting systems.

The Supreme Court is located in the north wing. The court room is decorated and furnished as it was in 1888 and all furnishings in the room are original.

The ground level houses press and administrative offices and House and Senate committee rooms. The ground floor was originally a stable for the legislators horses and was converted to office space between 1917 and 1920.

The exterior stone is Oolithic Limestone from three Indiana counties and much of the other stone used to construct the building is also from Indiana.

Region 1

California

Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Upholds Security and Family Tradition

November 29, 1998

By Carl Ingram

Los Angeles Times

Copyright 1998, Reprinted with permission by the LA Times

SACRAMENTO- The telephone would ring in the Senate sergeant-at-arms office at the state Capitol and the demands of legislators would roll in:

· Go to my apartment and feed my cats.

"Some of our members became outrageous in what they wanted us to do," said Tony Beard, Jr., the man who for years fielded many such demands and, eventually, helped phase them out.

"We don't get those kinds of requests anymore," Beard said of what until a few years ago was accepted legislative practice.

"It was using state employees for personal reasons," said Beard, the chief sergeant-at-arms of the state Senate since 1981 and the third-generation member of his family to make a career of safeguarding the Capitol.

Beard said the requests came from a handful of senators and were largely unknown to members of the governing Senate Rules Committee, headed by then-President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles).

When he privately outlined the abuses to the committee, Beard said, it readily gave him the backing he sought to refuse any chore that did not qualify as "legitimate legislative business".

"I was worried that they'd look at me and say, `What's your problem?' But they were actually shocked" at the list of demands, Beard recalled in an interview last week.

These days, Beard says, his staff of 16 still will be asked occasionally to get coffee or perform a personal errand. More likely, they are apt to be summoned to monitor a Capitol demonstration or check out a threat to a member, he says.

Earlier this month, Beard and CHP Commissioner D.O. Helmick found themselves standing outside the Capitol watching as protesters rappelled from the roof and unfurled a 40-foot banner seeking better protection for Humboldt County's redwood forests.

Beard, 48, a onetime amateur stuntman who considered turning pro, is one of hundreds of Capitol staffers whose unpublicized tasks keep the Legislature on track.

The unarmed sergeants-at-arms are charged with maintaining the security of the Senate and Assembly chambers, committee rooms and legislative offices. They are augmented by armed officers of the California Highway Patrol.

They also must keep order and operate recording equipment at committee hearings, carry messages from lobbyists to legislators in the chamber, and distribute bills and other documents to the members.

Tasks such as transporting lawmakers to the airport or moving office furniture is handled by a separate support staff known as special services.

Beard, a graying, affable man with a streak of vanity, delights in telling how he has reformed his office from a band of mostly retired policemen to a younger, more diverse cadre trained in weaponless defense and emergency preparedness techniques.

His assistants, all certified peace officers, are equipped with Secret Service-style earplug radios. They monitor a bank of remote cameras that scan the Capitol.

"He is a total professional," said Roberti, one of Beard's former bosses. "He wanted to professionalize the service and he did. Under him, it became a security service as opposed to serving coffee."

It was on a spring day in 1967 that the Capitol lost its innocence as a wide-open public building virtually devoid of security precautions.

As startled tourists and schoolchildren watched, two dozen armed members of a little known revolutionary band called the Black Panthers stormed into the Assembly chamber to protest a gun regulation bill.

Shocked legislators froze in their seats or ducked for safety behind their desks. Beard's father, veteran Assembly Sergeant-at-Arms Tony Beard, marched down from his post at the rostrum and ordered the invaders out. They obeyed.

"That's where it all started to change," Beard Jr. said. Gradually, Capitol security tightened- a process that is still underway.

In 1981, when he applied for the post as the Senate's chief sergeant, Beard, who served as a Capitol night watchman and furniture mover, said he pitched hard for making security a higher priority.

"The nature of the job is protection of the house," Beard said. He stressed that public institutions should be considered vulnerable to possible attach by disgruntled individuals or groups and must be prepared.

"Life is changing in this arena," Beard recalled telling the Rules Committee. "People don't like you for a variety of reasons."

His father, a former stuntman who appeared in films with Hollywood stars such as John Wayne and Clark Gable, served as the chief Assembly sergeant-at-arms for 21 years. He retired in 1977.

Actually, the father and son Capitol security tradition got started in the early 1900s, when Beard's grandfather, Joseph Beard, was appointed chief of the tiny State Police Department by Gov. Hiram Johnson. He retired in 1947.

But the tradition will end with Beard. His daughter, Kristin, is a Sacramento lobbyist and has never expressed any interest in following his career path.

"She's been around here since she was a baby," he said. "She knows the place, but she is very good as a lobbyist."

California

Revitalize State Legislatures

August 25, 1999

By David S. Border

The Sacramento Bee

If someone were to ask, "What are the most revitalized governmental institutions in America?" few of us would think to answer "state legislatures." But that is the case made in the 25^th anniversary of State Legislatures magazine, and it's not a bad answer.

The claim comes from someone who is anything but an unbiased source.

William T. Pound, the author of the theme article in the anniversary edition, is the executive director of the National Conference of State Legislatures, trade association for those lawmakers and their staffs.

The legislatures are not alone in being transformed. You could make the argument that the Supreme Court of today, with its law-and-order and protect-states-rights-majority, is radically different from the Warren court of the mid-1970s. You could also argue that Congress is substantially changed, not in just having a Republican majority instead of Democratic control, but in more fundamental institutional terms. Power in the House was sweepingly decentralized in the mid 1970's, and after brief attempts at top-down leadership by former speakers Jim Wright and Newt Gingrich, the House has become once again a place where committee and subcommittee chairs hold sway.

The Senate, for its part, has become a real anachronism, a body where a cohesive minority, especially when allied with a president of the same party, can function more effectively than a majority, if that majority lacks the 60 votes needed to override the threat of a filibuster.

But let's not argue for the sake of argument. The legislatures have been overhauled in the past quarter-century, and it's a good thing too because they're taking on a lot more responsibility from the overloaded and wheezing institutions in Washington.

Consider some of the changes: Twenty-five years ago, only two out of 100 legislators considered it a full-time job. Now 15 percent do. Then, the legislatures were 92 percent male; now more than one-fifth of the members are women and almost one-ninth are minorities.

Over a longer time span, the differences look even more dramatic. In 1941, only four legislatures held annual sessions. Now only seven states _ Arkansas, Kentucky, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon and Texas _ are on a biennial schedule.

The growth in the power and influence of the legislature began with the one-person, one-vote decisions of the 1960s that ended the control of rural, courthouse gangs. In the following two decades, the newly elected urban and suburban legislators provided themselves with more staff, more research and communications facilities and began to emulate the committee system of Congress to develop expertise that liberated them from domination by governors and executive branch bureaucrats.

That process has continued with the use of computers and Internet connections. Ironically, legislative salaries _ measured in constant dollars _ have not increased in most states. But ethics rules have been tightened, a good thing considering the growth in the lobbyist colonies in almost every state Capitol and the explosion in the costs of legislative campaigns.

The next quarter-century probably will bring challenges at least as great as those of the past. As NCSL staffer Rich Jones writes in the anniversary issue, "Promoting legislatures in the 21^st century won't be easy. The reform agenda of the 1660s was essentially an inside game _ add staff, build facilities, lengthen sessions. It involved things over which legislatures had direct control. The 21^st century agenda is an outside game of communication the virtues of the legislative institution and representative democracy through a cynical media to an increasingly uninterested and uniformed citizenry."

Alan Rosenthal of Rutgers, the leading academic authority on legislatures, rejects the simplistic idea that either professional legislators or citizen legislators are automatically superior. "A vital part of a legislature's capacity," he writes, "is the quality of the legislators themselves." But some states have chosen one model and others have chosen the alternative, with equally satisfactory results.

What probably counts more for their future well-being, Rosenthal writes, is the level of "concern, community and continuity" within each body. The first two refer to the willingness of members to defend the institution (rather than run against it) and to build the personal ties with other members that incline everyone to accept the norms of legislative life, notable civility and compromise. The continuity factor is jeopardized by the term limits imposed in 18 states and by the relatively meager salaries in many others.

The legislatures have come a long way. But it would be a mistake to think they are now securely anchored and ready to do their best.

Montana

State Offices Relocated for Capitol Restoration

April 26, 1999

By Grant Sasek

Helena Independent Record

The gavel that slammed down last Wednesday to end the 1999 Legislature also sounded the beginning of the next flurry of activity to take place inside Montana's Capitol.

The Capitol restoration is set to begin soon, but before the dust flies offices full of state employees need to be relocated into temporary, less disrupted, locations.

Bill Bayless, administrator of the General Services Division, said Friday that the goal is to keep disruption to a minimum _ both for state employees and for Montanans seeking services from their government officials.

To do that, the plan calls for the moving to be done on weekends during May.

"There will be some inconvenience, but our goal is to keep it to a minimum," Bayless said.

In all, there are 192 state employees who work in offices in the Capitol. Not all of them will be moved at any one time, Bayless said.

The renovation, which is expected to be completed in time for the beginning of the January 2001 Legislature, will be tackled in two phases.

The 80 employees working in the Capitol's west wing offices, including the Secretary of State and Legislative Auditor offices, will remain where they are at least until this fall. As work progresses in the remainder of the Capitol, the west wing offices will remain open and accessible by the public, Bayless said.

For the other 112 workers, May is moving month.

Work to renovate the central core and east wing of the Capitol begins soon.

The workers will be moved to various locations around Helena for about a year while the work is under way, Bayless said.

The move into the new locations, rent on the temporary spaces and the move back to the Capitol is expected to cost $400,000, Bayless said.

He added that when possible, the temporary facilities were chosen in locations where the state already has, or plans to have, offices. In the long run, that would cut costs in wiring, telephone installation and associated costs.

The following is a list of the expected moving date for the offices and their new, temporary locations:

May 1-2 - Budget Office, 17 employees, will move to the second floor of the Federal Building on the south end of Last Chance Gulch in downtown Helena.

May 8-9 - Legislative Services, Environmental Quality Council and Legislative Fiscal Division, 66 employees, will move to the Federal Building.May 15-16 - Governor's office, Lt. Gov.'s office and associated offices, 29 employees, will move into the first floor of the USF&G Building on 1625 11th Ave.

Bayless said the advantage of moving workers into the Federal Building is that the state plans to fill much of the building with state workers once it is vacated by federal employees. And, he added, state employees already occupy part of the USF&G Building.

Other employees for phase two of the project could be moved from the Capitol by as early as this fall, Bayless said.

In the end, all of the shuffling around will be worth it, he said.

Along with improving utilities in the building, including air conditioning, damaged portions of the building will restored or replaced, Bayless said.

"Some of the changes will be subtle, others will be dramatic," he said. "People will notice the difference."

Region 2

Arkansas

Cleanup of Poisons Found Near Capitol Completed

June 7, 1999

By Rachel O'Neal

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

For years, state employees and state Capitol visitors walked near, and perhaps above, a buried concrete vault containing poison. Some ate lunch at nearby picnic tables.

The toxic material, polychlorinated biphenyls, probably would still be there if construction workers hadn't happened upon it earlier this year.

Commonly called PCBs, the substance is a liquid that can cause liver tumors. The fumes can irritate skin and eyes.

But officials say the levels that were found were low and didn't pose a health risk.

The decades-old vault was discovered Feb. 11 by construction workers on a project to expand the Justice Building, which is on the Capitol grounds just southwest of the Capitol.

The building is at Marshall and Seventh streets. The vault was found in an area west of the building.

Workmen found the 15-foot-by-30-foot vault during demolition when a chunk of concrete fell on it, according to cleanup reports and interviews with state officials.

The vault was full of water, which began changing color. Demolition work was halted. A sample of the water indicated that oil was floating on top of the water and that the vault contained PCBs, reports said.

The state later learned that the PCBs were leaking from a crack in an abandoned electric transformer in the vault. The transformer cracked when the concrete fell into the vault.

Doug Szenher, spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Quality, said PCBs don't pose a health risk unless a person comes into direct contact with the substance, such as by absorbing it through the skin, eating food grown in soil contaminated with PCBs or drinking water containing PCBs.

Szenher said the workmen who discovered the transformer were not at risk. He pointed out that no one was "splashing around" in the water and oil containing PCBs. Floyd Farmer, state engineer with State Building Services agency, agreed.

A crew hired to clean up the site was not allowed to eat, drink, chew gum or tobacco, smoke, take medication or apply cosmetics while in potentially contaminated areas, according to a report on general safety rules on file with the Environmental Quality Department.

The crew also was ordered to avoid contact with potentially contaminated substances. "Do not walk through puddles, pools, mud, etc. Avoid, whenever possible, kneeling on the ground, and leaning or sitting on the ground, drums or equipment," according to the safety rules.

J.D. Gingerich, director of the Administrative Office of the Courts, said recently that he and the Supreme Court justices were notified about the discovery of materials containing PCBs. He said he didn't know whether other employees who work in the Justice Building also were made aware of it.

"I was comfortable with the action they were taking, and I believe the court was comfortable as well," Gingerich said of Building Services.

Farmer said that he believes the transformer may have been installed by the state in the early 1960s. In 1971, Arkansas Power and Light Co. agreed to construct an underground power facility to serve the state Capitol.

Farmer said the state did not remove the old transformer. At that time, the decision probably would have been acceptable, he said. Now, a trans former containing PCBs would have to be destroyed in a manner approved by the federal Environmental Protection Agency, he said.

At the time the transformer was abandoned, the secretary of state's office supervised the Justice Building and grounds. Kelly Bryant was secretary of state from 1963 until his death on Oct. 30, 1975. In 1993, Building Services took over the Justice Building and grounds.

According to EPA information, the federal agency did not begin regulating PCBs until 1977, six years after the state had abandoned the old transformer.

By then, Farmer speculated, the people who had made the decision to abandon the equipment had probably forgotten about it or no longer worked for the state.

The EPA allows materials containing PCB levels of less than 50 parts per million to be disposed of in a regular landfill. The EPA frequently allows materials that register 50 to 500 parts per million to be disposed of in a landfill also, Szenher said.

Materials containing PCB levels of more than 500 parts per million must be incinerated, according to EPA regulations, Szenher said.

The levels of PCBs found in the vault varied. Oil samples revealed 160 parts per million. The water registered 1.2 parts per million. Dirt and sediment outside the vault ranged from 2.8 parts per million to 8.4 parts per million, according to reports.

"Sometimes, the EPA will want to take the lead in a PCB case," Szenher said. "They did not want to take the lead in this one because the levels were not sufficiently high enough to get their attention."

The Environmental Quality Department spent $69,576.50 from its Emergency Response Fund to clean up the site, according to reports.

The department hired Pollution Management Inc. of Little Rock to handle the cleanup. The company removed 6,717 gallons of oil and water from the vault, which was transported to Port Arthur, Texas, and incinerated, according the company's final report.
The transformer was disposed of at the BFI landfill at 3817 Mabelvale Pike in southwest Little Rock. The company also excavated 132 cubic yards of soil, concrete rubble and debris, which also was taken to the southwest Little Rock landfill, the report said. The cleanup was completed on April 2.

The disposal plan was approved by the EPA, Szenher said.
According to the final report, prepared by Pollution Management, "no threat to the environment or the health and safety of others would seem to remain at the site as a result of a release of PCB oil from the electrical transformer."
The site that contained the transformer will become a concrete driveway leading into a new underground parking deck for the Justice Building, Farmer said.
Leo Munford, construction administrator for Building Services, said the cleanup work caused a "very minor delay" in the construction of the expansion project. He said workers were able to work around the cleanup job.
The Legislature approved the Justice Building expansion project, estimated to cost $7.6 million, in 1997. The project includes the construction of a 31,940-square-foot expansion of the Justice Building and a 10,000-square-foot parking deck. Work is expected to be complete in June 2000, Munford said.

Kansas

Legislature Approves Money for Capitol Remodeling

Nearly $2 million will be spent on Cedar Crest, Memorial Building and Judicial Center

May 5, 1999
By Roger Myers
The Capital-Journal

Almost $2 million was appropriated by the Legislature before it adjourned its 1999 session late Sunday to perform major remodeling and renovation on a number of buildings in the Capitol area.
Lawmakers authorized $986,627 in the coming fiscal year to finish renovation of the governor's residence, Cedar Crest, boosting the total cost of the complete makeover of the state's executive mansion to approximately $2.3 million.

The extensive remodeling and modernization of Cedar Crest has been under way since last fall, and the first family has been living in a rented private residence while the work was under way at their official home.

Thaine Hoffman, the state architect, told the Joint Committee on State Building Construction during the legislative session that the additional funding was needed because of unforeseen amounts of hazardous materials, such as asbestos and lead pipe plumbing, that was uncovered during the renovation, the need to repair the exterior stucco of the mansion and renovation of the west porch that was omitted from original cost estimates.

Efforts also are under way to raise about $2.5 million of private funding to restore ornate and decorative plaster and other interior coverings in the governor's residence. Much of the private funding will be used to restore the mansion's windows.

Lawmakers also provided $400,000 for planning and remodeling of space in the Statehouse into new committee meeting rooms and legislative office space following relocation of the secretary of state's offices to the Memorial Building from the Capitol Building.

Relocation of the secretary of state to the Memorial Building at S.W. 10th and Jackson is scheduled for this fall.

As part of that move, the offices of the state attorney general also will be moved into the Memorial Building from the Kansas Judicial Center at 301 S.W. 10th. The Legislature appropriated $95,000 to remodel the attorney general's offices in the Judicial Center into use by justices of the Kansas Supreme Court and judges of the Kansas Court of Appeals plus their staffs.

Lawmakers appropriated $195,000 to equip the Memorial Building with a new security system.

The Legislature also provided $64,000 to continue replacement of 20-year-old carpeting in the Judicial Center. But they refused to appropriate the full $128,000 that the justices and judges said was needed to complete the final two phases of the carpet replacement.

Michigan

Security to be Beefed Up at State Capitol Building

May 24, 1999

Copyright 1999, Reprinted with permission by the Associated Press

Security will be tightened at the state Capitol at the same time lawmakers wrestle with the issue of relaxing the state's gun laws.

The goal of the beefed-up security is to reduce the risk of a violent encounter between the public and legislators.

Metal detectors are planned for the third-floor House gallery.

Public access to legislators' offices will be tightly regulated at a new office building for House members that will open across the street from the Capitol in the fall.

The 23-officer Capitol post of the Michigan State Police is expected to relocate to the Capitol from the nearby Treasury Building in August.

"You don't want to wait for some kind of tragedy until you do something," Lorri Rishar, a spokeswoman for the House Republican caucus and Speaker Chuck Perricone, R-Kalamazoo Township, told the Lansing State Journal for a story Monday.

The House voted last week to make it easier for residents to obtain permits to carry a concealed weapon.

The Senate, which has no plans for metal detectors outside its gallery, is expected to pass the measure this week.

Legislative leaders also plan to post signs telling people they cannot carry guns into the Capitol, a measure provided for in the bill.

Tightened security at the new office building wasn't prompted by any incidents, said Rob Blackshaw, project manager for the House.

But it follows a rash of random shooting sprees and threats of violence in the nation's schools and an attack on the U.S. Capitol last July that killed two federal police officers.

"This is more of a proactive approach because of all the stuff that is going on," Blackshaw told the State Journal. Several states stepped up security at their capitol buildings after the Washington, D.C., shooting. But most are like Lansing, where the public can enter and leave the Capitol through several sets of doors and can reach legislators' offices without passing security.

"I don't think the legislatures ever want to feel that they're behind a glass wall and the public can't get to them," said Kae Warnock, a research analyst who deals with security issues for the National Conference of State Legislatures. "It's hard enough for the public to feel that they can get involved with the legislative process."

Perricone is tightening access to the Capitol during after-hours periods and favors a metal detector outside the public gallery, Ms. Rishar said.

A final decision to install one hasn't been made, she said.

A December 1996 Michigan State Police report said that although there had been no violence and little vandalism, the security of the Capitol and of those inside it was "at a substantial risk," Ms. Rishar said.

The report recommended metal detectors and security cameras.

Senators have offices in the Capitol and the Farnum Building, where there are no plans for stepped-up security, said Jennifer Murray, a spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow, R-Port Huron. Nor are there plans for a metal detector outside the Senate public gallery, she said.

"I think it's probably over-reaching," Sen. Dianne Byrum, D-Onondaga, said of the House moves to improve security. "If you make government distant and unapproachable for the citizens, then that is going to be at the detriment of democracy."

Sen. John Schwarz, R-Battle Creek, vice chairman of the Michigan Capitol Committee, said he's satisfied with security in the Capitol and the Farnum Building, where he has an alarm button in his office if he needs to alert sergeants.

"There are bad guys out there; we know that," Schwarz said. "I don't think it serves any useful purpose for us to adopt a siege mentality."

Missouri

82-Year-Old is Missouri Senate Doorkeeper

May 5, 1999

By Scott Charton

JEFFERSON CITY- At 82,

B.W. Robinson has already retired from a career that took him to the pinnacle of Missouri public education.

But he never stopped teaching.

For the last 15 years, Robinson has enjoyed a second career: doorkeeper for the Missouri Senate.

In that role, he has made a classroom out of the gateway to democratic action.

"I am still in education, in a sense," Robinson says.

"Senators ask me to talk to their groups about the interior of the Senate chamber, and who are the people in the paintings, where the mahogany and marble came from, and the lights and fixtures."

"The reason I can do that is because I like to teach. That Senate chamber is one of the elegant rooms in our state. It has beauty and architectural significance, and somebody needs to tell these young people about it. I'm afraid the fourth grade could visit from northwest Missouri and not get to hear the significance of these little details," he says.

The title of doorkeeper may sound humble.

But then, Robinson is a humble man - ever ready with a smile and a hearty handshake or an affectionate hug for visitors to the Senate's Pershing Gallery.

Robinson's humility shields his distinguished professional resume in education, starting in 1936 as a teacher of eight grades in a one-room schoolhouse and capped by two decades as the No. 2 official in the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

And it doesn't hint at his first-name relationships with the most influential Missourians, including Gov. Me l Carnahan, whose now-grown children Robinson knew from his eight years as school superintendent in Rolla, the governor's hometown.

His quiet approachability also doesn't reveal a record of volunteerism that would tax much younger people, including world travels for Lions International as a member of the civic organization's international board.

Not to mention his efforts for Boy Scouts, the Red Cross, the State Historical Society of Missouri, the University of Missouri Alumni Association, Cole County's meals program for senior citizens and Sunday mornings spent as senior usher at First Christian Church in the capital city.

The church door is where Robinson's welcoming hugs are showcased: "Some of these dear ladies at church tell me that's the only loving they get all week, God bless them."

Of all his volunteer activities, Lions International has prove d perhaps the most rewarding for its programs to help the visually impaired. And his world travels for Lions - to every continent except Australia - gave Robinson one of his most harrowing experiences.

On a flight in South Africa, a plane carrying Robinson and 26 others crashed into a mountaintop near a wild animal preserve. Four people died at the scene, and the aircraft caught fire. Robinson helped pull survivors to safety, then fretted about whether hungry animals might be prospecting for a meal. The group spent 17 hours without water on the rugged mountainside before being discovered by a native woodsman.

"I loved that man to death, I was so glad to see him," Robinson recalled. "Later, the doctors said the wild animals weren't the biggest problem. It turns out some of the most terrible snakes were right around there, and that's what we should have been scared of."

Robinson spent almost two weeks in a Johannesburg hospital for his injuries, including torn ligaments and ripped muscles in his legs. Then he walked out of the hospital using a cane and resumed his Lions speechmaking tour across Africa and Europe.

"B.W. Robinson is the very definition of a gentleman. He is an awesome example of making the most of every minute, and he inspires with the service he turns in every day," said Larry Rohrbach, a Republican state senator who counts Robinson among his constituents.

The admiration for Robinson is bipartisan.

"B.W. is one of the best-known people in Missouri through his years in education, and now through his years at the door of the Missouri Senate," said Democrat Sen. John Scott, who hired Robinson while serving as Senate president pro tem in the 1980s.

Robinson was brought to the Senate, Scott said, because of his knack for remembering names and faces - and for his discretion in dealing with Senate visitors of every rank, background and disposition.

On a recent busy legislative day, Robinson greeted Secretary of State Bekki Cook. "Now, what senator wants you?" he asked with a gentle touch on Cook's shoulder.

That same greeting is repeated dozens of times each day to lobbyists and news reporters, politicians and legislative staffers, school groups and assorted hangers-on.

"He has been such a teacher to me as a lobbyist," said Coleen Coble, executive director of the Missouri Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

Coble recalled her first tentative steps toward the Senate door years ago, and how she awkwardly asked Robinson to call out a veteran member who was tied up in heated floor debate.

"B.W. told me, `Dear, he is a little busy now. Why don't you just step up to the visitors gallery upstairs and I'm so sure he will want to visit with you when he is finished,' and it was so charming," Coble said.

Robinson said he is energized by his contacts with people from many backgrounds.

"Two things are operative with me: In the main, I have enjoyed good health. That enables me to do this. And second, because I do it and stay active, I believe it makes my health better," Robinson said.

Robinson, whose wife died in 1979, arrives at the Capitol just after 8 a.m. on session days, "which beats being at the house alone. I'm too busy meeting people to think about my own ailments or problems."

"I love being with people. It strengthens me. I just have a strong desire to see the world a little bit better than it might be if I didn't do the small things I do."

Minnesota

Senator is Hit in the Face with Protester's Pie

March 31, 1999

By Jim Caple

ST. PAUL-A cream pie in the face has been a stock comedy gag since at least the silent-movie days, but state officials aren't laughing.

Five days after a pie was thrown at Gov. Jesse Ventura, a coconut cream pie was tossed into the face of Sen. Carol Flynn as she walked out of the Senate chamber Tuesday afternoon. Flynn said she lunged for the pie-thrower, slipped, and fell to the ground. She said she was unhurt, although "my dignity was damaged."

The pie-thrower was arrested by Capitol Security guards. He was identified by Flynn and the Department of Public Safety as Robert Greenburg, 31. He was booked into Ramsey County Jail on charges of assault on a public official - a gross misdemeanor that carries a possible one-year sentence - and disturbing the Legislature.

A second man identified as Jonathan Smucker, 21, who was taking photos of the incident, was arrested and charged with aiding and abetting an assault.

"We are going to be very aggressive," assistant State Patrol chief Steve Mengelkoch said. "We are going to get the message out that we are not going to tolerate this."

Tuesday's pie apparently was thrown in response to Flynn's announcement earlier in the day that she would not hear a symbolic resolution regarding the controversial Highway 55 re-route in the Senate Transportation Committee, which she chairs. Greenburg has identified himself as a member of Earth First! and a spokesman for protesters who occupied vacant houses in the 55 area last fall.

A Minnesota News Network radio reporter recorded the incident, and a man is heard on the tape announcing that he is delivering Flynn "her just desserts" for killing the resolution.

Flynn, DFL-Minneapolis, said one reason she chose not to hear the proposal in her committee was because "it was inflammatory, and unfortunately it became more so."

"I guess we shouldn't be surprised after they took control for several months and it took 600 officers to evict them," she said, speaking of continued protesters. "The violence was just under the surface."

Public Safety Commissioner Charlie Weaver said that despite the jokes likely to circulate, the incidents highlight a serious security issue.

As Weaver put it, "A handgun is a hell of a lot easier to conceal than a pie."

Security has been an issue much of the session. Ventura received a permit to carry a handgun and his budget requests nearly $1.4 million to boost his security and put guards at his Maple Grove home. Weaver has said Ventura's celebrity has increased the need for security.

Weaver said he doesn't want to over-react but might have his office re-evaluate Capitol security measures this summer.

"The worst thing is to turn the Capitol into a fortress, and we're not going to do that," Weaver said. "At the same time people who do this have to be held accountable. And it brings home, in a real sense, the security issue, not just for the governor but everyone who serves here."

"To our credit, we have one of the most open Capitols in the country, but we are not going to allow people to assault our elected officials."

Weaver said he would not rule out installing metal detectors at the Capitol.

"We're unusual in not having them," he said. "Right now you can walk into just about into any senator's office anytime."

Someone threw a pie at Ventura during an appearance at a Minneapolis community center Thursday evening, hitting a bodyguard instead. Mengelkoch said there will be a full investigation to see whether there was any link between that incident and Tuesday's, and if any more people were involved. He said no one has been arrested in the Ventura incident.

The 55 Re-Route project would turn a site some consider sacred Indian land into a four-lane parkway linking downtown Minneapolis and the airport. Activists occupied vacant houses in the area for several months during the fall before police forcibly evicted and arrested them.

Sen. Ellen Anderson, who sponsored the resolution, said she hopes the actions of the pie-thrower do not hamper the work done by many others "who have been working within the system."

Anderson, DFL-St. Paul, was near Flynn during the incident and was visibly shaken afterward. She said she favors reasonable security measures but does not want to limit public access to state offices.

"I've never supported restricting access at the Capitol because it's the people's building," said. "But I've never been near someone who had a pie thrown at them. I know it's just a pie, but it felt like an assault."

"I'll never think a pie in the face is funny again."

Minnesota

Judge Sentences Activist for Tossing Pie at Lawmaker

July 3, 1999

By Lucy Quinlivan

Copyright 1999, Reprinted with permission of the Saint Paul Pioneer Press

ST. PAUL-Citing the defendant's lack of remorse, a Ramsey County judge on Friday gave convicted pie-thrower Robert Greenberg a suspended sentence of a year in jail and a $3,000 fine.

"It appears you continue to believe you have done nothing wrong, that you are a `political prisoner' and that you are being punished solely for your beliefs," District Judge Dale B. Lindman told Greenberg. The sentence, the judge said, was based "on violations of the law and your callous attitude toward the law."

Greenberg was convicted in May of disorderly conduct and disturbing the Legislature or intimidating one of its members for tossing a pie in the face of state Sen. Carol Flynn, DFL-Minneapolis, on March 30. Greenberg said he did it to call attention to his cause-the rerouting of Minnesota 55 in South Minneapolis. He was acquitted of fifth-degree assault.

Lindman ordered Greenberg to serve 60 days-20 of them in the workhouse. The remaining 40 days of Greenberg's sentence may be served in home detention or another program if he is eligible. He also was ordered to perform 150 hours of community service, to have no contact with Flynn and to stay away from the Legislature for one year.

In a statement in court, Greenberg characterized his actions as civil disobedience, not criminal. Greenberg said he would accept no probation requirement that limited his right to free speech, that he would refuse to wear a jail uniform and that he would refuse to eat.

Greenberg is a member of Earth First!, whose members established what they called the Minnehaha Free State and occupied seven vacant houses on the 5300 block of Riverview Drive marked for destruction for the highway.

Michael Majeski, Greenberg's lawyer, said he would appeal the conviction.

St. Paul City Attorney Clayton Robinson, who prosecuted the case, said the sentence was appropriate.

"In his statement, he indicated his actions were willful, intentional," Robinson said. "His lawyer even said they were premeditated, and the Legislature has said they are a crime. There is no such thing as the Greenberg exception."

South Dakota

More State Lawmakers Using Laptop Computers

March 20, 1999

By Chet Brokaw

Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan

Copyright 1999, Reprinted with permission by the Associated Press

PIERRE - The South Dakota Legislature likely will provide laptop computers to more lawmakers next year.

Thirty lawmakers used laptops in the recently completed session as part of a pilot program. Ten House and Senate leaders also switched from desktop computers to laptops in their offices.

Terry Anderson, director of the Legislative Research Council, said he will encourage the Legislature to add another 30 laptop computers next year.

Within two years, a laptop computer probably will be available to any lawmaker who wants one, Anderson said. The Legislature has 105 members.

The Legislature's Executive Board, which manages legislative business, will set up a subcommittee to review computer issues this summer.

The Legislature in recent years has rapidly changed from keeping all records on paper to a new system that uses one computer system to handle the entire process. The public and lawmakers can get up-to-date legislative information from the Internet.

The lawmakers using laptops can plug into docking stations and download the latest information in less than a minute. That provides them with information on what has happened to each bill in the House and Senate.

Anderson said the use of laptop computers was intended to give lawmakers quick and accurate information. `'That was a success.''

Some lawmakers, like Sen. Barb Everist of Sioux Falls, used the laptops daily to find out what changes had been made in bills. Everist said that before she left the Capitol on Fridays, she would download the latest legislative information so she could quickly answer questions posed by constituents during the weekend.

Everist said she is looking into how she can best use the laptop during the months the Legislature is not in session. `'I'm trying to figure out every way I can to use it to its maximum.''

Until legislative records became available by computer, lawmakers and others had to lug around three-ringed notebooks full of hundreds of bills. Daily journals that described House and Senate actions provided information on changes that had been made to the bills.
The new system lets anyone read the latest version of a bill without having to check elsewhere to find out what parts have been changed.

Lawmakers benefit by getting information from a computer quickly during South Dakota's brief legislative sessions, which only run 35 or 40 days a year, Everist said.

`'It does matter. Time is important,'' she said.

If a lawmaker uses a laptop during the legislative session, the Legislature pays $160 a month to use the computer and the machine is then sent to some other state agency at the end of the session.

But when a lawmaker decides to keep a laptop after the session, the Legislature pays $4,000 for the machine, Anderson said. That laptop then will be used by the Legislature for four or five years, he said.

Wisconsin

Red Cross Program will Train People to use Defibrillators

February 28, 1999

By Lauren Neergaard

Wisconsin State Journal

Copyright 1999, Reprinted with

permission by the Associated Press

The American Red Cross launches an ambitious program this week to train thousands of everyday Americans to jump-start the hearts of cardiac arrest victims, putting the power of lifesaving defibrillators in your co-worker's hands.

Every year, 350,000 Americans collapse and die of cardiac arrest- their hearts just suddenly stop beating. Every minute spent waiting for paramedics to arrive lowers the chance of survival by 10 percent.

CPR buys patients crucial time, but it will not restart a heart. Now companies, shopping malls, even amusement parks are buying portable defibrillators, small versions of the electric shock paddles made famous on TV, that can jolt hearts into beating again.

Experts say portable defibrillators could save 100,000 lives a year, if used widely enough. They don't require medical expertise. Anyone with simple training can grab one and restart a person's heart, said Red Cross President Steve Bullock.

And they can't hurt: The machine won't shock if it detects a heartbeat.

"Our goal is to have America trained," said Bullock, who will announce Wednesday a pilot training program in 17 cities. "This is the way to save more lives."

Those cities are: Atlanta; Boston; Chicago; Dallas; Denver; Detroit; Durham, NC; Farmington, IN; Honolulu; Kansas City; Los Angeles; Miami; New York; Philadelphia; Seattle; St. Louis.

Between March and July, the 41/2-hour courses will be phased into the Red Cross's standard CPR training for U.S. businesses in those cities, teaching how to defibrillate a collapsed co-worker or customer.

Workplace training can protect the most people, because 130 million Americans work each week and many spend the majority of their waking hours on the job, Bullock said. One study suggests cardiac arrest is most common Monday morning and Friday afternoons.

The 17-city pilot project will be expanded to companies nation-wide in July.

Eventually, Bullock hopes to offer broader defibrillation training, in places like neighborhood community centers.

"It wasn't hard at all," said Ron Trainor, safety director of Brechteen Co., the first company trained.

Railroad tracks surrounded the Chesterfield, MI, meat-casing factory, meaning trains could block a much-needed ambulance, he said. Now if a worker collapses, 26 of 150 employees, enough for each shift, could use a defibrillator kept handy on the factory floor instead of awaiting paramedics.

Cardiac arrest is not a heart attack, it's worse: Without warning the electrical signals that pump the heart go haywire and the heartbeat stops. Victims pass out almost immediately. One in 20 survives.

CPR gets oxygen to the victim's brain while help is summoned, but only a jolt of electricity can restart the heart. Defibrillation within four minutes is most successful; after 10 minutes, it usually fails. Yet in many places _ traffic clogged cities, high-rises with slow elevators, remote rural areas _ paramedics can't arrive in time.

The first of several versions of portable defibrillators began selling only in late 1996, and not all paramedics carry them. Experts have focused on getting them to more paramedics and police, who often beat ambulances to an emergency. Some large corporations have trained security guards to use the $3000 devices and airlines too, are buying them.

But they're not yet a common part of first aid. The American Heart Association began offering community defibrillation courses in September, but the Red Cross program aims to give defibrillators a higher profile.

The Red Cross trains with Heartstream Inc.'s defibrillator; A computerized voice tells you to place two adhesive pads on the patient's chest. The machine measures EKG signals through the pads. If it diagnoses cardiac arrest, it charges up and tells you to push the "shock" button. A mild jolt travels through the pads, which then measure if the shock worked or if another is needed.

People do need training stressed the heart association's Patricia Bowser. They're taught to call 911 and start CPR while someone retrieves the defibrillator, and they get important advice like never to defibrillate someone lying in water.

But overall, "it's very, very easy," said Bowser, who expects defibrillator use to grow once more states pass laws giving liability protection to people who try to save a bystander. Only 21 states have such laws now, but "it's changing like crazy. The defibrillator issue is such a hot topic."

Wisconsin

Capitol Police Getting Motorcycle

July 28, 1999

By Jeff Mayers

Wisconsin State Journal

Copyright 1999, Reprinted with

Permission by the Wisconsin State Journal

The Capitol Police are about to join the ranks of law enforcement agencies with motorcycles _ courtesy of a gift from the Harley-Davidson-owned Buell Motorcycle Co.

And the new $12,995 high-performance Thunderbolt S3T _ signed over to the state for at least a year at the low price of $1 _ could be ready just in time for Gov. Tommy Thompson's Harley ride around Lake Superior next week.

Thompson and departing Administrative Secretary Mark Burgher were in the Black Hills on Tuesday to take part in the annual Harley conclave in Sturgis, S.D. Burgher rode there; Thompson flew there.

On Monday, the two will be part of an entourage leaving Madison for what has become an annual summer ride. This year the ride heads into Canada and around Lake Superior.

Whether the Buell cycle will be ridden by Thompson bodyguard and Capitol Police officer Nate Elias to help guard the governor during his trip is unclear. But it will be used in the coming months by Elias and at least one other licensed Capitol cop for escorting the governor and other officials and for patrolling the Capitol Square area.

Capitol Police Chief Michael Metcalf said if the motorcycle can be prepared in time it could be used "to shadow the governor" during his trip.

"It's good advertising for them," Metcalf said. "And it helps us out." Department of Administration Legal Counsel Ed Main said the gift arrangement wasn't unusual and that he had OK'd contract language to ensure proper insurance and liability coverage. He said the motorcycle would be used for the "escort and patrolling and probably this (governor's) event."

But Thompson spokesman Kevin Keane said current plans call for Elias to drive a repair truck and trailer. "Right now, we have no plans to use (the new motorcycle on the trip)," he said. Thompson usually rides a bike on loan from Harley, he added.

The State Patrol and many other police agencies in Wisconsin have motorcycles _ some under similar gift arrangements. Joe Hice, a Buell spokesman in East Troy, said the East Troy Police Department has used the Thunderbolt for a little over a year.

He said the white bike is lighter then Harley police cycles and has a 101-horsepower engine that's about twice as powerful as those on Harleys.

"It's a good opportunity to get the bike out there... so we can learn how it will perform," Hice said, touting its maneuverability in tight quarters.

Wisconsin

Legislators Approve Bill to Expand Defibrillator Use

June 17, 1999

By Richard P. Jones

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Copyright 1999, Reprinted with permission by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

MADISON _ If the governor agrees, life-saving devices that can revive heart attack victims with an electric shock may become as common as fire extinguishers in buildings.

The Legislature Tuesday sent Gov. Tommy G. Thompson a bill aimed at boosting the distribution of semiautomatic defibrillators.

On a voice vote, the Senate gave final legislative approval to the bill that would protect lay people trained in the use of the devices from being sued when acting as "good Samaritans."

Lay people who successfully complete four hours of training in the use of the defibrillators would be immune from civil liability if they used the devices in good faith. The proposal would not preclude lawsuits in cases of gross negligence.

"This bill will go a long way toward saving more lives," said Sen. Judy Robson (D-Beloit), Senate sponsor of the legislation. She said the American Heart Association estimates that if every state adopts such legislation, 100,000 lives could be saved annually nationwide.

"We envision them to be as common as fire extinguishers in public buildings," Robson said. She said she expected at least one to be placed in the Capitol. The devices cost between $3,000 to $3,500.

About the size of a backpack, semiautomatic defibrillators are devices used to shock a heart into normal rhythm. When a person suffers a heart attack, two electrodes are attached to the individual. With a press of a button, the device delivers an electric shock if a lethal heart rhythm, or quivering of the heart is evident.

Under current law, defibrillators can be used only by physicians, paramedics, emergency medical technicians and certain other "first responders" such as police officers who are trained and authorized to use them.

For years the American Heart Association has been urging wider distribution.

Under the bill, immunity to civil lawsuits applies only if a person completed a training course approved by the Department of Health and Family Services. The legal protection also would apply to the owner of the devices and the instructors.

"Semiautomatic defibrillators can be safely used by people with just four hours of training," said Robson, a registered nurse.

The computerized device signals when to administer a shock, Robson said. She described them as foolproof, preventing anyone from triggering an electric shock if the heart rate is fine.

Robson said the devices cannot be used on children younger than 8.

The legislation recently passed the Assembly on a voice vote. (Editors Note: signed into law as Act 7 by the Governor on July 28, 1999.) Besides Robson, its sponsors are Sen. Gary Drzewiecki (R-Pulaski) and Reps. DuWayne Johnsrud (R-Eastman) and Sheldon Wasserman (D-Milwaukee).

Wisconsin

Behind the Scaffolds, Capitol Mosaics being Saved

July 6, 1999

By Jenny Price

Herald Times Reporter

Copyright 1999, Reprinted with

Permission by the Associated Press

MADISON _ A man who worked for 45 years for a German company restoring mosaics has come out of retirement to work on a scaffold in the Capitol rotunda saving some of the building's treasures.

When Manfred Hoehn saw the glass tile murals up close for the first time, their fragile condition became apparent when his guide said, "Please don't cough."

Restoration of the 12-foot-high mosaics is part of a 10-year renovation of the Capitol.

In the 80 years since the four mosaics, representing government, liberty, legislation and justice, were installed, the glue holding them in place has corroded, Hoehn said. The government mosaic was bulging away from the wall.

"In (that) time they didn't have the glue we have these days," Hoehn said.

Each mosaic, designed by American painter and art critic Kenyon Cox, contains 100,000 individual tiles backed with aluminum to give them a shiny appearance. But what the people hanging the mosaics didn't know was the aluminum would react with the mortar on which they were being mounted.

"The mosaics started tarnishing immediately," said Maura Donnelly, a project manager for the rotunda renovation project.

In an effort to improve their appearance, the mosaics were oiled soon after installation. And over the year, the mosaics were covered with layers of varnish and wax.

Careful cleaning 11/2 years ago revealed brilliant reds, deep greens and sparkling yellows.

During the cleanup, the mosaics got their first close inspection in 20 years.

"We discovered that they had a lot of hollow spots," Donnelly said.

Panels from that mosaic were taken down and sent to laboratories for study and state officials sought guidance from restoration experts worldwide on how to fix the problem.

Rather than invent a whole new way to affix the mosaics to the rotunda, they elected to fill in the empty spaces by injecting epoxy resin adhesive behind the mosaics.

Hoehn and a team of restorers from the 150-year-old firm Franz Mayer of Munich Inc. were selected for the project. The team is using a low-pressure machine to inject the epoxy through drilled holes in the mosaics.

The process, which started two weeks ago, is expected to take four to six weeks.

In the meantime, the mosaics not being worked upon are protected, hidden by a veil of fabric that keeps them from falling off the wall.

Restoration in the east wing of the Capitol started in early June to return the governor's office, Supreme Court chamber and other rooms closer to their original appearance.

A coat of beige paint was put on walls in the governor's office during the 1960's, covering gold-leaf detail.

The paint is to be removed to bring the office closer to its original appearance.

Region 3

Maine

Capitol Park Project Nixed

May 21, 1999

By Glenn Adams

Concord Monitor

AUGUSTA- Just as the lilacs filled the air with their spring scent and the flowering crab apples were in full bloom, local residents were horrified to see bulldozers ripping gashes in a corner of their beloved Capitol Park.

Legislators were shelled with complaints over plans to put temporary structures and a parking lot in the 20-acre park, a kind of big front lawn for the State House, shaded with towering oaks and groves of pines and dotted with picnic tables.

The landscaped tract is tended so carefully that a sign at the entrance says ball playing is barred. The park's footpaths, picnic areas and Vietnam Veterans memorial are a popular draw for area residents.

On Wednesday, legislative leaders decided to back away from an earlier decision to allow seven portable buildings for as long three years on a roughly one-acre corner of the park.

"I'm very pleased," state Sen. Beverly Daggett, an Augusta Democrat, said yesterday. "When people speak up and they are distressed, generally elected officials respond. We don't need to be hit over the head."

Rep. Julie Ann O'Brien, an Augusta Republican who was among the earliest and most vocal critics of the park project, said she didn't realize how important the park was to her constituents.

By the time work was halted earlier this week, ground had been excavated and graded into lines where temporary offices for Senate leaders and their staffs were to be situated while the south wing of the State House is renovated.

Dirt was pushed into huge mounds and gravel had also been left at the site in a big pile.

"We found out Monday night they were going to put in 60 parking places," said Daggett. "We were blown away when we heard that."

Daggett said planners are now looking at paved parking lots in two other areas of the Capitol Complex as possible alternative sites for six portable buildings. Room would be found in the State House for those who were going to use the seventh unit, said Daggett. Plans are to be made final today.

After the bulldozers showed up at the site late last week, some legislators said they were outraged that the plan had not been given a public airing.

In the meantime, angry and skeptical Augusta residents have taken to calling the downtown preserve "Capitol Trailer Park." Some of the 50 people who attended a meeting with legislative leaders Wednesday night said the park is a source of community pride and residents felt offended by it being torn up.

Legislative leaders unanimously agreed to reverse their earlier decision. To help soothe feelings of local residents and avoid a total loss from the work done so far, they agreed to improve drainage and footpaths in the area that was graded. The earth-moving done so far cost $78,000.

House and Senate leaders initially planned to move portable units on the South Lawn directly adjacent to the State House, but scuttled that plan when they were told trees might have to be cut down to accommodate the structures.

Congratulations to Larry Callahan

Congratulations to NLSSA Lifetime Member Larry Callahan on his promotion to Captain with the Hartford County's Sheriff's Department.

Larry retired in 1997 from the Connecticut Capitol Police as Executive Officer and joined the Hartford County Sheriff's

Department. Mr. Callahan served as Chair and Vice Chair of Region 3.

NLSSA wishes Larry the best and we hope to see him at future NLSSA activities.

Good luck, Larry!!

New Hampshire

A Day under the Dome

March 21, 1999

By Jim Graham

Concord Monitor

Copyright 1999, Reprinted with permission of the Concord Monitor

As eight frustrated state senators struggled with the school funding crisis Thursday morning, Kelsey Burke, who's 11, and Kathy Cooper, 12, faced an even more pressing dilemma just outside the Senate Finance Committee chambers: performing a trumpet duet of "America the Beautiful." In the Historic Hall of Flags. In front of high-powered adults in business suits and proud parents hovering within video-cam range.

Yet the Burke-Cooper duo came through, their reverberating bass notes and squeaky highs penetrating the staid Senate Finance doors. Coming as the tax debate grew nasty, the music added a mellowing touch to what would be another long, sometimes contentious day.

"Did you hear those kids out there?" asked Marlene Taylor, the committee's executive secretary. "Weren't they just great?"

Burke and Cooper, sixth-graders from the Oyster River School District, were on hand to celebrate Music in Our Schools Month, sponsored by the New Hampshire Music Educators Association. Theirs was just one of dozens of small, seldom reported performances that take place at the State House every day.

From maintenance crews to stenographers to the Legislature's very own nurse to visiting school groups, life at the State House is lively, crowded and often chaotic. Yet each day, each player contributes a unique not that sets the tone for the way laws and history are made in New Hampshire.

7:45 a.m.

Senate President Junie Blaisdell was one of the first legislators to arrive Thursday, but two maintenance men, Jon Woodbury and Bob Rose, had been on the job an hour.

They had already cleaned out the governor's office trash one last time, then the bins in the State House, the Annex and the Legislative Office Building. Finally, they swept the granite outdoor steps of sand, salt and grime left by more than a thousand feet the day before.

"You take some pride in a place like this," Woodbury said. "I mean, it's a beautiful building. It's the State House. And when you do a good job here, people really appreciate it."

By 8 a.m. (7:55 if anxious lawmakers are early), Woodbury was ready to unlock the doors.

8:40 a.m.

With key senators debating tax reform at 9:00 a.m. and the 400-member House due in session at 10 a.m., the State House halls filled up early, with the frantic scramble, banter, jokes and gossip of a packed high school between classes. To escape the distracting din, House members have a lone oasis- the Reading Room. Off limits to the public, it is a study hall of sorts. Simple tables and modest, comfortable chairs along with a computer and several phones provide a rare commodity- quiet. A lone occupant, Rep. Pat Merrill of Pittsburg, read the day's newspapers and reviewed the session's schedule.

"Even in the lunchroom it can be hard to get away, so this is kind of a sanctuary for them," said Susan Wood, House Information Officer. "Not that they don't want to talk to people, but we all need our quiet time."

8:50 a.m.

From its catacomb-like basement office, the Computer Services staff was also busy early, double-checking the State House's network, updating the Legislature's Web site and testing the electronic voting system in Representatives Hall.

"Everyone thinks it all runs so smoothly, but it really takes a lot of work and coordination, especially on session day," Wood said. "These guys are the unsung heroes."

The group supports 180 personal computers throughout the State House complex- no small task on a session day, when lawmakers, assorted clerks, budget analysts, schedulers and record keepers will log on. By 6 p.m., all the day's official lawmaking decisions were entered onto the Web site: www.state.nh.us/gencourt. Last month, it received 185,000 requests for information.

9:55 a.m.

Five minutes before the House session began, the corridor immediately outside of Representatives Hall took on the frenzied feeling of opening night at the county fair. These small moments are the last chance for average citizens and professional lobbyists alike to make a pitch for, or against, a proposed bill due for a vote. And some, like midway carnival barkers, desperately passed out leaflets touting their positions.

"We try to get the ones who are still sitting on the fence," said the Rev. David Philbrick, a retired Pentecostal minister from Dover. "That's what we're aiming for....and you have to hope that if they see average citizens doing something like this, then maybe it'll make a difference."

As lawmakers filed past the gauntlet, Philbrick offered an information sheet explaining why they should overturn the landmark state Supreme Court order that requires statewide tax reform.

Philbrick chairs New Hampshire Common Sense Conservatives. Standing in line next to him were advocates supporting the rights of gays and lesbians to adopt and be foster parents, and a group that wants to legalize the growing of industrial hemp.

10:45 a.m.

Mounting tensions were barely contained in the Senate Finance Committee room, where eight members tried, and eventually failed, to agree on a statewide education funding solution. Surrounded by all eight and sitting perfectly still, one woman whispered calmly and continuously into an odd-looking microphone that covered her mouth like a respirator.

Paula O'Regan is a certified verbatim reporter, whose job is to repeat word-for-word everything that's being said in finance hearings and to identify who's saying it. The words are recorded by tape and later transcribed for the official record.

The method is more reliable than straight tape recordings, she said, because the human ear is better at filtering out coughs, sneezes, creaking doors and other distracting background noises that can garble a regular microphone pickup. It takes about 10 weeks of intensive training before reporters are able to handle the required 300-words-per-minute minimum.

"It's sort of like a mockingbird type thing....Once they get going, the words just go in my ear and come out my mouth," O'Regan said.

Veteran verbatim reporters pride themselves on keeping up with notoriously fast talkers, and on not having to ask speakers to repeat any testimony during hours-long hearings. A normal person speaks at about 200 words a minute. But an excited senator can talk at 350- and on Thursday, Sen. Caroline McCarley pushed the outer limits during an especially heated debate over income taxes. O'Regan was unfazed.

"I enjoy the challenge because it keeps me sharp," she said.

12:45 p.m.

Minutes after the meeting adjourned, a decorated birthday cake, flowers and balloons, seven senators and more than a dozen Senate staff members awaited Carol Pletcher's arrival in the adjourning Senate Finance clerical offices.

It was Pletcher's birthday, and the Senate chief of staff blushed her surprise when she walked through the office door to shouts of "Happy Birthday!" She laughed, then paused, "I have just a few words: Let's eat cake!" Pletcher said.

With that, a line formed as partygoers offered their congratulations, traded gentle ribs about aging and shared sheet cake. The office party was a welcome icebreaker during this high-stakes year, when lawmakers and support staff have worked long hours to tackle sweeping tax reform, a two-year state budget and some 800 pieces of legislation.

"This is such a precedent-setting year, it's truly got everyone from the senators to the staff just straight out," said Patricia Waldvogel, administrative assistant for the Finance and Capital Budget Committee. "This is a nice break for everyone."

1:30 p.m.

Rep. Tom Arnold, a Brookline Republican, took a break from the ongoing House session to cross North State Street for a press conference at the Legislative Office Building. His route: an underground tunnel little-known to the general public.

The passage provides quick, climate controlled access between buildings and cuts down on traffic delays at pedestrian crosswalks on the street. It is also wheelchair accessible and monitored by security cameras. Arnold used the tunnel to attend a brief press conference for a campaign finance bill he is sponsoring.

Session days are busiest for Lois Spearman, a nurse responsible for 424 lawmakers as well as hundreds of staff members and visitors in the State House complex's four buildings.

Out of her basement office, she safeguards members' prescription medications and conducts routine health screenings for blood pressure and blood-sugar levels. And while a typical call might be for an over-the-counter headache reliever following a testy debate, she has also handled heart attacks, strokes and broken bones.

"I've never lost one, though. Not on my watch," said Spearman, who's held the post for 21 years.

On Thursday, the most common complaint was a double-dose of headache and stomach upset. A result of the maddening debate over statewide tax reform? "No. I think some of it was corned beef and cabbage from last night," she said, noting the St. Patrick's Day celebrations popular among politicians. "I've handed out a lot of Maalox today."

3:45 p.m.

With the House session dragging on, the dark basement cafeteria became a quiet meeting room for unelected officials who help shape debates. At a secluded corner table, two discussed the ramifications facing cities and towns under various tax reform proposals. Doug Hall of the New Hampshire center for Public Policy Studies and John Andrews of the New Hampshire Municipal Association are well-regarded experts on tax policy. Together, they pondered the action upstairs.

"We thought we'd come down here to chat about the education funding crisis. And between us, we think we've figured it out," Andrews said, jesting.

"Too bad nobody agrees with us."

4:35 p.m.

Upstairs, Ann McLane Kuster sat at her own makeshift office- a long bench in the corridor outside Representatives Hall. A lobbyist and lawyer with Rath, Young and Pignatelli, a Concord law firm, she specializes in health care and higher education issues. She knows her title is a double-strike against her in some circles, but McLane Kuster sees herself as an asset to lawmakers.

"What I do is advocate for my clients, and serve as a resource for the legislators," McLane Kuster said. "Here in the State House, they don't have the staff and the resources to do all the research they need to do, and that's where I can help."

She will not work for an issue she does not personally support. Public disclosure laws require her to record her clients and the amount they pay, and she must also wear an orange badge identifying her as a professional lobbyist.

On Thursday, she explained the consequences of a bill that would increase property taxes for privately owned colleges and prep schools. The law would hit not only well-endowed schools, she told lawmakers, but also smaller colleges already strapped for cash.

"Take a smaller school like St. Anselm's or New England College," she said. "Increasing their taxes by $100,000 a year might not seem like a lot, but in some of these places that's tuition for three or four students."

5:00 p.m.

As the long House session finally wound down, work began for Roland Roy, Philip Gagnon, Laura Hutton and the rest of the maintenance crew cleaning up. While lawmakers headed for the parking lots, they were sweeping the floors, wiping smudges off glass doors and picking up everything from half-empty soda cans to fliers that were handed out when the session started. Typically, they collect more that a half ton of recyclable paper, and at least that much in regular trash.

For Hutton, her 5-to-9 p.m. State House cleaning shift is a second job, following her full-time position doing similar work at New Hampshire Hospital. That's a 12-hour-day, but she enjoys finishing up at the capitol.

"It's a pretty building," Hutton said. "When the floors are done up nice, let me tell you, they really shine. It's gorgeous."

New York

Court Case begins for Man Accused of Harassing State Legislator

June 10, 1999

By Cristina C. Breen

Copyright 1999, Reprinted with permission of the Associated Press

ALBANY- Last August, Joe Cavallaro thought the best way to get things done was to call his local lawmaker. And call ... and call ... and call.

His flurry of more than 30 phone calls in three days didn't sit well with the staff of state Assemblyman John Faso. Today, Cavallaro heads back to court for day two of his fight against a charge of second-degree aggravated assault, which is punishable by up to a year in jail.

According to Cavallaro, his request to the No. 1 Republican in the state Assembly should have been simple: he wanted a more prominent road sign posted for a campsite located near his little general store and hotel.

"This was a simple matter of trying to get a larger directional sign,'' Cavallaro said. "I called my assemblyman's office to try and get something done, and as a result I was arrested for that.''

But members of Faso's office who took Cavallaro's calls last August say the matter wasn't simple at all.

They claim he called them for "no legitimate purpose,'' and that he was "confrontational and abusive.''

In his opening arguments, Assistant Albany County District Attorney Paul Clyne told jurors in Albany City Court that the disagreements between Cavallaro and members of Faso's staff during the three days in August 1998 didn't have anything to do with the assemblyman, but rather an angry man eager to take his aggressions out on an office of bureaucrats.

"This has nothing to do with John Faso, this has nothing to do with the representatives of his office, this has nothing to do with the state,'' Clyne said.

Cavallaro's first call to Faso's Albany office was returned by an aide in the assemblyman's Coxsackie office with whom he had disagreements during a project in 1996.

He said he refused to deal with that aide, so he made another call to Faso's Albany office, asking to deal with Faso himself or his top staff member, Nancy Linehan.

When he was told of the office policy regarding the handling of constituents' calls, Cavallaro became irate and verbally abusive, Linehan testified Wednesday. Because he lives in the Greene County village of Haines Falls, Linehan and other staff members told him he would have to deal with Faso's Coxsackie office.

Phone records show that Cavallaro called dozens of times over the next three days, and Linehan said each time he called he sought to complain about a member of the Coxsackie staff, rather than voice any real purpose.

After becoming frustrated with call after call, Linehan said she directed staff members to hang up on Cavallaro.

"He was shouting into the phone, so it wasn't a question of who was at the other end,'' she said.

That failed to halt the calls, so Linehan got Faso's approval to transfer Cavallaro's calls to the state police.

Jurors stifled laughter at times as two of the taped conversations with Trooper Roger Levitt were played in court.

When Levitt warned Cavallaro that he could be arrested and charged with aggravated harassment, Cavallaro dares him to go through with it.

"Why don't you guys come and arrest me?,'' Cavallaro yells. "If you guys want to arrest me, then come on and do what you've got to do.''

In his cross examination, defense attorney Mark Mishlen fired questions at Linehan about Faso's involvement in the situation, and office protocol regarding phone calls from constituents.

"Are you saying that if he wasn't going to be courteous in answering you that you weren't going to take his call?'' Mishlen asked.

"Mr. Cavallaro was treated no differently than any other constituent who would call the office asking for help,'' Linehan replied.

Mishlen said he plans to call Faso to testify.

RETIREMENT OF LOIS SPEARMAN

Lois Spearman retired from her position as Coordinator of Health Services for the New Hampshire General Court on June 30, 1999. She has been an NLSSA member since 1984, Vice Chair of Region 3 (1991-92, 1997-98), and Chair of Region 3 (1992-92, 1998-99). Following is an email she sent-

It is time for me to move on.... As some of you know, effective Wednesday, June 30, 1999, I will leave my position as Coordinator of Health Services for the State House Complex (impressive title, huh?). I look back at the 21 years I've spent here in the State House and find wonderful memories, unforgettable experiences and the best of friendships. For those that have come to me for advice, or nursing care, thank you. I thank you for allowing me to use my knowledge and skills to improve your health and wellbeing. It was a pleasure! Each day was a new experience. We all have scars, but you can change your scars to stars. Remember, behind every cloud there is a rainbow. I wish you the best of health. Live life..this is not a dress rehearsal! `Bye for now, Lois

My plans are flexible and I can be reached at my new email address:

cannhlps@mediaone.net (means Control Asthma Now of NH, & my initials);

8 Amoskeag Rd, Concord, NH 03301

The Members of the NLSSA wish Lois all the best in her retirement and look forward to seeing her at future NLSSA events!!

Wayne Todd Retirement

Wayne Todd, an NLSSA member since 1974, retired in June as Sergeant-at-Arms of the Florida State Senate. Wayne served NLSSA in many capacities including President, Vice President, Chair and Vice Chair of Region 6 and Newsletter Editor. He also served on the NCSL Executive Committee from 1988-1990.

Mr. Todd's areas of expertise for the Florida State Senate included: Administration, chamber security, page programs and facility management.

In July of this year, Wayne was named as a recipient of the 1999 Legislative Staff Achievement Award. These awards are given annually to individual staff members, teams on a project or legislative staff offices that have demonstrated excellence in supporting the work of a state legislature and strengthening the legislative institution. Without a doubt, Wayne has gone out of his way to assist, not only the Florida State Legislature, but also the members of NLSSA. His deep institutional knowledge has been very beneficial to the organization, especially for the new members.

NLSSA members look forward to seeing Wayne at future NCSL and NLSSA activities. His quick wit and sense of humor will always be appreciated.

Best wishes on your retirement from all members of NLSSA! See you in Lake of the Ozarks.

Region 4

Florida

Sergeant-at-Arms' Retirement Marks Change in State Senate

July 26, 1999

By Marcia Gelbart

Palm Beach Post

At his retirement party last month, Wayne Todd sang Take This Job and Shove It.

Not the expected ditty from a man who spent the last three decades ensconced inside Florida's Capitol, including the last 17 as the Senate's sergeant-at-arms, guarding the lives of 40 senators and their hundreds of aides and guests.

But the times, Todd will gladly tell you, well, they've changed.

And so have the senators. While Senate President Toni Jennings didn't shove Todd out the door,

Those around her say she held it open for him.

Now Jennings will get to name his successor, thanks to a rule change that has been criticized by some of the Senate's servants as politicizing a non-political position.

At the same time, while the state's first-ever term-limits law will force veteran lawmakers from office next year, Todd's departure stands as a reminder that the end of an era - and for many, a way of life - is near.

"At one point, Wayne was promoting hunting and fishing trips for the senators because he'd get to go along with them," recalled former Secretary of the Senate Joe Brown, who retired in 1996 after 22 years.

That's the Senate in which Todd, a 55-year-old Tallahassee native, came of age, a Senate where lobbyists, as a matter of practice and practicality, treated lawmakers to thousands and thousands of dollars worth of dinners and trips.

Jennings, a 50-year-old Republican, has represented Orlando in the Senate since 1980. Last year, she lifted a short-lived rule barring senators from accepting free meals, replacing it with an earlier rule allowing them up to $100 worth of free food. She has also argued fervently for campaign finance reforms.

And, she doesn't fish. "I like President Jennings. She's done a good job," Todd said last week.

But like a football coach, he said, "Every president has their own way of running things."

As late as the end of the legislative session in April, Todd, who earned $84,732 annually, said he hadn't considered leaving. He wouldn't specify why he changed his mind, except to say, "I think it was time to go."

Besides providing security, the sergeant-at-arms is charged with keeping order on the chamber floor, maintaining the building, distributing furniture, and otherwise keeping senators happy. Todd oversaw a staff of 17 and about a $1 million budget, he said.

"The president believes Sgt. Todd did an excellent job over the years," said Jennings' spokeswoman Edie Ousley. She described his relationship with her boss as "very cordial."

Noting Todd's decision to retire, Ousley added, "We're simply at a point where the tide has changed."

But Brown and some senators fear the rule change, under which the Senate president designates a sergeant-at-arms, will add a political ingredient to the job. Before 1996, the sergeant-at-arms and the Senate secretary were each elected by a majority of the chamber's members.

"It's going to become political whenever they pick the person," said President pro tem William "Doc" Myers, R-Hobe Sound.

Even so, the change will hardly make a ripple in a Senate that has been in Republican control since 1994, which was the first GOP majority this century.

Jennings will interview Todd's possible successors Aug. 3. She appointed a panel of five Senate leaders, three Republicans and two Democrats, to help select three finalists. They are: Deputy Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Donald Severance, Florida Sheriff's Association spokesman Tom Berlinger and Tallahassee Police Department Sgt. David Hendry.

"The president is sensitive to this being a decision of the membership and not a crony choice of the president," said Senate Democratic Leader Buddy Dyer, like Jennings from Orlando, and a panel member.

As for Todd, he already has three potential lobbying clients and plans as well to get a license as a charter boat captain.

Todd said he didn't intend his retirement song, Take This Job and Shove It, as a jab at Jennings, or anyone else.

"Part of my staff played it in a band," he explained. "I probably should've sang Memories."

Florida

Speaker Pushes through Costly Renovation of Florida House Chamber

By Doug Martin

Tallahassee Democrat

TALLAHASSEE - The Florida House of Representatives is tired of its '70s look.

As part of a $5.8 million renovation project, House Speaker John Thrasher, R-Orange Park, is abandoning the 30-year-old contemporary decor of the House chamber to revive the Victorian look of the Old Capitol.

Almost as soon as the ink dried on Gov. Jeb Bush's signature of the state budget last month, crews started demolishing the chamber.

Where rows of Scandinavian-style teak desks and leather captains' chairs once sat, there is bare concrete and piles of construction debris.

Representatives returning next year will find smaller, faux-mahogany desks and chairs surrounded by dark wood paneling and murals depicting Florida's history.

Above it all, a 15-foot-wide faux-alabaster-and-glass chandelier will cast a more attractive glow on the proceedings.

"I want it to be more traditional," Thrasher said. "That's just something that's worth trying to preserve. I think the people's business ought to be dignified."

The project includes $2.4 million for changes to the chamber, $2.7 million to expand committee rooms in the House Office Building and $140,000 in renovations to the speaker's executive offices.

Despite the changes under way in the House, the Senate has no plans to trade its modern look for a more traditional theme.

Dissenting voices

Still stinging from Bush's budget vetoes of Leon County projects, Reps. Al Lawson and Marjorie Turnbull, both Tallahassee Democrats, blasted Thrasher for spending millions renovating the chamber.

"It's kind of hard - when you see all of these programs affecting social services and children that we can't fund - to spend over $1 million just to make the House more luxurious," Lawson said.

Turnbull thinks the renovation is unnecessary.

"I thought the way the chamber was, was perfectly comfortable and adequate for my needs," Turnbull said. "We have so many other capital needs."

Although Bush's veto pen scratched scores of other projects, the governor approved the House renovations.

"I didn't ask specifically what the decor was going to be," said Donna Arduin, Bush's budget director. "If that is what the House of Representatives thinks is a priority, then we are supportive of them." Arduin also noted that the Senate last year renovated the Senate Office Building, and moved some of its offices into the Knott Building.

"It's kind of a fairness issue," Arduin said. But Thrasher concedes that it's controversial whenever the Legislature spends money on itself.

"I'm taking on something of a challenge in terms of doing it," Thrasher said. Making the changes was solely his decision.

Changing times

The renovation, he said, is necessary for several reasons:
The chamber does not comply with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, which requires workplaces and other public accommodations to be accessible to the disabled.

During this year's opening session, House staffers had big problems lifting Sen. Doc Myers, R-Hobe Sound, the Senate president pro tem who uses a wheelchair, onto the dais to sit with House and Senate leaders.

The renovated chamber likely will include a chair lift to raise disabled legislators and staff to the speaker's level.

The facility was designed for 80 House members during the epic battles over reapportionment in the 1970s, but the final apportionment plan included 120 House members.

The old, high-back chairs block members from seeing the speaker and each other. The renovation plans call for smaller chairs with medium-size backs. The desks will be smaller, too, to allow freer movement within the chamber.

Changes will allow the public to see and hear their representatives without plexiglass separating them from the chamber, a move Thrasher hopes will encourage more dignified behavior by members. The Senate already has open-air public galleries.

The House public and media galleries also will be expanded.

The chamber's technology needs to be updated. In addition to laptops that were bought last year, the chamber will feature a large rear-projection screen for presentations. A network of robotic cameras will capture action anywhere on the floor for live broadcasts.

"We need a chamber prepared for the 21st Century," Thrasher said.

Renovations to the basement of the House Office Building will increase the capacity and technological capabilities of several committee meeting rooms.

Thrasher's office also will receive some improvements: a conference room will be converted into office space for staff and a second entrance to the chamber will be added to ease congestion, said Katie Baur, Thrasher's spokeswoman. The speaker's personal office will gain one foot of additional space.

The remaining $560,000 of the $5.8 million project will be used asa contingency fund and for consultants' fees.

The entire project is supposed to be completed by January.

Two of the old desks from the chamber - complete with voting boards, computers and microphones - were donated to the state archive. The rest are to be discarded as unusable. House officials said the desks had been refurbished several times since the Capitol opened in March 1978.

The plush chairs, however, will be saved for use in members' offices.

Sean Johnson, the House computer chief, said all of the computers are being given to the Florida Department of Education for distribution to school districts.

Technological improvements aside, the biggest change will be in the decor, which will depart completely from the modernist scheme of the rest of the Capitol.

Letting go of the past

Lance deHaven-Smith, associate director of the Florida Institute of Government at Florida State University, wrote about the symbolism of the architecture and decor of the old and new capitols in his recent book, Government in the Sunshine State, with David Coburn, a historian at the University of Florida.

To its builders, the new Capitol symbolized a new cosmopolitan Florida of international trade and tourism that had turned its back on the divisive racial politics of its Southern heritage as symbolized by the old Capitol, the authors wrote.

"At this time, the history of Florida was something we were trying to shake off," deHaven-Smith said. "It was considered a racist and a problem history. The past was something we were trying to overcome."

Now, at a more comfortable distance from that past, the House speaker wants to remember the positive aspects of Florida's traditions.

Thrasher envisions a mural encircling the chamber that would depict Florida's diverse history. The speaker is consulting with Secretary of State Katherine Harris, who oversees the state's historical resources, about how best to commission such a mural.

The mural project is also scheduled to be completed by January.

Florida

Snake Still Needs a Home

The python, found in the Senate parking garage, is now in the company of a sergeant-at-arms.

August 11, 1999

By Kristy Kelley

TALLAHASSEE-One might wonder: When snakes come to Tallahassee, do they instinctively head for the Capitol?

There have been complaints before about the slimy, cold-blooded and venomous in the halls of government-but not until Monday were they more than hyperbole.

A 2-to 3-foot ball python was found in the Senate parking garage.

"He was just sitting in a parking space, just coiled up," said Deputy Sergeant-at-Arms Jeff Fleming, one of the brave people who helped capture the stranded snake.

Flemming assumes the snake was someone's pet. "It looks like he's pretty healthy," he said. Staff members say that python, nicknamed "Sarge," is very tame.

One theory was that the snake could have gotten loose and crawled up under a car seeking warmth. Once the car started moving, Sarge could have held tight and enjoyed a free ride to the Capitol.

The sergeant's office sent out a "lost and found e-mail" to see if anyone was missing a black and yellow snake. By Monday evening, no one had claimed it, so Fleming took the stowaway home.

After a trip to Pet Paradise on Tharpe Street, he gave the snake a bath in mild dishwashing soap.

"It was in the parking garage so it had gotten into the oil and stuff on the floor," said Fleming. "I cleaned him up and dried him off."

After his bath, Sarge got a tasty mouse dinner.

The snake's temporary home is a paper box lined with mulch. The box top is punched with air holes and stays closed to keep the snake warm in the chilly office of the sergeant-at-arms.

"He's resting comfortably," Fleming said. "Just kind of laying back."

The sergeant's office is still trying to find the snake's owner, but if it re