$80,000 asked to help boost Capitol safety

Security concerns prompt appeal to legislative panel

The Arkansas secretary of state’s office is asking for about $80,000 to help beef up security at the state Capitol before the legislative session starts Jan. 12.

The Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review Subcommittee of the Arkansas Legislative Council decided Thursday not to vote on the request, which included another $720,000 for Capitol facility needs. The subcommittee voted instead to send the proposal to the full Legislative Council, which will meet Dec. 19.

Some lawmakers have questioned whether the current safeguards at the Capitol are adequate, after security was tightened at the entrance to the Multi-Agency Complex west of the Capitol.

The secretary of state’s office has been mum on many of the details of its security upgrades. At Thursday’s meeting, Marjorie Greenberg, business director for the office, answered legislators’ questions, but said she did not have many details and some of the proposed measures could not be discussed publicly for security reasons.

“This has been a concern for several entities within the building, for legislators and others within the building,” she said. “This transfer is in anticipation of being able to get projects done as quickly as we can in the window before the session starts. I don’t really have a lot of details, but I think those of you all who have brought this to our attention are aware that we are working on this issue.”

The submission to the committee asks to transfer existing funds from several of the secretary of state’s other line items, including building insurance, mandatory legal notices publications and ballot petition verification to put $803,136 in the operating expenses fund for “facility and security updates.”

Laura Labay, spokesman for Secretary of State Mark Martin, said after the meeting that only “about 10 percent” of the funding request would be used to increase security while the rest would fund projects and upgrades around the Capitol.

“I can say that [this request] is not going to change the way people enter the building,” Labay said. “The details of the plan, for security reasons that I think people understand, are not going to be discussed in detail at this

time. I’m sure at some point we’ll have this on paper and people will be able to see those details. The other part of this request is nothing out of the ordinary. It’s just keeping up with the Capitol and taking care of all of the various projects.”

Talk of the security measures picked up in October, when the Legislative Council’s Executive Subcommittee sent a letter to Doug Matayo, chief deputy for the secretary of state, raising concerns about security near the tunnel entrance and other areas of the Capitol.

“The Subcommittee specifically discussed concerns regarding the lack of security for the elevators in the tunnel entrance to the building and the need for increased security at the building’s entrances and the House and Senate galleries,” members wrote in the letter.

The subcommittee asked that Matayo make a presentation on some ideas to improve security and provide cost estimates. In November, Matayo told the members he wanted to speak to them individually and privately about security concerns.

Capitol Police Chief Darrell Hedden also sent a memorandum in response to the concerns, outlining steps that could be taken to make the building more secure. He included the possibility of closing the Capitol to the public on weekends and holidays, closing a traffic tunnel under the Capitol steps to the public, replacing private security officers in the House with additional Capitol police officers and other measures.

Hedden also addressed some concerns about events at Capitol Hill Apartments, an apartment complex owned by the state that is adjacent to Capitol grounds. Many lawmakers stay in the apartments during the legislative session instead of traveling home and back to the Capitol each day.

Hedden suggested that outside parties and events at the complex should be discontinued.

Neither Labay nor Greenberg specified which measures the $80,000 request would pay for or which measures the office planned to put in place before the session started.

Sen. Eddie Joe Williams, R-Cabot, said during the meeting that he would like to see the secretary of state’s office make the elevators near the tunnel entrance on the east side of the building more secure.

“There appear to be some relatively simple fixes that won’t require a penny,” he said. “For example, the elevators. We could rope those off and require people to go through security and then route them back if they need to. But right now people can get on the elevators and go anywhere in the building … why wait?”

Rep. Terry Rice, R-Waldron, who will move over to the Senate in January, reminded the subcommittee that those legislators and officials involved in the discussions about security are trying to strike a balance with the solutions they choose.

“I would just for the sake of members who have not been a part of the discussion … say we understand the day and time we live in and the concerns with security, but also the balance of this being people’s place of government,” he said. “We want people to feel welcome, so there is some concern for that.”