Report Says Official Worried One Trooper On Guard

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – The building administrator of the Texas Governor’s Mansion told security officials several months before a devastating fire there that security might have been inadequate.

Notes obtained by the Houston Chronicle under the state Public Information Act show Ellen Read conveyed her concern at an October meeting among state officials and private firms involved in a mansion renovation. She told the officials that one trooper might not be enough to guard the 152-year-old mansion during the renovations.

Investigators say an unknown intruder stole onto the mansion grounds before dawn on June 8th and set the fire that caused major damage. There was only one trooper on duty at the time, and he had

worked an eight-hour shift earlier in the day at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum.

Perry and his wife, Anita, moved out of the mansion last fall at the start of the $10 million renovation project. The mansion had problems with plumbing, rotting wood, lead paint and asbestos and had no fire-emergency sprinkler system.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)