Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page A6

6A WWW.FREEP.COM MONDAY, COVER STORIES security guards took issue with the hire. straight-up said Michael Mulholland, vice president of AFSCME Local 207, which represents more than 900 water department workers, including the security guards. do we need a year position to train property guards who even carry The water security force has a budget of $2.1 million and includes 90 security guard positions, though union officials say only 73 are filled. Most guards, who armed and certified police officers, make an hour. Records show is well above that of interim Detroit Police Chief Chester Logan, who makes $110,000 to run a $340-million department with almost 3,000 employees.

When Jones was hired, he replaced former Chief Administrator of Security Roger Willis, who left in January 2012 and earned In January, Jones stepped down from a job overseeing public safety in Flint. Officials there said they aware of his work for the Detroit water department until the Free Press inquired. Jones was asked about his employmentwhile under oathin September during an arbitration hearing involving an Ann Arbor police officer who claimed she was wrongly fired by Jones before he retired as head of police and fire services. a consultant for the emergency financial manager in the city of Flint, trying to save the police department, the fire department and the city from Jones testified, according to a hearing transcript obtained by the Free Press.Jones also said he served as an outreach minister for his church in Auburn Hillsbut never mentioned his work for the water department, which began in May. Jones did not return a mes- sagefrom the Free Pressseek- ing comment.

Neither did the two lawyers who questioned him. Alfonso said she think the answer created a credibility problem for Jones, who job title is chief of security and integri- ty.She said she speculate on why he mention his work at the water department. think what he was trying to do is establish his credibility as alawenforcement officer, which is why he mentioned his work in she said. Department Director Sue McCormick previously told the Free Press that Jones had been working hard, patrolling the city on Nightandvisiting guards working the midnight shift in Port Huron. seen no lack of his on- duty performance to the McCormick said at the time.

In addition to working two full-time jobs at once, Jones is listed in records as the owner of Tactical Methods Unlimited, a consulting firm. online said he also worked there. But after the Free Press asked about his work history, he updated that to say his work for firm ended in 2011and was The paper Romeo submitted to the department when he applied showed he worked for 25 years as a deputy in Oakland County, rising to sergeant before retiring in 2006. From 2009 through last fall, that listed him as a self-employed consultant and training administrator but mention his work with Tactical Methods Unlimited. Alfonso said unclear whether Romeo mentioned the Jones connection during the interviewing process, but said he might have omitted it to avoid appearing to draw favor.

Reached at home last month, Romeo refused to discuss his got some things to do.I’m not going to be Romeo said before hanging up.Alfonso defended hiring, saying the department is undergoing a court- supervised restructuring. of the order allowed us to do some changes to get some highly qualified Alfonso said. were under civil service titles. If you wanted a qualified person, the salary level was set. a highly qualified Mulholland said guards receive their first round of training until early February.

He questioned what Romeo was doing for the department prior to that. Alfonso said Romeo has been busy designing a training program for this year and next and has conducted several internal investigations. Meanwhile, the security operation was cited in a reorganization report issued last year by consultant EMA of Minneapolis as a possible service to outsource to a private company. controversial $48- million, four-year restructuring plan proposed eliminating of the work force. The department has been under the gun to eliminate bloated bureaucracy that suburban leaders blame for the doubling of water rates over the last decade.

do we need a year trainer for a department they want to Mulholland said. Alfonso said the EMA report includes many recommendations, not all of which will be adopted. WATER: Security force costs are raising questions FROM PAGE 1A tion. Bugs now are well established in homes, nursing homes and hotels and are being transported into restaurants, bus stations, movie theaters and other public places by unwitting residents of the infested homesand their visitors. Once in a public place, the bugs catch a ride to their new home on coats and handbags and other belongings, Foster and others said.

hitchhike by nature. They have wings and they crawl very fast, but their eggs cling, or they crawl onto clothes you might bring them home and those eggs hatch in sevento 10 days and away they Zoeller said. Bob Wilford began the Orion Township-based Presidio Pest Managementabout a year ago, solely focused on bedbug eradication. Business, he said, has been booming fromcommercial and residential customers. only takes one pregnant female to get an infestation he said.

I come in and drop two ants in your kitchen, chances are not going to have an infestation. But with bedbugs, a different Last month tiny specks live bedbugs tumbled from several hardcover mystery books returned in a drop box at the Washington Square branch of the Kalamazoo Public Library. The books were immediately sealed in plastic bags and the library closed for three business days while specially trained, bedbug-detecting dogs alerteda pest control company to suspicious areas. The next day, industrial-sized heaters warmed the interior air of the library to at least 120 degrees, killing any bedbugs and eggs they might have deposited. Bedbugs are now part of daily Pamela Blauvelt, vice president of operations at the Kalamazoo-based Griffin Pest Solutions, which treated the library.

have to get to a point where vigilant and watching. The library also purchased a PackTite, a container that looks like a collapsible cooler and is fitted with devices to heat items such as library books and the bugs inside them to the lethal 120 degrees. something that the Suburban Library Cooperative, which represents more than two dozen libraries mostly in Macomb County, purchased in December. had any problems but we wanted to be said Tammy Turgeon, executive director. that will make our patrons feel safe about using our not only good public health practice; it makes business sense, said Zoeller.

Officials at several local school districts, community colleges and movie theaters contacted by the Free Press said talked to pest control experts, trained staff on identifying bedbugsand set up protocols on whomto alert and which pest management company to call. are starting to ask: What are you doing to protect Zoeller said. Public officials say the bugs are more a pest than a real health hazard. They bite and can cause a painful rash, but not known to carry serious disease. Still, the creepiness factor that drives consumer demands to make sure public places have protocols in place, Zoeller said.

The bedbugs are drawn to body heat and carbon dioxide that humans emit, he unnerving because feeding while you Last month, twin sisters Maria and Angela Palaianconfront- ed the pests head-on. They shut down their Beverly Hills home-based photo busi- ness for a week and kept their own errands to a minimum worried they would spread the bugsafter Maria Palaian spotted a tiny speck moving across her comforter. She had been relaxing in bed watching TV. went to pick it up with a Kleenex and it just splattered into said Palaian, 26. The women say they have no idea how long the bugs had been there.

But they began calling exterminators immediately. Last week, cables snaked through the house, hooked to a half-dozen specialty heaters bought in by Presidio. The entire house would be heated to 130 degrees or more for several hours. Standing in her living room, were in constant motion, sweeping up and down her arms. The cost is bad.

The time lost from work is bad. But the psychological toll is the worst, she said: just feel that there are bugs on you all the CONTACT ROBIN ERB: 313-222-2708 OR GETTING RID OF BEDBUGS State health officials and others are teaming up to write a simple how-to pamphlet for consumers, simplifying its current 118-page guidebook. Meantime, here are some starting points: Bedbugs can hide just about anywhere, and they can travel along pipes, electrical wiring and other openings to adjacent rooms. To see whether you have them, inspect your bed, furniture and every part of the room. Look for small, dark spots on mattresses and linens.

ONCE AN INFESTATION IS CONFIRMED: Do not apply pesticides with which you will come into direct contact, unless the label says safe to do so. Consult a licensed pest control company for options that are safe for humans. Wash all linens and place them in a dryer to tumble on a high setting for at least 20 minutes. Freezing the bugs for five days also will work. Seal mattresses and pillows with a plastic or hypoallergenic, zippered cover.

This will eventually suffocate the bedbugs. Vacuum for bugs and eggs, remove all clutter and seal cracks and crevices in walls and baseboards. Put out sticky tape to catch bugs and monitor the tape. For information, go to www.cdc.gov/bedbugs, www.epa.gov/bedbugsor www.michigan.gov/bedbugs. PHOTOS BY KATHLEEN FREE PRESS BobWilford, owner of Presidio Pest on a mattress toMaria Palaian, 26, as Jim Lush, Presidio service manager checks the bedroomof the Beverly Hills only takes one pregnant female to get an infestation Wilford says.

BEDBUGS: Creepy crawlers spreading beyond homes, hotelsseeking hosts FROM PAGE 1A Bedbugs are killed with a heat treatment reaching at least 120de- grees.They have been found in offices, theaters, even library books. Bedbugs are nocturnal insects that feed on human blood. Unwelcome guests are nocturna insects human blood. Description: Bedbugs are a reddish-brown, wingless parasite. Adults range in length from 1 8 th to 3 16 th of an inch, about the size of a lentil or apple seed.

Immature bedbugs, or nymphs, are smaller and lighter in color. Reproduction: They lay about eggs per day, about 500 in a lifetime. Each egg is about the size of a couple of grains of salt. Where they live: They live in bedding and places where a host is readily available to feed on. They are attracted to body warmth and the presence of carbon dioxide expelled as a person breathes.

How they eat: They pierce the skin with two hollow tubes, inject saliva into the skin with one hollow tube and suck the blood with another. They generally feed before dawn, but can eat at any time a host is present. COMMON BEDBUGS Cimex lectularius Actual size SOURCE: www.bedbug.com, www.terminix.com Photos courtesy of Terminix MARTHA FREE PRESS CAIRO, Egypt Secretary of State John Kerry rewarded Egypt on Sunday for President Mohammed pledges of political and economic reforms by releasing $250 million in American aid to support the as a Kerry also served notice that the Obama administration will keep close watch on how Morsi, who came to power in June as first freely elected president, honors his commitment and that additional U.S. assistance would depend on it. path to that future has clearly been difficult and much work Kerry said in a statement after wrapping up two days of meetings in Egypt, a deeply divided country in the wake of the revolution that ousted longtime President Hosni Mubarak.

Egypt is trying to meet conditions to close on a loan package from the International Monetary Fund. An agreement would unlock more of the $1billion in U.S. assistance promised by President Barack Obama last year and set to begin flowing with announcement. United States can and wants to do Kerry said. an agreement with the IMF will require further effort on the part of the Egyptian government and broad support for reform by all Egyptians.

When Egypt takes the difficult steps to strengthen its economy and build political unity and justice, we will work with our Congress at home on additional Kerry cited and that he plans to complete the IMF when he told the president that the U.S. would provide $190 million of a long-term $450-million pledge a good-faith effort to spur reform and help the Egyptian people at this difficult Areward for Egypt: Kerry says $250M in aid is being released By Matthew Lee Associated Press.