Revisiting the problems of King City, CA., if you recall in a previous episode, the City Council brought in their local phone vendor to review their PBX system. They found that while there was the capability of listening to room conversations via the intercom features, it was not active during their investigation. That really doesn’t prove anything, but it apparently was enough for the Council to drop the case. I think they probably wanted the situation to go away quietly.
The District Attorney has decided to re-open the case, though, due to the revelation that instructions were sent from City Hall administrators to previous city managers with instructions on how to enable the microphone to eavesdrop on employees.
From the Monterey County Weekly; Saturday, September 6, 2014; by Sara Rubin
The District Attorney’s investigation into alleged eavesdropping at King City City Hall is back in action, thanks to notes to previous city managers with instructions on how to eavesdrop on employees.
The notes surfaced months after DA investigators looked into alleged eavesdropping by City Manager Michael Powers; Powers has denied even knowing how to use the City Hall phone system to listen in to employees, or having any reason to do so.
An investigation by the city’s phone service provider, the Maynard Group, showed no evidence of wrongdoing. However, an investigation by a similar service provider conducted by DA investigators showed that it would be possible to tune in to another call in City Hall.
Technician Don Vaccarezza of Monterey Bay Telecome joined DA investigators at City Hall to analyze the phone system.
“We wanted to see if you could intercom an extension and leave the mic open,” Vaccarezza says. “We were able to do that. Any phone in that system would have that capability, as far as we know.”
Maynard Group found that Powers’ phone does indeed have microphone capabilities that would let him use the phone as a listening device to overhear conversations elsewhere in City Hall and the Police Department next door, but that function was not enabled at the time of inspection. The company’s report, requested by City Council, exonerated Powers.
The new evidence is notes, written by administrators in City Hall to predecessors of Powers, explaining how to enable to microphone function. Powers came on as the top city staffer in 2006.
“We were going to let
According to a search warrant served on Power on May 16, “Investigators believe that Powers has the ability to remotely access the microphone on telephones located throughout KCPD, specifically [Acting] Chief [Dennis] Hegwood’s office. Powers has the ability to activate and to surreptitiously listen in on conversations.”
Powers wrote an open letter to King City residents after the search warrant was first made public.