The director of a state agency that manages water projects in West Virginia ordered a wiretapping sweep of the office last week amid allegations of ethics violations, secret recordings, restroom vandalism and a problem with feral cats.
Charleston police conducted the search for hidden listening devices at the West Virginia Water Development Authority building on Bullitt Street near Fazio's Italian Restaurant. No wiretaps were found, according to agency employees.
Lt. Steve Cooper, the Charleston Police Department's chief of detectives, declined to comment on the specifics of the sweep "due to the potential of it becoming a criminal investigation."
"I was notified by an official with the West Virginia Water Development Authority that there may be wiretapping going on," Cooper said.
The sweep follows a contentious yearlong feud between the agency's GIS manager, Michael Duminiak, and Water Development Authority Executive Director Chris Jarrett and Executive Assistant Carol Cummings, according to emails obtained by the Gazette-Mail.
Dueling accusations have thrust the agency into turmoil.
"It's a mess," said Cummings, who alleges Duminiak is a disgruntled employee who files frivolous complaints. "It should not exist. It's so childish, some of this stuff."
Jarrett said he asked detectives to search the office for wiretaps after discovering that "several things were amiss" and someone had unplugged a security camera. The agency is upgrading its security system, he said.
"We wanted to check for any unauthorized electronics," Jarrett said. "We didn't know if we had them or not. With a security system, you have to check everything."
Duminiak, who has worked for four years at the water agency and also serves as an elected constable in Pennsylvania, declined comment last week.
Earlier this year, Duminiak filed formal complaints against Jarrett and Cummings with the state Ethics Commission.
The complaint against Jarrett alleges he stored personal office furniture at the water agency's headquarters building, while charging another state agency, the West Virginia Infrastructure and Jobs Development Council, to lease the same space.
Jarrett said he intended to put the furniture in his office, but changed his mind.
"It's a very large set. It's kind of overpowering," he said. "I thought it wasn't appropriate to put in a state office."
Jarrett said he plans to have his personal furniture removed from the building's storage area.
"It's not a problem," he said. "It's not in anybody's way."
The other ethics complaint alleges that the water agency dismissed a janitorial service company and hired Cummings' two daughters to clean the office. The women get paid $30,000 a year, according to the complaint. Cummings sometimes assists her daughters with cleaning, the complaint alleges.
Cummings said she never helped her daughters clean the office - except on one occasion when she lifted a dumpster lid for her daughter, who was eight months pregnant at the time. Cummings added that she doesn't supervise her daughters or play any role in paying them. She has collected eight affidavits from agency employees who back her statements and declare Duminiak's allegations "untrue," Cummings said.
"I haven't done anything wrong," she said. "I'm not taking state money and helping my girls."
Jarrett also defended Cummings and her two daughters, saying they were low bidders for the janitorial contract. The water agency buys cleaning supplies and equipment for the women, according to the contract. Cummings' daughters clean the office six days a week, Jarrett said.
"They're very good," he said. "We've had no complaints from anybody [other than Duminiak]."
Duminiak alleges that Cummings and Jarrett retaliated against him for blowing the whistle on their actions, according to agency emails.
Duminiak asserts that Cummings falsely accused him of calling Charleston humane officers and letting them on agency property to remove feral cats. Office employees leave food and water for the cats, which live on a bank above the Elk River. One of the stray cats recently died after being poisoned, Jarrett said.
According to an email sent to Jarrett earlier this year, Duminiak alleges Cummings accused him of hacking employees' computers, reading their emails, tampering with the security system, vandalizing the office restroom and "planning to come to the office to shoot people."
"The pattern of false allegations has reached a level of harassment," Duminiak wrote. "I want it to stop now."
In the same email, Duminiak acknowledged he complained about the cats, but never asked humane officers to remove the feral felines - or let the officers onto agency property. A gated security fence surrounds the building. Duminiak suggested that Jarrett check security camera footage to see who let the officers onto the site.
In a separate email later that day, Duminiak also alleges that Cummings secretly records conversations on her smartphone.
Cummings said she never harassed Duminiak or accused him of anything - and she has a recording to prove it.
"All of that stuff he's saying never came out of my mouth," Cummings said last week. "All I did was ask if he called the pound. That's it."
Last month, Duminiak filed two state Freedom of Information Act requests with the agency, seeking information about his and other employees' annual leave, along with "property logs" that detail the agency's physical assets. Duminiak also has filed an employee grievance.
The Water Development Authority manages loans for public service districts and municipalities across the state.
The agency's chairman, Mark Imbrogno, referred questions to Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin's spokesman, Chris Stadelman.
"If there are any issues with employees, they would be confidential under the state's personnel policy," Stadelman said.
Staff writer Kate White contributed to this report. Reach Eric Eyre at ericeyre@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4869 or follow @ericeyre on Twitter.