news-record.com

Eight Greensboro City Council members could be taking polygraph exams as soon as next week regarding whether they leaked an investigative report on the police department to the News & Record.

City Manager Mitchell Johnson, who has been working at the council's behest to set up testing, said Risk Management Associates of Raleigh is arranging meetings this week with council members.

Those interviews are designed to give the examiner a sense of how council members react to questions when they're not on the polygraph, Johnson said. At least three members of the council - Sandra Anderson Groat, Mike Barber and Yvonne Johnson - had their interviews Wednesday.

Mitchell Johnson estimated the actual polygraph exams would take place within the next two weeks, depending on the schedules of individual council members. The exams are expected to cost about $5,000, which council members have said would be paid for from their travel budgets.

Anderson Groat said her interview lasted 20 to 30 minutes. She estimated about 10 minutes was spent on the leak and how the council got to this point, with the remaining time spent on more general questions on topics such as her job. She was asked whether she was the source of the leak and whether she knew who leaked the report; Anderson Groat said she answered no to both questions.

"I didn't think it was a big deal," she said. "I wasn't anxious about it. "

Anderson Groat hasn't set a date for her polygraph exam, though she expects it to be next week.

Before their interviews, Yvonne Johnson and Barber expressed no qualms about polygraphs.

"This is another step toward bringing closure to this issue," Barber said.

The council voted 8-1 last week to ask each other to voluntarily take polygraph exams to determine who leaked a report on the administration of former police Chief David Wray. Some on the council have said they want to make the results of the polygraphs public.

Dianne Bellamy-Small was the lone council member to vote against the exams, calling them divisive and a distraction from what she believes should be a focus on cleaning up the police department.

She said she was offended that anyone would think she was involved in leaking the report.

Attempts to reach Bellamy-Small for comment Wednesday were unsuccessful.

Contact Eric Swensen at 373-7351 or eswensen@news-record.com