Probe meeting with chief goes ‘well’

By Jon Moffett

Neither side discussed any specifics of the lengthy meeting.

GIRARD — City Police Chief Frank Bigowsky is still the city’s top cop, and the investigation concerning the chief continues.

Bigowsky met Friday with city Safety-Service Director Jerry Lambert to discuss what is being referred to by parties involved as an “internal investigation.”

The meeting, which began just after 10 a.m., lasted more than four hours behind the closed doors of Lambert and Mayor James Melfi’s offices. Bigowsky arrived for the meeting, accompanied by Atty. Joseph Kondela, in a pair of khakis, white police polo shirt and sunglasses.

Though neither side would go into detail about the matter, Lambert said, “The meeting went well. The chief was cooperative. We will take the information we gathered and go over it with our legal counsel and the mayor.”

When asked his opinion of the session, Kondela responded that neither he nor Bigowsky had any comment at this time.

The city administration gave Bigowsky a letter requesting his presence before Lambert and Melfi for the meeting. The letter stated that Bigowsky was “entitled to be accompanied, represented and advised by an attorney” if he so chose.

The mayor was not present for the meeting because he attended a Chamber of Commerce golf outing, which he had obligated himself to earlier.

In an interview on his cell phone, Melfi said, “It is certainly an ongoing investigation and we will see where it goes. The legal counsel for the city is reviewing the information provided to us today.”

The investigation is being looked into by Atty. Mike Esposito, who represents the city in human resource matters.

In a prepared statement made before the meeting, Melfi said: “This is an internal investigation to discuss certain matters in the police department involving the police chief. There are some issues that have to be discussed, and we feel that doing it in a formal fashion is important.”

Though no timetable has been given as to when a resolution is expected, Melfi said, “Next week will certainly be an important time for that to develop. I don’t see it going much longer than that in terms of our decision making.”