Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 14, 1990 TAG: 9006140171
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARGIE FISHER RICHMOND BUREAU
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Long
The Robb aide, Bobby Watson of Richmond, denied the accusation and said he would have no other comment.
Wilder's jab at Watson during a news conference took reporters by surprise. Some political observers thought the governor might have done it to divert questions about the legal bills, and others wondered if it was the first shot in a new public feud between the state's two best-known Democrats.
In 1986, Robb released a series of letters in which he harshly criticized Wilder. The two later declared they had repaired their friendship, but tensions between them long have been apparent and have seemed to increase since since Wilder's election as governor.
Wilder said he was unaware that the bills had not been paid by the state Democratic Party until he saw a story in a Richmond newspaper Wednesday morning.
The story quoted unnamed party sources as saying that the outstanding bills could exceed $60,000 and that Paul Goldman, Wilder's hand-picked party chairman, was trying to get the attorneys to either write off the debts or reduce them.
It quoted former Attorney General Anthony F. Troy, one of the principal attorneys on Wilder's recount team, as saying that his firm, Mays and Valentine, had neither been paid its legal fees nor reimbursed for $2,170 in recount-related expenses.
Wilder said he had "absolutely nothing" to do with hiring the recount attorneys and that settlement of the bills is "a matter between the lawyers and the party."
But he expressed amazement that the controversy had found its way into print. "I've always thought lawyers and clients discussed their matters privately rather than in the news," he said.
Then he went on to blame Watson for leaking the potentially embarrassing information, hinting that he thought the leak might have been sanctioned by Robb. Watson is Robb's state director and also the state party's vice chairman for finance.
A degree of sarcasm seemed to creep into Wilder's voice when he was asked whether, as titular head of the party, he would guarantee the attorneys that their bills will be paid.
"The titular head of the party would be that person that usually is given anonymity in quotes, and I would imagine to get the direct source you would have to go to Mr. Watson, who is Mr. Robb's deputy, and who obviously has far more information on this than I do," the governor said.
Wilder suggested that Robb and party workers closely associated with the former governor have been reluctant to recognize that his election makes him the titular head of the party.
"The party is being led by the same persons who have been leading it for a long time, and what takes place over a four-year period of time doesn't really change that," Wilder said.
"As to why Mr. Watson feels that this is something that ought to be aired publicly and how he feels it serves the interest of his boss is beyond me. How he feels it serves the interests of the Democratic Party is beyond me. But those are questions you will have to ask them. I don't know."
The governor's suggestion that Robb may have been involved, even indirectly, was categorically denied by Robb's top aide in Washington, David McCloud.
"Chuck Robb does not play the game that way," McCloud told a reporter. "Never has and never will."
Wilder said he was not embarrassed by the story, even though the recount was completed Dec. 21.
Republicans lost no time in criticizing the governor for allowing the debts to go unpaid for six months. Steve Haner, executive director of the Republican Joint Legislative Caucus, said Wilder "better pay that bill and pay it fast. If there's one thing the average American voter and the average American working person can't put up with, it's a deadbeat. And he's starting to look like one."
Haner referred to earlier stories about a possible "slush fund" that Wilder might have as a result of proceeds from his inauguration and a report that taxpayers may have to pay the $148,500 balance on a printing bill for invitations to his swearing-in ceremony.
Wilder hinted Wednesday that the printing bill soon may be settled, although he didn't say how. His administration has argued that the state was overcharged and has been attempting to get the printer to reduce his bill.
Wilder has consistently declined to say whether there was a surplus from the privately financed inaugural events. Under law, he is not obligated to make that information public.
As for the flap over the recount attorneys' bills, Goldman - a lawyer himself - said he was taught that neither attorneys nor their clients discussed the substance of their relationship with others, so he would have no comment.
Goldman said, however, that he was particularly offended by the story's implication that he might be arm-twisting the recount attorneys to write off the bills so that they could stay on good terms with Wilder and other Democrats who control state government.
by CNB