Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, July 2, 1990 TAG: 9007020068
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Some newspapers and broadcast stations are applying a "different standard to Doug" because he's black, said Del. William P. Robinson Jr., D-Norfolk.
"Doug knew from the beginning that some people were not comfortable with reality and the 20th century. Now they're saying, `I told you so, that's what we expected when he was elected. He'd use these things and not pay for them,"' Robinson told the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Wilder was criticized in news articles last week for using state helicopters for personal trips and vacations.
But Robinson said Wilder's predecessors also freely used the helicopters.
Each governor sets his own policy on using the copters; there is no law or guidelines restricting their employment. State police said they have urged Wilder to travel more by helicopter because it's faster and makes it easier for his security detail to protect him.
Robinson said the news stories on Wilder's traveling and socializing with Patricia Kluge of Charlottesville are the latest example of "let's find something to throw at the governor" journalism.
The stories started in early May, he said, when reporters dogged Wilder to disclose the profits of his inaugural, the largest in Virginia history and presumed to have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars. Again, there's no law or regulation requiring a governor to disclose the profits.
Robinson said the stories highlight "non-issues" and give some people ammunition to say, "`We should never have elected Wilder."'
Instead of tracking rumors linking Wilder and Patricia Kluge, the estranged wife of America's richest man, John Kluge, the news media should judge the governor by whether he is doing his job and addressing the problems of Virginia, Robinson said.
The news articles have focused on the governor's use of state aircraft for political travel out of state or his transport by helicopters in Virginia. The helicopter flights included 18 trips to such places as Patricia Kluge's estate in Albemarle County, a contributor's home on the Eastern Shore and a Virginia Beach vacation retreat used by governors for years.
Wilder has reimbursed the state for his purely personal journeys outside Virginia, and sponsoring groups, mainly political, have paid or will pay the state for his other trips on the state plane.
The governor's office said he will not reimburse the state for another $20,000 in helicopter-operation costs.
Other recent news articles have noted the governor's attendance at parties where Patricia Kluge, 41, was a guest and his vacation travels with her. Wilder, 59, has been divorced for more than a dozen years. He and Patricia Kluge have said they are good friends.
by CNB