Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 28, 1990 TAG: 9007280235
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-3 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Staff and wire reports
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Those details will not, however, include names of passengers accompanying Wilder.
"We don't want anyone to be left with the impression that we don't respect the public's right to know," Wilder's press secretary, Laura Dillard, said. "When the governor does utilize the state aircraft for whatever purpose, we will inform the press of that fact."
The announcement came a day after the Charlottesville Daily Progress reported a change in state police record-keeping for the helicopter flights. State police Superintendent W.F. Corvello ordered pilots to stop recording on maintenance logs the arrivals and departures for all trips on the state helicopter.
Wilder drew fire last month after news accounts based on those logs showed he used the state-provided helicopter, a four-passenger Bell 222, for personal trips to Charlottesville and elsewhere. The governor did not reimburse the state for private or political trips on the aircraft.
Reporters asking to see the records were disrupting pilots' work, Corvello said.
Legislators reacted angrily to Corvello's decision, but said Wilder's apparent change of heart was a positive sign.
"They're starting to wise up," Del. George F. Allen, R-Earlysville, said. "They should have done this a long time ago."
"He's our governor and we should know a little bit about what he does," said Del. Earl Dickinson, D-Mineral.
Dillard said Wilder's new policy did not signal discontent with Corvello's action. Corvello, a Wilder appointee, said he decided to stop recording flights without consulting the governor's office.
Allen said he thought the state police could take the heat off Wilder without bothering pilots or involving the governor's office.
"Why can't they just make a copy of the logs and put them in a folder for the public?" he asked. "If you have to rely solely on the governor's words, I'm not sure how satisfactory this is."
Until July 7, pilots logged the governor's flights, destinations and numbers of passengers. Reports were published the week before about Wilder's use of the chopper for vacation flights and trips to see Albemarle County billionaire Patricia Kluge and other friends.
The Charlottesville paper reported Friday that on July 7 Corvello told pilots to stop listing such information.
"It's none of the state police's business who's on the flight," Corvello said in an interview.
Corvello and one helicopter pilot said only the governor's office could release information about when the governor used the helicopter, his destinations and the names of any passengers who flew with him.
Earlier Friday, Dillard had said the governor's office would not disclose Wilder's private use of the helicopter, does not believe he should reimburse the state and has heard no loud public call for reimbursement.
The change in rules drew criticism from both Democratic and Republican legislators.
State police officials say the helicopter costs about $300 an hour to fly.
by CNB