Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 10, 1991 TAG: 9102100311
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
The legislators, lobbyists, public officials and journalists taking part in the survey by The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star gave him an average score of 7.79 out of a possible 10 points.
But adversity wasn't nearly so kind to Attorney General Mary Sue Terry. Terry dropped from ninth in the 1989 survey to 14th this year after struggling to disentangle herself from a lawsuit aimed at forcing the admission of women to the Virginia Military Institute. Her average score was 6.65.
Timing almost certainly was part of Terry's problem. Survey forms were returned by 202 lawmakers, lobbyists, Capitol reporters and state and local officials shortly after Terry tried to remove herself from VMI's defense - only to have her maneuver blocked by Wilder and a federal judge. Terry later managed to extricate herself from the case.
The survey indicates Terry may have some work to do with political activists if she wants to be her party's nominee for governor in 1993.
The other most likely gubernatorial candidate, Lt. Gov. Donald Beyer, debuted at No. 3 in the survey with a score of 7.52, after a year of keeping his head down and steering clear of controversy.
Wilder and his chief of staff, J.T. Shropshire, did well despite a year of friction with Democrats in the Assembly. Wilder has fought with Senate Majority Leader Hunter Andrews, D-Hampton, over everything from the state retirement system to the state budget. More than a few Democratic legislators complained last year that they were being used to help launch a national political campaign for Wilder.
"Wilder and Shropshire have done nothing to help the Democratic legislators," wrote one Democratic lawmaker who gave Wilder a 3, Shropshire a 1.
Despite this, Democratic legislators gave Wilder the highest rating of the 35 state officials. Had the survey been limited to lobbyists, Wilder would have ranked fifth, behind Beyer, Supreme Court Chief Justice Harry Carrico, Secretary of Finance Paul Timmreck and lottery director Kenneth Thorson.
If the survey rankings are a good barometer of who's in and who's out with Richmond insiders, here are some of the winners and losers.
In: Thorson, whose agency has consistently outproduced expectations and helped alleviate the state's budget crisis. Thorson also has a low-key candor that has endeared him to some lawmakers.
Out: Joseph Spagnolo, Wilder's appointee as superintendent of public instruction. He has taken an ax to the Department of Education, laying off more than 100 employees and forcing another 200 to reapply for new jobs. Spagnolo rated 28th out of 35 officials in the survey, but had his defenders.
"Most impressive," wrote a lobbyist who gave Spagnolo a 7. "General Assembly has given him undeserved heat. Give the guy some time. He's got good ideas."
In: State Corporation Commission member Theodore Morrison, who ranked fourth overall largely on the strength of high ratings from legislators and lobbyists.
Out: Ray Pethtel, state transportation commissioner, who ranked 15th. Pethtel has fallen steadily since 1987, when he ranked fourth. Pethtel, once the feared leader of the legislature's investigative and policy-making agency, was appointed by then Gov. Gerald Baliles to streamline road building, but has come under fire in urban areas where traffic still clogs highways.
In: Howard Cullum, state mental health commissioner. Low-key and quiet among legislators, Cullum has been credited with cutting his agency's budget without drastically affecting service.
Several survey respondents said they couldn't rank many of the officials because they weren't familiar with their performance.
Many officials at the bottom of the rankings this year, as in past years, are appointees or leaders of lesser-known state agencies.
by CNB