
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, April 20, 1993                   TAG: 9304200263
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

NOW, HE'D SKIP LAND-SWAP VOTE BUT REPORT BAFFLES SALEM MAYOR

If he had it to do again, Salem Mayor Jim Taliaferro says he would abstain from voting on a land swap that benefited his construction company in 1991.

But Taliaferro said he was unsure what he could have done differently in 1987 when the Salem Civic Center replaced its heating system with equipment supplied by a company in which Taliaferro was an investor.

"I don't understand it," Taliaferro said, referring to a special prosecutor's report issued last week.

Lynchburg Commonwealth's Attorney William Petty found that Salem's longtime mayor breached the state's conflict-of-interest law on two occasions - by voting for the land swap and acting as a supplier on a city contract.

Petty decided not to file criminal charges because there was no evidence that Taliaferro knew he was breaking the law.

On Monday, Taliaferro said he would reserve making a detailed statement until City Attorney Stephen Yost had a chance to review the special prosecutor's report.

Taliaferro did say he understood the part of the report dealing with his vote - along with a unanimous City Council - to approve a land swap with his friend and business partner, Joe Prillaman.

Salem City Council paid Prillaman $303,700 to move his heating and air-conditioning business from land near the city's Moyer Sports Complex to a nearby industrial park. Prillaman later hired the mayor's company, Salem Contracting Inc., to construct a building at the new site.

Taliaferro - who continued to defend his vote after the Roanoke Times & World-News investigated the deal last fall - now says he should have abstained.

But Taliaferro said he failed to understand how the special prosecutor found fault with City Council's vote in December 1987 to install a new heating system at the Civic Center.

Taliaferro was absent when the vote was taken, but the contractor who did the job bought the heating units from a company owned in part by Taliaferro.

Petty concluded that Taliaferro breached a provision in the conflict law that forbids a public official from having a personal interest in a contract with a governing body he serves.

Questions about Taliaferro's vote on the land swap were first raised last spring by council candidate William Senter, who accused the mayor of using his public office to enrich himself and his friends.

Taliaferro shrugged off the allegations and won a sixth four-year term on City Council.

But questions persisted.

On Nov. 17, Taliaferro asked Salem Commonwealth's Attorney Fred King for a state police investigation to clear the air. King later disqualified himself and asked Petty to take the case.

"I thought it was in the best interests of everyone to have it investigated," Taliaferro said.

by CNB