Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 18, 1994 TAG: 9406180034
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By BILL COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
The vote was 5-to-3, with the opposing members supporting a proposal to request a meeting with the governor to discuss the issue. The State Code gives the board authority to select the director, but two weeks ago Allen named Woodfin acting director. The director's position has been vacant since October.
The board ratified the governor's choice, but in doing so stated "this action is not to be interperted as a precedent-setting action and does not change the board's authority to appoint the director."
"The wishes of the governor have to be recognized to some extent," said Walter P. Conrad Jr. of Chesapeake, the board chairman, who voted in favor of the proposal. He then added, "I don't think the governor should name the director."
The board met in executive session for more than three hours, with Becky Norton Dunlop, Virginia's secretary of natural resources, in attendance for about one-third of that time. Conrad said Dunlop told the board it was free to name its own director, but later she told a reporter she didn't expect the board to differ with the governor's choice of acting director.
James Remington, who campaigned for the governor last fall as chairman of Sportsmen for George Allen, urged the board to choose its own director.
"This board either will make decisions on merit or on politics," said Remington, who is a past executive director of the department. "I would hope that this board and future boards would function as envisioned in the code."
Woodfin, 46, has been deputy director of operations for the Department of Environmental Quality. The game department selection committee earlier had turned him down as a candidate for the director's position.
Woodfin said one of his objectives would be to help the department with its funding needs. He added that he looked forward to working with the board on an acting basis before becoming the permanent director.
The selection of a permanent director is expected to take up to four months, Conrad said.
The leaders of sportsmen groups had little to say at the board's hearing. James McInteer, a past executive director of the department, appeared to speak for some when he told the board, "It is my hope that the sportsmen of Virginia would appreciate the dilemma you are in and will continue the support that they have given to the board and the agency."
by CNB