Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 21, 1994 TAG: 9408210011
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
The estimate was obtained by the Richmond Times-Dispatch and reported Saturday.
The figures could be revised for Gov. George Allen's report Monday to the General Assembly money committees. Allen has pledged to cut waste and make state government more efficient.
The reductions represent less than one-half of 1 percent of the total number of state employees - 115,098 as of June 30.
Allen spokesman Ken Stroupe said he did not have a final figure on job cuts and that no figure had been added to a draft of the governor's speech.
"We've said hundreds," he said. "I'm going to leave those details for the governor's remarks on Monday."
Ric Brown, deputy director of the budget office, declined to comment. Of 445 positions in the Department of Planning and Budget estimate, it could not be determined precisely how many were filled, scrapped under budget cuts approved by the General Assembly or moved elsewhere.
According to the planning department, the health and human resources secretariat has cut 135 jobs; public safety, 117; transportation, 87; education, 41; administration, 33; commerce and trade, 22; natural resources, eight; and finance, two, sources told the newspaper.
In an article for a state workers' publication that will appear this week, Allen wrote that 400 jobs had been eliminated last month and that about 200 people had been laid off.
The article, for the Virginia Governmental Employees Association newsletter "Foresight," is titled "A Changing State Government - the Virginia Team is up to the Challenge."
Democrats have criticized the governor's changes, charging that he is more interested in rewarding political pals with jobs than promoting government professionals. They also contend that reductions in middle management are being offset by growth at the executive level.
Last week, two prominent Republicans got jobs in the Department of Conservation and Recreation - former state GOP Executive Director Joe Elton was appointed parks chief, and Richmond-area activist Karen Marcus was named head of constituent services.
Both jobs pay about $58,000 a year. Elton was selected from among 35 candidates; Marcus from among 18, said department director H. Kirby Burch.
"I was not looking for people with Republican connections," said Burch, organizer of a sportsmen's group for Allen in last year's campaign. "I was looking for people qualified for specific jobs."
Burch said Elton once worked in the Ohio legislature on natural resources issues. He replaced Dennis R. Baker, who spent nearly three decades in state service.
"It's always a risky proposition to replace someone with 30 years' experience," said Del. W.W. Clement, D-Danville,a member of the House Natural Resources Committee.
As for the Cabinet, the staff of Commerce and Trade Secretary Robert Skunda is the latest to attract public scrutiny. Skunda has at least 14 employees, twice as many as his predecessor.
Sources estimated that salaries alone exceed $800,000 and that the money apparently is coming from other areas of the budget. The General Assembly appropriated about $480,000 for Skunda's office.
Stroupe said Skunda did not have an excessive number of employees.
"Economic development and job creation will have a No. 1 claim on [Allen's] time," he said.
by CNB