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

DATE: TUESDAY, April 11, 1995                   TAG: 9504110109
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium

TERRY PUSHES 2-TERM GOVERNORS

Mary Sue Terry has joined the debate about Virginia's one-term limit on governors, saying the ban needs to be lifted because the last three chief executives left ``bags of snakes'' for their successors.

With only a single term, she said, ``from day one, there's no accountability or long-term thinking.''

Terry, a former Virginia attorney general and former gubernatorial candidate who teaches and practices law in Richmond, spoke Sunday at a Richmond church.

Terry said the ability of governors to build on the success of a first term is one reason ``why North Carolina outstrips us in economic development.''

``We in Virginia have a unique and structural problem,'' she said. ``We desperately need a two-term governor. ... There's so much lost momentum that we have, and an awful lot of stress on the state employees, as well.''

Terry said she had taken the same position when asked about gubernatorial terms during her campaign, but did not make it an issue. She said she had adopted the position since leaving the House of Delegates in 1985.

``Back in those days, I didn't believe in it,'' she said.

She and the three previous governors - Charles Robb, Gerald Baliles and Douglas Wilder - are Democrats. In 1993, Terry lost to George Allen, a Republican.

``This is certainly no more of a criticism or a comment on George Allen than it was on Doug Wilder, or Jerry Baliles or Chuck Robb,'' she said. ``Every governor we've had in recent years has left bags of snakes for the next one.''

The cost beyond the governor's term was one of the main attack points Democrats used on Allen's abolition of parole.

Referring to Allen, Terry said: ``This is the fourth governor that we've had where there's been some speculation about running for national office. I don't think speculation about running for national office in the first term is good.''

Virginia's constitution prohibits governors from serving two terms in a row, although they can run again after leaving office.

In February, the House of Delegates killed a proposed constitutional amendment to allow the governor to serve two terms, beginning with the governor who takes office in 2002. The vote was 50-48. The bill had cleared the Senate, and voters also would have to approve such a measure.

by CNB