Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 19, 1995 TAG: 9504190052
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-5 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LYNCHBURG LENGTH: Medium
In the suit filed Monday in U.S. District Court, Arnold asks the court to reinstate her as the city's voter registrar and pay her for all lost wages and benefits.
Arnold also asked that two members of the electoral board, John Mason and Al Grant, pay her $50,000 in compensatory damages, as well as $100,000 in punitive damages.
Her suit names the electoral board as a whole, as well as each of its members - Grant, Mason and David Petty.
``The two Republicans on the electoral board, Gra was interviewed for the job.
However, she lost reappointment to Carol Spencer Read, a former Appalachian Power Co. customer services representative, by a 2-1 vote. Mason and Grant voted for Read. Petty, the board's lone Democrat, supported Arnold.
U.S. District Judge James Turk will hear Arnold's request for a preliminary injunction to reinstate her as registrar next Tuesday.
The registrar appointment process traditionally has been cloaked in politics, because state law stipulates that the makeup of the electoral board change to favor the party in control of the governor's office.
The electoral board was controlled by Democrats for 12 years until the election of Republican Gov. George Allen in November 1993.
In early March, Arnold said, politics was the only reason for her impending ouster.
``What else can it be?'' she said then. ``If it's not political, I just want someone to explain as to what is the problem.''
Arnold declined to comment on the suit. She referred questions to her attorney, David Constine, who also declined to comment.
Mason and Petty both declined to comment, as did the board's attorney, W. Fain Rutherford. Grant could not be reached for comment.
Asked in March if politics was the reason for replacing Arnold with Read, Grant said, ``Absolutely not.''
``We looked at all nine applicants and picked the best qualified. Never did politics enter into my mind,'' he said.
by CNB