Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, November 18, 1995 TAG: 9511200109
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
But a shipment list obtained by The Roanoke Times suggests administration officials may have been more concerned with Gov. George Allen's all-out effort to gain a Republican majority in last week's General Assembly elections.
All of the computers went to school systems represented by seven Republican lawmakers who faced tough re-election campaigns, including state Sen. Brandon Bell of Roanoke County and Del. Allen Dudley of Rocky Mount.
Mike Thomas, Allen's secretary of administration, denied Friday that any political calculation went into the computer distribution.
"Even if you did characterize that sort of thing as political, it's certainly not that unusual," said Thomas, who noted that incumbents from both parties try to "bring something back to their districts."
The shipment's timing stunned the state Department of Education, which was in the process of developing guidelines to ensure that surplus machines go to schoolchildren with the greatest need for computer access.
State Superintendent William Bosher told the Senate Finance Committee that the computers were shipped without his department's "knowledge or acquiescence."
In fact, the Allen administration shipped the first batch of computers before some school systems even had a chance to apply. The Department of Education had given school systems until Oct. 31 to apply for some of the hundreds of computers freed up by the departure of several thousand state workers earlier this year.
Some Democratic lawmakers called for a full accounting Friday of how the Allen administration doled out the computers.
"Why wasn't everyone given an opportunity to get them?'' asked House Majority Leader Richard Cranwell, D-Roanoke County. "And what criteria did they use - other than politics?''
Donald Williams, director of the General Services Department, said the election played no role in the shipment.
"I never even considered looking at a map of Virginia to see who represents an area," he said.
Williams said he knew of the deadline set by Bosher, but his department decided to go ahead and give away the first wave of computers on a "first come, first-served basis."
Williams said many people - including parents, teachers and lawmakers - had contacted his office since Allen announced the surplus computer campaign in September.
Officials from several school districts that received computers said they were unaware of the program until they were contacted by a Republican lawmaker.
Homer Duff, facilities director for Roanoke County schools, said he got a call in September from an aide to Bell who asked if the county schools could use 15 computers.
Though the machines were obsolete IBM-compatible models that would be good for little more than keyboard instruction, Duff said he rarely turns down offers to donate computer equipment.
Duff said he doesn't know why the state chose Roanoke County, which boasts one of the best-equipped school systems in the region for computers.
"I don't know if we won the lottery, or what," he said.
Bell, a one-term Republican who lost his re-election bid, said he considered getting surplus computers for both Roanoke and Roanoke County part of his job of constituent service.
Bell said he had no knowledge about other Republicans getting computers for their districts.
Other GOP lawmakers whose districts got computers were: Sens. H. Russell Potts of Winchester and Edgar Robb of Charlottesville; and Dels. Dudley, Barnes Lee Kidd of Tazewell, Frank Ruff of Clarksville and Minority Leader Vance Wilkins of Amherst.
Republicans deny that the computer distribution was part of a coordinated campaign. But two of the seven GOP lawmakers - Dudley and Wilkins - issued campaign statements that began with the exact same quote: "In order to be competitive in today's marketplace, basic computer skills are no longer an option."
Dudley went one further - he got the state to deliver the computers to his campaign headquarters and staged a news conference to present the machines to local school officials.
When a reporter asked if the computers were a political stunt, Dudley laughed.
"This is something good for the community - politics aside," he said.
Williams, who personally delivered some of the computers three weeks before the election, acknowledged that he lacked the expertise to determine which school systems had the greatest computer need.
But he said the state will have plenty more computers to give away once the Education Department establishes guidelines.
"The computers were supposed to go to the children, and that's exactly what happened," he said.
Staff writer Todd Jackson contributed information to this story.
by CNB