ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, March 21, 1996 TAG: 9603210003
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: WILLIAM W. RICHARDSON
DURING CHINA'S Cultural Revolution, everyone was expected to be familiar with a little book called "Quotations From Chairman Mao." Red Guards from the Communist Party would observe workers to make sure they could quote from the little red book, and to select victims for "visits" to "re-education camps", where the only book found was the same "Quotations From Chairman Mao."
This practice has resurfaced in Virginia, in the form of the Five Principles of Environmental Protection from Becky Dunlop, secretary of natural resources. For the past few years, her representatives sat in on job interviews for applicants to the Department of Environmental Quality, seeking quotations from Secretary Becky.
This is so bizarre that we are boggled in attempting to comprehend. Do aides to the presidents of our state universities sit in on the job interviews for their institutions? Of course not. Does someone from the mayor's office sit in when people are interviewed for local-government positions, much less ask them to quote from the mayor's speeches? Of course not. Do representatives from the local school board sit in on interviews for teachers to ask them to remember things from the newsletters of the Christian Coalition or Act Up? Of course not. Any of these practices would be inappropriate and unethical, as any informed citizen knows.
Inappropriate, unethical and, we hope, illegal. But for one political appointee, this practice is acceptable and expected.
State employees are prohibited from using their positions to promote a political party, but this didn't stop Secretary Becky from sending her minions to make sure applicants to the Department of Environmental Quality knew her Five Principles.
Being that Secretary Becky is not native to Virginia, it should come as no surprise that she appears both unaware and unappreciative of Virginia tradition, which, in fact, does extend to the operations of our government. To her, politicizing a state agency is natural and acceptable to the furtherance of her agenda, which to all appearances is intended to subordinate environmental protection to economic growth.
All citizens, especially state employees, have ample reason for concern. Is politicizing our government a practice now expected from the party of the governor?
The state established the Department of Environmental Quality to protect its environment, and for no other reason. While Becky Dunlop might be well-suited to head an agency devoted to promoting economic growth, she is derelict to the responsibilities of her present position.
William W. Richardson of Blacksburg is a musician and chairman of the Citizens Advisory Committee for the Smart Road.
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