ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, June 24, 1996 TAG: 9606240097
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE AND ROBERT LITTLE STAFF WRITERS
Norfolk Del. George Heilig has been breathing New Mexico's mountain air for two months, seeking solace from a disabling eye condition and a painful divorce.
The Democrat has been away so long that local Republicans have asked Gov. George Allen to declare Heilig's seat vacant and to schedule a special election to find a replacement.
Reached by phone, Heilig bristled at what he termed a GOP dirty trick.
"All of it sounds like George Schaefer, a two-time loser," Heilig said, referring to his challenger in 1991 and 1995. "Because he can't win a general election, he wants to get me tossed out on some technicality."
Schaefer, an administrator for Norfolk Sheriff Robert McCabe, said Heilig has only himself to blame for the controversy.
"I'm not the one who moved to New Mexico," Schaefer said. "Taking the people's money for something and then not doing the job - I don't know what they call that in Virginia, but in some places they'd call it fraud."
The future of Heilig's 26-year tenure in the House of Delegates has been uncertain since he was diagnosed last fall with a degenerative eye condition.
He resigned from his law practice but continued in the General Assembly this winter with the help of aides and colleagues who enlarged documents or read him portions of bills. His condition did not prevent him from being chairman of the House Corporations, Insurance and Banking Committee, which handles a docket of complex business legislation.
"It didn't hinder me as much as I thought it might," he said.
Heilig said his extended sojourn near Santa Fe is drawing to a close and that he will return to Norfolk during the first week in July. He said he has kept up with his General Assembly duties by forwarding his mail and keeping in touch with his legislative assistant.
Norfolk Del. Thelma Drake, a Republican, said several of Heilig's constituents have turned to her for help because they have been unable to reach him.
"I've had people call me and say, `I know you're not my delegate, but I have a problem and my delegate is not here,''' she said.
Republicans say they have a smoking gun - a document that Heilig filed in his divorce case listing his address in Glorieta, N.M.
GOP officials say the document proves Heilig left town and established a permanent residence out West.
Heilig said he provided the New Mexico address simply so court officials could reach him while he was away.
"I don't know why people can't go on a vacation," he said. "I could have gone to France for the summer. That doesn't make you an official French resident."
Heilig said he is leasing a home with an option to buy. But he said he has taken no step - such as applying for a driver's license or paying income taxes - indicating an intention to establish a permanent residence in New Mexico.
Republicans' claim could be bolstered by a 1995 Roanoke Circuit Court case involving Del. Richard Cranwell of Vinton, a Democrat and majority leader of the House. A judge accepted an address listed on Cranwell's divorce papers as evidence of his residency.
Attorney General Jim Gilmore, a Republican, is looking into the status of Heilig's seat.
"When we get all the facts, we will issue an opinion," said Mark Miner, a Gilmore spokesman.
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