ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, December 11, 1996 TAG: 9612110049
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
MEMO: Shorter version ran in Metro edition.
Governors who feel the sting of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission typically respond in one of two ways.
They accept the watchdog agency's criticism in the spirit of improving state government.
Or, they seek to discredit the messenger.
Gov. George Allen tried both this week after the commission issued a blistering critique of the Department of Environmental Quality.
Allen appointees downplayed the report, saying the pollution-control agency already has taken steps to correct some shortcomings.
Meanwhile, Allen dismissed the audit commission as being dominated by Democratic lawmakers at odds with his business-first approach to the environment.
"I guess what they would prefer, these people who are carping and whining, is we just shut down these businesses, run them out of the state and all the people who work for them lose their jobs," Allen told The Washington Post.
Allen's comments were the latest spin in a time-honored tradition of the executive branch's resisting oversight from the legislative branch.
"They don't like criticism," said Philip Leone, executive director of the audit commission.
The legislative watchdog group was established in 1973 when taxpayer revolts were sweeping the nation and people were demanding more accountability from government.
The General Assembly gave the audit commission license to review executive agencies for waste, inefficiency and duplication.
Over the years, the commission's staff has won national awards for its fairness and professionalism.
But the commission never has won any popularity contests with the Executive Mansion. For instance, the audit commission took Allen's predecessor, Democrat Gov. Douglas Wilder, to task for disorganized reorganization at the Department of Education and inadequate oversight by the Tax Department.
Leone said governors and agency heads who have been less than receptive to oversight have tried to discredit the audit commission by challenging its methodology, tactics or statistics.
"I have heard it all," Leone said. "But partisanship, that is new."
Allen's claims that the commission is tinged with partisan politics does not ring true with longtime commission members.
"I can honestly say I do not know of any review of any state agency that I personally felt had partisan overtones," said Bedford Del. Lacey Putney, the legislature's only independent and one of two remaining original audit commission members.
Putney acknowledged the commission's composition - nine Democrats, four Republicans and one independent - might tempt some to "read" partisanship into its reports.
Allen first played the partisan card last year, after the commission's preliminary report found many DEQ employees feared retribution if they enforced pollution laws.
Tuesday, Allen said Democrats were manipulating the audit commission in an effort to "manufacture an environmental scare."
While commission officials defend their findings as nonpolitical, Democrats are sure to pounce upon the report in next year's gubernatorial and legislative elections.
Lt. Gov. Don Beyer, the expected Democratic nominee for governor, said the commission's report should alarm Virginians who expect clean air and water.
Beyer said he was particularly concerned about the commission's finding that the Allen administration is reluctant to fine polluters, even when they deliberately break the law.
LENGTH: Medium: 71 linesby CNB