ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, January 7, 1997 TAG: 9701070085
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
Last year, L.F. Payne was a congressman from Southside Virginia who railed against the Lake Gaston pipeline.
Today, Payne is a candidate for lieutenant governor moving toward a less parochial view of the giant public works project.
Payne acknowledged Monday that fast-growing Virginia Beach has a legitimate need to transfer drinking water - up to 60 million gallons a day - from the Roanoke River basin.
His views represent the natural evolution of an elected representative moving from a regional stage to a statewide arena. After serving as advocate for rural Virginia for nearly a decade, the pro-guns, pro-tobacco Democrat said he is prepared to "represent all people."
Payne, 51, faces no opposition for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor, a once-ceremonial post that now holds a crucial tie-breaking vote in the partisan-deadlocked Virginia Senate.
He would face one of three Republicans: Coleman Andrews, a Northern Virginia businessman; retired tobacco executive John Hagar of Richmond; and Del. Jay Katzen of Warrenton.
An Amherst County native, Payne grew up the son of a state trooper and schoolteacher, graduated from Virginia Military Institute and created the Wintergreen ski and golf resort in Nelson County. He served in Congress from 1988 until his retirement this month.
At a State Capitol news conference, Payne downplayed his past role in opposing the Lake Gaston pipeline, which is nearing completion.
He lobbied the courts and federal agencies to block the project and spoke on behalf of Roanoke River basin industries and residents opposed to what they called a big-city power grab of their resources.
"It gives one region of Virginia the right to reach in and take for its own use water resources that are located 80 miles away," Payne said in May 1995. "It rewards poor planning, uncontrolled growth and the failure to conserve."
Monday, Payne emphasized the need for a statewide water policy that will preserve the rights of all regions in future water disputes.
"This is not something that is going to go away," he said.
LENGTH: Short : 48 lines KEYWORDS: POLITICS LT. GOVERNORby CNB