THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 1, 1995 TAG: 9509010013
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A16 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 40 lines
The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality has asked its employees whether their programs could be performed as well by private business.
If the answer were yes for some programs, the employees in those programs might be laid off and the work could be contracted to private business.
Not surprisingly, employees mainly have answered no.
Gov. George Allen has pledged to reduce state employment by 16,000, and he's already achieved about a third of that goal. DEQ employment has been reduced by about 140, to 660 employees. (The state environmental-protection agency is authorized by law to hire 1,034 people, though its peak employment was about 800 two years ago.)
Michael McKenna, DEQ director of policy and planning, said his agency will share in further employment reductions, though no DEQ target number has been set.
Some environmentalists fear that Virginia's air and water will deteriorate if the DEQ cuts gotoo deep.
``You are going to end up with programs in name only,'' said Patricia A. Jackson, director of the James River Association, ``and a skeleton staff that is just going to be overwhelmed.''
McKenna challenged critics to prove Virginia's environment is being damaged.
McKenna said the DEQ is the first state agency to ask its employees about programs that private business might do better, but he said other agencies will follow suit.
We'll go out on a limb here and predict that more state employees will say their jobs are important and should be continued. by CNB