THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, September 5, 1995 TAG: 9509050063
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Short : 42 lines
The number of Virginia agency heads assigned state-owned cars has been reduced almost in half under Gov. George Allen, according to an administration study.
Allen last year pledged to put the brakes on the wasteful use of state cars. In an executive order, he banned his Cabinet secretaries and most agency heads from commuting in government vehicles.
The study found that about half of all agency heads still have personal government vehicles, which are to be used only for ``the necessary performance of official business'' under Allen's order.
Vehicles, including four-wheel drives and minivans, are available to 56 of 114 department heads. Those driving the cars include chiefs of police and emergency agencies, who are on call around-the-clock, and college presidents and directors of agencies that oversee programs for the blind and aged.
The vehicles of some top officials are available for use by other personnel.
The Virginia Department of Transportation, which operates the state's 2,800-car fleet, did not have figures on vehicle use by Cabinet secretaries and department directors in previous administrations, but estimated that the number of government executives now assigned vehicles has been cut almost by half.
``That's our best estimate,'' said assistant commissioner Albert W. Coates Jr.
The Allen study, prepared for the Democrat-controlled General Assembly, provides only a glimpse at a high-profile perquisite for top officials. Hundreds of vehicles are available to lower-level officials as well, and the Republican administration has taken steps to curtail their use, already returning 140 cars to the state's main motor pool. by CNB