THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, February 12, 1996 TAG: 9602120085
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: General Assembly 1996
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
Norfolk Sheriff Robert J. McCabe is charging that Democratic legislators from his city are waging a political vendetta against his office by trying to cut the salaries of many top assistants.
At issue is a 2-year-old program that gives the sheriff's office a 38 percent cut of phone bills rung up by inmates making collect calls from the Norfolk jail.
It adds up to $204,000 a year that McCabe, a Republican, is using to supplement the salaries of 45 jail administrators.
Two Norfolk Democrats - Del. William P. Robinson Jr. and Sen. Yvonne B. Miller - have introduced legislation that would forbid McCabe from using the phone proceeds to supplement pay.
Robinson said profits from the phone calls should pay for things that directly benefit the inmates, such as educational or exercise equipment. He said he received complaints from relatives of prisoners that they are charged exorbitant rates for accepting collect calls from the jail.
McCabe said that his phone contract with Gateway Technologies of Texas specifies that the company charge no more than going rates for calls.
He said the program has allowed him to hire and retain some top jail administrators by offering attractive pay supplements.
One of those supplements goes to George E. Schaefer, the sheriff's director of administration. Schaefer also happens to be chairman of Norfolk's Republican committee and a twice-unsuccessful legislative candidate seeking to unseat Del. George H. Heilig, a Democrat.
McCabe says the bill is a not-too-discreet effort to punish Schaefer, who receives a $4,800 supplement from the phones to go along with his $41,600 salary.
``The sad part is that they're going to hurt 45 other people while they're going after George, and they're going to hurt the sheriff's ability to attract good people,'' McCabe said.
Norfolk Democrats insist that their motives are pure. But in another breath, they say they suspect Schaefer has been conducting Republican business from the jail.
``He's running a political operation out of the jail,'' Heilig said, noting that last year, a newspaper advertisement told Republicans to call the jail for more information about a mass meeting.
McCabe says Schaefer works more than 40 hours a week as a tireless administrator and legal adviser.``I get tired of 'em beating up on Schaefer,'' he said.
``He's at least $10,000 underpaid.'' Retarded woman's case may prompt inquiry
The case of Betsy Richardson - a 28-year-old mentally retarded woman living alone in Virginia Beach - may lead to a General Assembly inquiry into whether criminal laws adequately protect people of impaired mental capacity.
Virginia Beach Dels. Robert F. McDonnell and Glenn R. Croshaw want a legislative panel to consider legal standards needed for prosecution.
Richardson says she was ``talked into'' having sex with three men who came to her apartment in 1994. Her family believes the men took advantage of Richardson's mental capacity - amounting, they say, to sexual assault.
The Richardson case underscored why prosecutors have a difficult time bringing sexual assault cases involving victims who allegedly are incapable of consenting.
If approved, the five-member study panel would present its findings to the 1997 General Assembly.
- BY WARREN FISKE
and DAVID M. POOLE ILLUSTRATION: Sheriff Robert J. McCabe says a bill introduced by Norfolk
Democrats would cut his assistants' salaries.
KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY by CNB