THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, February 18, 1997 TAG: 9702180449
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TERRI WILLIAMS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: 85 lines
The line separating independence and dependence for constitutional officers is a thin one.
At least when it comes to funding.
The city manager wants officials such as the sheriff and chief prosecutor to make a formal request when these state offices come to the city for money. The constitutional officers say that action threatens their independence, which is mandated by state law.
The dispute, which has been worked on in the past week, comes before the public at Wednesday's City Council meeting.
While the state is charged with paying for its consitutional officers, cities have begun chipping in over recent years as staffs have grown without state support.
Now, the process for city support is informal in Suffolk.
The new request is significant. In the clerk of courts office, for instance, the city and the clerk agree that Suffolk will pay 20 percent in this year's budget.
There are other costs, such as retirement benefits, that the city and state split.
City Manager Myles E. Standish said there are no power issues involved.
``What was introduced was a new ordinance. I don't think there's anything to it beyond that,'' Standish said.
But Commonwealth's Attorney C. Phillips Ferguson says ``the city manager wants to control everything.''
Friction often arises because local money goes to constitutional officers but they are beyond city or county control, said Robert M. DeVoursney, a professor of planning and city government at the Weldon Center at the University of Virginia.
``From a professional standpoint, you want everyone working from the same page,'' said DeVoursney. ``And so it can be problematic when you have someone with their own electorate.''
Most Virginia cities have five elected officers, in addition to the council, as provided by the state Constitution.
The officials are:
The commissioner of revenue, who is the chief tax-assessing officer;
The treasurer, who is the chief financial officer who collects taxes and local fees;
The sheriff, who is the custodian of the jail;
The commonwealth's attorney, who prosecutes criminal cases;
And the Circuit Court clerk, who records deeds, marriage licenses and other court matters.
The constitutional officers are elected at-large for a term of four years, except for the court clerk, who has an eight-year term.
They act as a checks and balances to local or county government, said Commonwealth's Attorney Ferguson. For example, he said, if corruption were to occur in the police department, the commonwealth's attorney - not the city attorney, whose boss is the city manager - would investigate.
Yet money is often where the rub comes in.
Suffolk pays about $185 for every constitutional employee who desires to be on the city's health insurance plan, said M. Christine Ledford, the city's finance director. There are about 55 constitutional employees and about 90 percent or better have elected to get on the plan. There is also a split between city and state for fringe benefits.
Suffolk isn't the only city where the constitutional officers have clashed with city government.
In Virginia Beach, money also became an issue in August 1994 when former Virginia Beach Councilman John D. Moss led a campaign to get rid of the constitutional officers' city-paid car allowances. Moss argued the allowance was an unnecessary perk. The lobby failed. Officers there currently receive an allowance of between $300-$350 a month.
Virginia Beach City Treasurer John T. Atkinson said the car allowance issue boiled down to a matter of equity. Atkinson said it was only fair to allow the constitutional officers car allowances when the city's department heads were all getting allowances. What's often also a contention point is salary inequity between constitutional officer's employees and their counterparts in city offices.
``My job is to get the job done,'' said Atkinson. ``And I can't get it done if they're (constitutional employees) envious of their counterpart's salary ..
For the sake of the citizens, it ultimately comes down to fostering a sound working environment between both offices, say experts.
``The question is how is the public best served?'' DeVoursney said. ``Should they be working for the good of the citizens? Sure they should be.'' ILLUSTRATION: SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDING FOR STATE OFFICES
VP CHART
[For a copy of the chart, see microfilm for this date.]
KEYWORDS: CONSTITUTIONAL OFFICERS