DATE: Thursday, November 20, 1997           TAG: 9711200437

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B9   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: THE WASHINGTON POST 

                                            LENGTH:   62 lines

CSX PAID FOR GILMORE, BEYER TO STAY AT GREENBRIER RESORT

A few days after Republican James S. Gilmore III was elected Virginia's governor, he and his family unwound at one of the country's most luxurious mountain spas, the Greenbrier, in West Virginia.

His vanquished opponent, Democratic Lt. Gov. Donald S. Beyer Jr., also spent a few days decompressing with his family at the Greenbrier, which for more than 200 years has pampered princes and presidents, and where rooms range from $320 to $500 a night.

At checkout time, neither Gilmore nor Beyer paid the bill.

Richmond, Va.-based CSX Corp., which is involved in the biggest proposed merger in railroad history and owns the Greenbrier, picked up the tab.

The freebie is legal under Virginia election law - which imposes few restrictions on donations to candidates. But it has raised the hackles of activists and others who argue that such gifts are improper and increase the cynicism of jaded voters.

``If you have an electorate that feels totally disconnected from politicians - and there's no better evidence of that than in this last election, where only 1.7 million of 5 million eligible voters turned out - then anything like this tends to diminish public confidence,'' said William H. Wood, executive director of the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership at the University of Virginia. ``The general rule should be: Politicians ought not to accept freebies from anybody.''

Spokesmen for Gilmore and Beyer said the free vacations were gifts to their respective campaigns and will be disclosed as required by law on their final finance reports, due Dec. 4. They dismissed assertions that accepting the vacations was improper.

``That's just ridiculous,'' said Gilmore spokesman Mark Miner. ``CSX invited Jim and his family to be a guest at the Greenbrier. They asked him and Don Beyer. Jim is not being influenced by any contribution or gift. . . . He and his family went there for a little relaxation after the campaign.''

Beyer policy chief Randy Collins echoed Miner. ``This is a trip that the lieutenant governor took as part of his recovery from his campaign,'' Collins said. ``It will be fully reported and disclosed. Given that it's fully disclosed, which is what's required by law, there is no impropriety.''

CSX, which last year had $10.5 billion in operating revenue, has no major requests pending before state government, but it is in the railroad's interest to maintain good relations with the governor of its home state, said Frank Wilner, a Northern Virginia transportation consultant.

The proposed $10.2 billion merger, in which CSX and Norfolk Southern want to gobble up Conrail Inc., is pending before the federal Surface Transportation Board. Virginia has no vote in that decision, but Wilner said that the state is entitled to give its opinion and that railroads want affected states to support such applications.

It is not unusual for Virginia governors to take a holiday on someone else's dime. Outgoing Republican Gov. George Allen spent a couple of nights last year at the plush Homestead resort in Hot Springs, Va., courtesy of the resort, a value of $1,152. ILLUSTRATION: Republican James S. Gilmore III, left, and his family

and Gilmore's defeated opponent, Democratic Lt. Gov. Donald S. Beyer

Jr., and his family spent time at the Greenbrier as guests of CSX

Corp. KEYWORDS: CAMPAIGN FINANCE GUBERNATORIAL RACE

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