
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 30, 1990                   TAG: 9003300847
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-6   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Short

WILDER DENIES SPECIAL TAGS TO ALLIES OF EX-GOV. BALILES

Gov. Douglas Wilder says he wasn't trying to embarrass anyone by denying highly prized, low-numbered license plates to top aides and allies of his predecessor and party colleague, Gerald Baliles.

Shortly after taking office Jan. 13, Wilder ordered the Department of Motor Vehicles to stop processing the plates for about 30 former Cabinet secretaries, senior staff members and friends of Baliles, Wilder chief of staff J.T. Shropshire said Thursday.

On Baliles' last full day in office - Jan. 12 - DMV commissioner Donald E. Williams had sent letters informing the 30 that they were in line for the eye-catching plates.

Shropshire said the governor imposed a freeze on the plates because he "had more important things on his mind . . . He's had his hands full with the budget and other things."

"That's the truth," Shropshire said.

Wilder said Thursday he had only seen a list of prospective recipients for the first time Wednesday. "It was never my intention - nor is it my intention - to embarrass [Baliles]," he said.

Tags with numbers under 1,000 - as well as some with a prefix or suffix of "A" or "B" - are doled out by the governor's office. Perhaps one of the more conspicuous signs of the chief executive's patronage power, the license plates are usually awarded to political allies and can be held for life.

Several people have already received their tags, including former first lady Jeannie Baliles.

Republicans were delighted at Wilder's action and predicted it would cause a rift among Democrats who have controlled the governorship since 1981.

by CNB