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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 23, 1990                   TAG: 9005230281
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: MARGIE FISHER RICHMOND BUREAU
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Short

REQUEST FAILS TO UNCOVER WILDER FUND

When news leaked out that Gov. Douglas Wilder might have created a six-figure political fund with money left over from his inauguration festivities, reporters started hounding him for information.

In Williamsburg last week, Wilder advised them to request the information under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.

When reminded that the FOI might not cover the financial records of private inaugural events, he laughed and said, "Well, there you are."

The Roanoke Times & World-News filed an FOI request for the information on May 16.

Tuesday, the response came back:

No way.

"The information you seek does not fall within the ambit of those materials covered by the act," wrote Walter A. McFarlane, an attorney who serves as Wilder's executive assistant.

Wilder has refused to talk about the costs of his inaugural last January. News reports indicated that money left over from the weekend's many privately sponsored events, such as the inaugural ball, might have provided him with a six-figure political fund.

by CNB