Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, July 19, 1993 TAG: 9307190118
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
Fifty-five delegates to a state organizing convention voted to formalize a state structure for the group formed by the Texas billionaire who ran for president last year.
"We are an educational organization," not a political movement, said James M. Holloway Jr. of Bristol, the convention's chairman.
The group voted to adopt articles of incorporation, bylaws and a license agreement with United We Stand America, the national Perot organization, in order to qualify as part of the national group.
It also voted to adopt a proposed state budget of $110,000.
"We're the first state to do this," said Tom Overocker, Perot's Southeast regional director. Not even Perot's home state of Texas has formalized a state structure, Overocker said.
In a conference call from Arizona, Perot thanked the Virginians after their convention.
"You've set the standard for the rest of us," Perot said. "We won't have to climb the learning curve in the other states. . . . We will follow your lead."
The 66 delegates and alternates meeting in Charlottesville were elected at congressional district meetings. They said their core issues are government accountability, political reform and fiscal responsibility.
United We Stand Virginia elected Ivan "Pink" Ely of Williamsburg its state chairman.
By not calling itself a political party, Perot's Virginia followers will be exempt from the financial reporting requirements of the Federal Election Commission. As an educational organization, the Virginia group also will be eligible to become a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization.
"If we were to become a party and run candidates . . . we become the enemy," Overocker said.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB