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

DATE: MONDAY, December 27, 1993                   TAG: 9401220010
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

TIMMRECK

"CHANGE" was Gov.-elect George Allen's campaign mantra, and his overwhelming election victory suggests Virginians want a change in the way state government operates. What then to make of Allen's surprise decision to keep Paul Timmreck, Gov. Wilder's secretary of finance, in his high-visibility Cabinet job?

Make this of it: Allen commendably recognizes that continuity and exemplary professional know-how are also important. These are especially important in a post that oversees a $30 billion two-year budget covering every aspect of state government and touching, one way or another, the life of every state resident. They're especially important, too, when Allen's other Cabinet appointees are, by and large, newcomers to state government.

Timmreck, 48, began his career with the state in 1975 as a research analyst for the General Assembly's "watchdog" agency, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission. He moved up to become staff director of the Senate Finance Committee; served as deputy secretary of administration and finance under former Gov. Robb; and was budget director for former Gov. Baliles when Wilder tapped him to be finance secretary.

A former president of the National Association of State Budget Officers, Timmreck is widely regarded as an expert in his field. Indeed, he deserves a good share of the credit for Financial World magazine's ranking of Virginia as the best fiscally managed state in the nation. There's virtually no one who has a better understanding of the state's complex financial workings. Or who can better explain them to legislators and laymen - without hiding behind technocratic obscurity or political spin.

Some may find it amusing that Timmreck, who helped write the budget that Democrat Wilder proposed, will now help Republican Allen rewrite it. But elected officials set the priorities that professionals implement. And many may be surprised by the extent of continuity between the two administrations. It is reassuring, in any case, that the budget-rewrite will fall to one as expert and competent as Timmreck.

by CNB