Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 31, 1994 TAG: 9408010060
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Michael E. Thomas, secretary of administration, said Friday that he did not know how many employees received notices last week because the layoffs were being handled at the agency and department level.
A full accounting will be given Aug. 22 to the House Appropriations Committee and Senate Finance Committee at a joint meeting in Richmond, he said.
A story published Saturday in the Richmond Times-Dispatch provided job loss figures for several agencies, including 61 positions at the Department of Corrections, 44 in the Richmond office of the Department of Motor Vehicles and 21 at the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, including the entire printing department.
Most of the laid-off employees work at the central offices of agencies in Richmond.
``The reason George Allen was elected was to reduce the size and scope of state government,'' said Ken Stroupe, Allen's press secretary. ``The only way to do that is to reduce the number of positions in state government.''
The governor has left it to the agency and department heads to determine which positions to abolish, Stroupe said.
The administration also has created a ``talent bank'' in the Department of Personnel and Training, he said. Laid-off workers can place their names for consideration when new jobs become available.
Most of the workers were given two weeks' notice. The firings will take effect Aug. 10.
Democrats have criticized the purge as an effort by the new Republican administration to make room for political supporters. They also said the layoffs have created severe morale problems in state government.
Agency layoffs include:
Department of Corrections: Director Ronald J. Angelone said 18 of the 61 positions abolished were vacant. He said the layoffs would eliminate unnecessary layers of management and speed decision-making.
ABC Department: Chairman Catherine Giardano said that all 21 positions eliminated were filled, so most of the employees will lose their jobs. She said the work of the printing department will be turned over to private industry.
Health Department: Dr. Donald Stern, acting commissioner, said 17 positions were eliminated. Six were either vacant or the people in them are retiring, he said.
Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation: Director Ray Allen said two positions, deputy for regulatory programs and policy analyst/public relations, were eliminated. Allen said he has reduced employment at the agency from 162 when he became director on April 15 to 152 as of Friday.
Department of Motor Vehicles: Spokeswoman Jeannie Chenault said 44 positions were being eliminated in the central office, which has about 1,000 employees in the Richmond area. Of the 44 positions, 20 were vacant. Eleven employees whose positions were eliminated were transferred to vacant positions.
Department of Conservation and Recreation: Spokesman Gary Waugh said Dennis R. Baker was retired as director of the state's parks. Baker has spent 30 years working for the state's parks, the past two years as director.
Waugh said both Baker and Arthur H. Buehler Jr., planning and recreational resources director, were asked to retire because they qualified for the state's retirement program. The position of Donald L. Wells, a deputy director, was abolished.
All of the agency directors said they were carrying out Allen's mandate to streamline state government.
by CNB