ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 8, 1996 TAG: 9602080020
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: GENERAL ASSEMBLY NOTEBOOK
SOURCE: DWAYNE YANCEY AND TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITERS
Del. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, has discovered that he's on a first-name basis with many of his constituents.
The problem is, when they call the General Assembly's toll-free 1-800 phone number and ask to leave messages for "Morgan," they're being routed to Del. Harvey Morgan, R-Gloucester County.
Morgan - the Gloucester County Morgan, that is - discovered recently that about of a dozen of his phone messages were from residents in the other Morgan's district.
The tip-off came when Morgan's aide noticed a call from someone at Bent Mountain, not a community likely to be found in his low-lying district along the York River. As Griffith tells the story: "His aide came in and asked him, `you don't have any mountains in your district, do you?'''
The mix-up prompted Griffith to issue a special appeal Wednesday: If constituents want to talk to him or his aide, they're better off calling his direct number in Richmond at (804)786-7296 or his Salem office at 389-4498.
Constituents who call the legislature's toll-free line at (800)889-0229, he points out, are only able to leave messages with an operator.
The confusion did provide some chuckles, though, around the legislature, at least among Republicans. Last year, a page who was instructed to deliver a confidential paper on political strategy to Del. Watkins Abbitt, a Democrat, mistakenly handed it over to Del. John Watkins, a Republican, instead.
More Goode news: Senate deal to stick
Now that state Sen. Virgil Goode, D-Rocky Mount, is running for Congress, a question about his most recent triumph has arisen.
If Goode is elected to succeed retiring Rep. L.F. Payne, D-Nelson County, what happens to the historic power-sharing agreement he orchestrated in the state Senate?
Mainly because of Goode, the Senate - deadlocked at 20 Democrats and 20 Republicans - agreed to share committee assignments and chairmanships for the first time. Most Democrats, who have held a majority in the Senate since the turn of the century, favored a plan that would have allowed Lt. Gov. Don Beyer to break the tie vote and hand all the committee chairmanships to Democrats.
But Goode would have none of it. He said it would be only fair to give Republicans their due.
And Goode said his possible departure won't tip power in the Senate, at least until the year 2000, after the next state Senate elections in November 1999.
The two parties agreed to a four-year power sharing plan.
"I think the new organization in the Senate brings long-term harmony, which is good for Virginians," he said.
LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1996by CNB