THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 20, 1995 TAG: 9507200402
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVID M. POOLE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
William W. Kincaid drew a blank last February when asked who had hired him to lobby on behalf of Norfolk State University.
``I don't recall their names,'' Kincaid said.
But Kincaid had no problem naming names last month in a breach of contract complaint filed in Richmond Circuit Court.
The lawsuit seeks $17,168 in unpaid lobbying fees from four NSU officials, including President Harrison B. Wilson, and one graduate.
A spokesman for Wilson declined comment, saying the matter was in litigation.
The lawsuit is the latest twist in one of the most puzzling episodes of the 1995 General Assembly session.
No one is willing to take credit for the lobbying effort, which apparently grew out of Republicans' frustrations about their inability to generate support among black voters.
Some GOP activists hatched a plan to sow goodwill in the African-American community by leading the way in restoring funds that Republican Gov. George F. Allen recommended cutting from historically black NSU.
In late January, Kincaid, whose wife is a high-ranking official in the Allen administration, registered as a lobbyist to ``restore funds'' to NSU.
Outraged Democratic lawmakers said they could not believe Republicans would seek to slash NSU funding and then try to take credit for restoring the money.
Kincaid responded by saying the lobbying registration form had been completed in error and that his true goal was to help NSU with its plan to move the state office of Minority Business Enterprise from Richmond to the Norfolk campus.
Kincaid also told The Virginian-Pilot that he had been hired by an ad hoc group of alumni called Friends of Norfolk State University. He provided the name of one member, but the woman - the wife of a former NSU trustee - denied knowledge of the group.
In the lawsuit, David L. Bailey Associates alleges that the five defendants agreed to an ``oral contract'' to pay $100 an hour, plus expenses. In addition to Wilson, the defendants are Robert Poole, director of the NSU Foundation; Joseph R. Boyd, dean of the business school; L.D. Britt, a member of the Board of Visitors, and Alphonso L. Grant, a Lynchburg insurance broker and NSU graduate.
No one involved would talk about the case.
``I'd love to tell you the whole thing,'' Kincaid said in a brief telephone interview, ``but because it's in litigation I better keep my mouth shut.''
KEYWORDS: LAWSUIT NORFOLK STATE UNIVERSITY LOBBYING GENERAL ASSEMBLY
by CNB