DATE: Monday, September 22, 1997            TAG: 9709220134

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SERIES: Decision 97: Election Coverage 

SOURCE: BY HOLLY A. HEYSER, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  231 lines

PAYNE BRINGS TO RACE SENSE OF STABILITY, ETHICS

If resumes were television shows, L.F. Payne's would be a dead ringer for ``Father Knows Best.''

Here's a guy who came of age in the 1960s, yet followed a classic 1950s career path: captain of the high school football team, student body president, Virginia Military Institute, U.S. Army, master's degree from the University of Virginia, job with a new venture that made him a millionaire, Congress.

And, oh yeah, he teaches Sunday school in his spare time.

What do you find when you peel back the picture-perfect resume of the lieutenant governor candidate?

Pretty much more of the same.

Payne is not a politician who has been shaped by epiphanies, exotic influences or the kind of tragic adversity that makes you stronger if it doesn't kill you.

Rather, supporters compare him favorably to a rock and an old shoe.

``I don't think you have to be struck by lightning. I don't think you have to have those dramatic moments,'' said friend and part-time neighbor Peter Agelasto III of Virginia Beach.

``I know a lot of fancy people, and he's got the good points a lot of fancy people should have,'' Agelasto said. ``He's kind, considerate and low-key. What he doesn't do is parade his ego.''

By account of people who have known and worked with him, Payne is a man whose faith is thoroughly enmeshed in his life, though not trumpeted for public consumption.

A man who gives undivided attention to people who seek an audience with him - not just hearing, but listening.

A man who takes political positions more consistent with his beliefs than with his party's line.

In the words of his wife of 17 years, Susan: ``He's just like a rock. He's very stable.''

Payne credits his parents for that rock-solid foundation. His mother, a teacher, earned her college degree while working and raising her family. His father was a state trooper who had grown up on a farm.

Between the two of them, Payne's parents bred deep respect for education and the law, not to mention a work ethic born of a two-income family well ahead of its time.

``We had a lot of respect for our parents,'' he said. ``It was taught, but it was earned as well.''

That's the kind of experience that leads the candidate to propose the ``Commonwealth Character Initiative,'' a program designed to instill commonly accepted values in schoolchildren. It wouldn't be a curriculum, but rather a clearinghouse for ideas on character education, he said.

``Education without character is like a ship without a compass,'' he said. ``You've got to know right from wrong, and understand the universal values of hard work, common sense, respect, honesty and decency.''

In his heart, he knows children must learn those values at home through experience and observation. And he knows it's more important for adults to teach values by example, not by lecture.

But injecting some of those lessons into their school experience can't hurt, he said.

``Every experience adds to your value system.''

Payne grew up Baptist but settled down with the Presbyterian Church when he was attending the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business in Charlottesville. ``It was just a matter of finding the church that seemed to work,'' he said.

Once he did that, he immersed himself in the church's activities, ultimately becoming a Sunday School teacher and a trustee of his church.

David Taylor, pastor of Rockfish Presbyterian Church in Nelson County, met Payne eight years ago when he was interviewing for the job as pastor.

``I was immediately impressed with his sense of integrity and commitment,'' Taylor said. ``His church isn't an appendage to his life - it's part of who he is.

``L.F. relates to all the people in the congregation well.''

One day, a group of adults had gathered before Sunday school for their own class, and Payne - who had already become a congressman - found himself sitting next to a man who had just gotten out of prison.

``L.F. was as embracing of him as of any other constituent,'' Taylor said. Payne told the ex-con he had paid his debt to society and encouraged him to get his feet on the ground and make a new start, he said.

``He's just like an old shoe,'' Taylor said. ``There's no pretension, no arrogance. He's just L.F.''

Payne dabbled in politics early, but without making a habit of it. Students at Amherst County High School elected him student body president for his senior year (1962-63), and a party activist got him into the 1964 Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City.

There, he perpetrated photo ops with other young people, frolicking in the surf while carrying political banners. He had fun, he said, but it would be 14 years before he would return to the political arena.

In the meantime, he just got down to business. The Boston firm Cabot, Cabot and Forbes hired Payne straight out of grad school in 1973 to develop what would become the successful Wintergreen ski and golf resort, eco-tourism destination and residential community. Within three years he became president of the Wintergreen Development Co., and by 1985, he had become chairman of the board of Wintergreen Development Inc.

Not long after that, Debra Abbott sought him out.

Abbott, a community organizer, had big ideas about helping Nelson County's poor and she needed a prominent business person to help. ``I'd heard he was a sensitive and caring person,'' she said.

When she met Payne, he heard her out and told her he would give it some thought. At their second meeting he said, ``Let's do it.''

``He made a comment that he couldn't imagine children in Nelson County not having a warm, dry bed to sleep in. He said, `I just can't accept it,' '' she said.

Payne helped her launch the Nelson County Community Development Foundation, recruiting board members, helping with incorporation and serving as president.

When Payne ran for Congress, Abbott thought she'd seen the last of him. ``I figured he wouldn't have time, but he remained on the board.''

I had never thought about running for Congress,'' Payne said. But when his congressman, Rep. Dan Daniel, died, people including Gov. Gerald L. Baliles encouraged him to run. He did, paying for much of his own campaign, and he won.

Called ``independent as hell'' by Majority Leader Dick Gephardt in 1994, Payne wasn't prone to toeing the party line. He voted against the Family Leave Act and against the 1994 Crime Bill. He objected to the gun-control provisions in the latter.

And while he supports a proposal by gubernatorial candidate Donald S. Beyer Jr. to reduce the personal property tax on cars, Payne has distinguished himself as the only candidate who refuses to pledge not to raise taxes.

Combined with the fact that he voted for the tax-raising 1993 Deficit Reduction Act, it's a risky move. But Payne said taking the pledge would be irresponsible.

``We're being elected to provide leadership,'' he said. ``You can't know what's going to happen. The people of Virginia may want us to raise revenue for something that's important.''

Payne said he's comfortable with his vote to raise taxes in 1993, saying it was probably a significant factor in lowering the federal deficit from $300 billion to less than $35 billion.

``It was a tough vote, and I'm still being criticized for that in this election,'' he said. ``It was politically unpopular, but the right thing to do.''

The Sunday before Labor Day, Payne's hometown held a rally for him to kick off his campaign. Payne's friend Peter Agelasto said he heard turnout was high, and he thinks that means something.

``A lot of politicians, the closer you get to home, the more people know about you and maybe they don't jump up and down about you anymore,'' he said.

But not at this rally, he said. ``Everybody wanted to be in on the celebration.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

ERIC BRADY, Landmark News Service Payne

Graphic

Lewis Franklin ``L.F.'' Payne Jr.

Party: Democrat

Born: July 9, 1945, in Amherst, Va.

Family: Wife of 17 years, Susan Payne, partner in advertising

firm; son, Graham, 26, student at University of Virginia Darden

School of Business; daughter, Hunter, 24, works in marketing for a

major hotel firm in Hilton Head, S.C.; daughters, Sara, 15, and

Anna, 11, are students at the private St. Anne's-Belfield School in

Charlottesville.

Residence: Nellysford.

Church: Rockfish Presbyterian Church in Nelson County (trustee)

Public service: Patrick Henry Boys Foundation, board of

directors; Nelson County Community Development Foundation, a

founder.

Work: Hired in 1973 to plan and develop the Wintergreen ski

resort, golf course and residential community. He became president

of Wintergreen Development Co. in 1976, and chairman of the board of

Wintergreen Development Inc. in 1985.

Military: U.S. Army, 1967-70. Served as a company commander in

the Army Corps of Engineers in Korea. Earned Armed Forces

Expeditionary Medal for service in Southeast Asia and the U.S. Army

Distinguished Service Medal for service as a company commander.

Education: Virginia Military Institute, bachelor's degree in

civil engineering, 1967; University of Virginia Darden School of

Business, master's degree, 1973.

Public office: U.S. House of Representatives, member from 1988

through 1996. Served on House Ways and Means, Transportation,

Budget and Veterans Affairs committees.

Key votes:

1993 Deficit Reduction Act (which included tax increases): For.

Family Leave Act: Against.

``1994 Crime Bill:'' Against (because of gun-control provisions,

inadequate provisions for rural areas and increasing cost of the

bill).

Brady Bill: Against (but voted for it when it was part of the

1991 crime package, when Virginia was exempt from its provisions).

NAFTA: For.

Persian Gulf War: For.

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT): Against.

Priorities if elected:

Form a commission to examine needs of and set priorities in

transportation, education and work force development needs (21st

Century Opportunity Commission).

Establish a clearinghouse of information on school-age character

education programs (the ``Commonwealth Character Initiative'').

Past performance and positions

Abortion: Supports right to abortion, but voted to ban

partial-birth abortion. Favors parental notification rules, but

opposes requiring parental consent.

Gun control: Supports law-abiding citizens' rights to own and use

firearms.

Affirmative action: Supports, but opposes quotas.

Education: Supports raising teachers' salaries to the national

average, raising standards for students and creating a standards

board for teachers.

Taxes: Supports gubernatorial candidate Donald S. Beyer Jr.'s

proposal to reduce the personal property tax; refuses to pledge not

to raise taxes.

Death penalty: Supports.

Crime: While in Congress has supported increased spending on

prison construction, wider latitude for police to search for drugs,

mandatory minimum sentences.

Tobacco: Opposes FDA regulating it as a drug; opposes tobacco

suit settlement because it includes no protections for tobacco

farmers; supports efforts to enforce laws forbidding sale of tobacco

to minors.

Major contributors ($10,000 or more):

Atlantic Gulf Communities, real estate developer; Curtis M.

Coward, attorney; Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee;

Dominion Resources Inc., holding company for Virginia Power; Bruce

Gottwald, Jr., president of investment firm; James B. Murray Jr.,

investment banker/investment capital; Norfolk Southern Corp.,

railroad; Philip Morris USA; Stuart Flooring Corp, flooring company;

Glenn O. Thornhill Jr., textiles; United Land Corp, developer; USA

Development Corp., real estate developer.

Total raised as of Aug. 31: $1.3 million

Endorsements:

Fifth Congressional District Black Caucus; Greater Washington

Board of Trade; National Association of Social Workers, Virginia

Chapter; Richmond Crusade for Voters; United Mine Workers of

America, Virginia Chapter; Virginia AFL-CIO; Virginia Education

Association; Virginia Fraternal Order of Police.

Campaign headquarters: (804) 295-5397

Web site: www.lfpayne.com KEYWORDS: CANDIDATE VIRGINIA LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR RACE PROFILE

BIOGRAPHY

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