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By LOU HATTER
Rappahannock Neva Staff Writcr
In the wake of drastic budget cuts demanded by Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, consolidation and reduction of state government may be the best way to resolve the state’s fiscal crisis.
° At least that’s the hope of Del. Raymond R. “Andy” Guest Jr. (R-31st), the House Minority Leader and Rappahannock County’s representative. “These days, any county, no matter how small and rural, can run its own show. It doesn’t require layers of bureaucracy.”
In a telephone interview Dec. 27, Del. Guest suggested that the potential for great savings exists by trimming operations at the central offices of many agencies. “The fewer people there are in Richmond demanding reports, the freer the people at the local level are to do what they are supposed to be doing.”
He pointed to a plan by the new state Superintendent of Public Instruction, Dr. Joseph Spagnola, to reduce the bureaucracy at the Department of Education by consolidating positions and reducing paperwork. Dr. Spagnola has stated that he intends to return the department’s focus to educating Virginia’s children.
“If his plan moves forward the way it appears,” Del. Guest said, “some other agencies ought to be taking a look at it.”
State Sen. Kevin G. Miller (R-26th) agreed with Del. Guest’s assessment of the superintendent’s plan. “I tend to favor what I’m hearing,” Sen. Miller said during a telephone interview from his Harrisonburg office Dec. 28. Dr. Spagnola “is going in the right direction in reducing the role of Richmond,” Sen. Miller said. “The role of the state Department of Education should be assisting localities instead of telling them what to do.”
Consolidation of agencies and related initiatives, Del. Guest explained, “are primarily an executive branch responsibility; to come forward with a program*, for the General Assembly to consider. ”
Already, Rappahannock County cooperates in two Social Services programs with Culpeper County, and Rappahannock and Warren counties share some special education services in the school^.
But, Del. Guest cautioned, the deci
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