The Center for Politics Staff took a
moment out of their busy schedules to greet us at the
registration table during the recent General Assembly
Conference: (l to r) Intern Lindsay Brubacker, former Director
of Development Kim Tobin, Director of Programs Josh Scott,
Research Associate Colin Allen, and Intern Sarah Davis.
Below, (l to r) Richmond Times-Dispatch
Reporter Jeff Schapiro chatted with Secretary of Natural
Resources Tayloe Murphy and his wife Helen.
that dates back to 1619.
As with the past Center for Politics
conferences, this one also reminded us of a large extended
family reunion. There were the usual characters, the
clowns and the jokers, as well as the most likely to be
pilloried in the press.
The legislature inadvertently passed a law
that would have cost employers big bucks and possible law
suits. They cleaned it up, but who knew we’d see
them all again in July.
For those of you not familiar with the
Center for Politics, the organization began its annual
conferences many years ago with the first salute to Virginia
Governor Mills Edwin Godwin Jr. Each successive year has
been dedicated to the Governors who followed his first term
(1966- 1970). Last year they concluded the program after
acknowledging the legacy and administration of Governor L.
Douglas Wilder. The Center for Politics staff decided to
take a break from the Governor’s biographies for a while
to get some historical perspective before tackling the next few
up to the modern day. So this year, they decided to focus
on the history of our General Assembly. Many thought it
germane since we just survived what some have characterized as
one of that body’s most controversial sessions yet.
As Larry Sabato explained at the banquet that kicked the
conference off, they are planning ahead for the Jamestown 2007
celebration, so this was as good a time as any to get some
perspective on the oldest continuous law making body in the New
World,
Former legislators included Secretary of
Transportation and former Delegate Whit Clement, and Delegate
Jerrauld Jones, now director of the Juvenile Justice
Department. Past Governors like Gerald L. Baliles and
Doug Wilder were there, as well as former Lt. Governor John
Hager. Conspicuous by their absence were gubernatorial hopefuls
Attorney
