Letter to the Editor from Bill Leighty, former Chief of Staff to Governors Warner and Kaine

State official responds to spending concerns
(Printed in the Staunton News Leader, June 11, 2009)

While it is not in my nature to respond to letters to the editor that others have written, I would like to respond to Mr. Steve Morris' letter to the News Leader published on June 4th. This is the second time he has written a letter to the editor using my name to make a point.

I did attend the "Town Hall" meeting sponsored by Delegate Chris Saxman late last year. I did so out of my respect and admiration for the work he has done as chairman of the Cost Cutting Caucus in the Virginia General Assembly. Contrary to Mr. Morris' assertions, Chris Saxman's leadership as chairman has been very beneficial to the commonwealth by focusing time and energy on a number of issues that have led to changes in the way Virginia views its expenditures. He has led the Cost Cutting Caucus in a bipartisan way, encouraging members from both parties to attend and be part of the effort. His efforts have held this group together despite some otherwise difficult divides between the two parties that dominate the General Assembly.

While not every issue that comes before the Cost Cutting Caucus is something that the public would find "exciting," I can tell you that his efforts to make the Common- wealth's expenditures more transparent for all Virginians is among the top of the list of accomplishments of the Caucus. In addition, two years ago he successfully developed a bipartisan, House and Senate, executive and legislative review of a number of major expenditure categories in state government. In one area alone, energy, a single recommendation as a result of the reviews saved one agency of the commonwealth $2 million.

Mr. Morris is correct that he gave me a list of 27 cost-cutting ideas at the Town Hall meeting. Unfortun- ately his list had no name or contact information on it. I reviewed the list and passed the list along to Virginia Department of Corrections for their review (since most of the items were his opinions related to his former employer).

I appreciate the opportunity to comment.

BILL LEIGHTY, Richmond
Editor's Note: Bill Leighty retired in 2007 after serving as chief of staff for Gov. Tim Kaine.