Settle Fight over Papers Now,
Warns Virginia Governor
Virginia Gov. Mark Warner told State Librarian Nolan Yelich and former Gov. Jim Gilmore he would send in a mediator if the two didn’t settle their dispute over the former governor’s papers within a week. Warner has located a mediator as well as an attorney for the library, and both have offered their services for free, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported August 31.
However, the two appeared no closer to settling the matter September 3, when Yelich declined a meeting with Gilmore’s attorney. Yelich said he would be happy to meet with Gilmore’s representatives, but because of the serious legal issues surrounding the transfer of papers, he first wanted to consult an attorney, the Times-Dispatch reported September 4. “Seeking the advice of counsel is prudent and does not translate into a desire to take the matter to court,” he noted.
David E. Anderson, Gilmore’s lawyer, said he had offered the meeting to allow Yelich a chance to inspect documents still held by Gilmore, not to discuss legal issues. “It is hard to understand how such a procedure could not be in the public interest or could possibly prejudice the library,” Anderson wrote in a letter to Yelich.
Yelich has claimed Gilmore is withholding, and may have destroyed, documents essential to the historical record, while Gilmore says he has turned over everything to which the library is legally entitled.
Posted September 9, 2002.
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