Gov. Bob McDonnell is taking the first steps toward getting Virginia out of the booze business, shuffling the board that runs the state's 75-year-old liquor monopoly.
Today, the new administration dropped former Del. Franklin P. Hall, D-Richmond, from the Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission. Its three members are hired and fired by the governor.
Hall, whose appointment in 2009 could have substantially boosted his taxpayer-supplied pension, did not return a telephone call seeking comment.
Mentioned as a possible Republican appointee: Sandra C. Canada, a veteran party activist who was a commissioner under Gov. Jim Gilmore.
Though McDonnell has yet to outline a plan for privatizing liquor stores -- he wants to use the proceeds for roads -- he will look to the ABC board to continue policing sales and distribution and collect taxes.
"The governor is committed to privatization of ABC, and that priority is being relayed to all potential candidates," said Johnson.
The Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, with 2,700 employees, last year generated $111 million in profits and $114 million in taxes. The money now goes to schools, police and Commissioners Susan R. Swecker and William J. Pantele, a former Richmond councilman, are staying for now. Like Hall, Swecker and Pantele were appointed by Democratic governors.
Swecker, the current chairwoman, and Pantele declined comment.
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