Regional Meeting Will Focus on Terror Response

WASHINGTON - Maryland, Virginia and D.C. will talk how the region should respond to possible terror threats when the the governors of the two states meet with D.C.'s mayor later this week.

On WTOP's Ask the Governor program, Virginia Gov. Mark Warner said last week's shut down of the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel and the lane closures at the Fort McHenry Tunnel because of a possible terrorism threat raise questions about coordination among local, state and federal governments.

Warner says the same day Maryland closed the tunnels, a Hampton Roads tunnel worker shut down a tunnel for 15 minutes.

Federal authorities immediately downplayed the credibility of the threat, although at least five arrests would be made in connection with it.

Warner says governments do not want to send mixed messages about how serious an incident may be.

"It is a fine line because if it was a real, credible threat that was imminent you don't want to make the process so bureaucratic that you end up not preventing an event that could take place. On the other hand, you gotta (SIC) have procedures," Warner says.

In the wake the recent hurricanes, Warner says the states and D.C. also will discuss regional, disaster evacuation plans.

Specifically, Warner says the discussion will focus on "what can we do better in terms of practicing our evacuation procedures."

On another note, Warner says he's concerned about the tenor of the race to succeed him.

In particular, he criticized Republican Jerry Kilgore's death penalty ads as being "over the top."

Warner says he hopes the candidates will get back to more important issues such as transportation, education and keeping communities safe. He says issues such as the death penalty are important, too, but take up only a tiny portion of a governor's time.

In TV ads, Kilgore has attacked Kaine over his opposition to the death penalty. Kaine's ads say he will carry out the death penalty if elected governor. Warner says he trusts Kaine to carry out the death penalty if elected.

Warner says as governor, he's tried to make running the state a less partisan issue.

He says voters would rather the politics be set aside.

"They want to see things get done."

(Copyright 2005 by WTOP and The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)