Richmond's top prosecutor says Mayor L. Douglas Wilder's double-dipping by taking a car allowance while using a city vehicle doesn't feel right but can't be prosecuted.

"It doesn't sit well, it doesn't smell right, but not everything that smells fishy is subject to prosecution," Commonwealth's Attorney Michael N. Herring told the Richmond Crusade for Voters last night.

The problem is that city ordinances never required Wilder to certify he was getting either of the benefits, Herring said.

Without that, there is no legal case for obtaining money by misrepresentation, Herring said.

He said that was the unanimous advice of all the senior attorneys in his office.

Wilder received an $8,400-a-year allowance to cover his driving expenses throughout the time a specially assigned police detail was driving him in a city-owned car.

Last month he repaid $25,900 he received in the allowance.

Wilder has said he was unaware he was receiving the allowance because he didn't check his pay stubs.

Police records, meanwhile, showed that the city has spent nearly $1.3 million in salaries and car expenses for the security detail since it began operations in 2005 through the end of last year. The detail remains in operation.

Also last month, Benjamin Johnson resigned as the city's emergency-management director after an audit found he had received a $500-per-month car allowance in addition to a city vehicle for 34 months.

Herring said he didn't plan to prosecute Johnson, either.
Contact David Ress at (804) 649-6051 or dress@timesdispatch.com.