Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 4, 1992 TAG: 9201040142
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK LAYMAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
TRANSITION TO LEADERSHIP ROLE IS EDDY'S LATEST CHALLENGE
In the two years since he returned to the Board of Supervisors, Lee Eddy has been a tenacious - if not always effective - voice for the "loyal opposition" in Roanoke County.Now, for the first time since the early 1970s, there is a Republican majority on the board. And Eddy, who was elected chairman Friday on a 4-0 vote, has a chance to lead.
But can he lead?
"You bet he can," said lawyer Charles Osterhoudt, who was on the board during Eddy's first term, from 1968 through 1971. "He'll make those boys work harder than they've ever worked before. There's no doubt he can effectively lead the county.
"He will not make snap decisions. He will do his homework. He doesn't come to compromise easily, but he knows it's necessary. You may not always agree with him - I didn't - but you'll always respect him. He'll do a hell of a job."
County Republican Party Chairman Al Thomason is looking forward to the coming year.
"I think the county's going to be better off" with a Republican majority on the board, he said. "Lee Eddy will be a very sound leader. . . . He asks for input and he gets it. . . . He is not quick to jump into things, as is evidenced by his voting record. He will think out everything. And he will come up with the right answers."
But Bob Johnson, one of the two Democrats left on the board, sees it differently.
The county staff "is rightly concerned that they're going to be buried under an avalanche of paperwork" because of Eddy's frequent requests for studies, Johnson said. "I think it will make the county less productive."
As the lone Republican on the board the past two years, Eddy "didn't flourish, but he got his point across," Johnson said. "I guess that will be my role now."
But he and Eddy can disagree without being disagreeable, he said. "The two of us have been at each other's throats more than anyone else. But he has never - and I haven't either, I don't think - personalized any of the conflicts we've had."
Still, Johnson said, "I'm not going to back up on anything I feel, and he isn't either."
There is one thing, at least, that Eddy and Johnson agree on: Roanoke County will be pinching pennies in 1992.
"I'm not sure we know yet the depth of the difficulties, but it's going to be very tough," Eddy said.
"We are going to be suffering the most devastating cuts in state aid in recent memory," Johnson said. "People can't fathom what's going to happen. It's not going to be pretty."
County Administrator Elmer Hodge told the supervisors Friday that the county - which lost $2.8 million in state funding in the 1990-1991 budget year - is likely to lose another $1 million in the current budget year. Personal property tax revenues probably will be $500,000 less than expected, too, he said.
And in the 1992-1993 budget year, which begins July 1, the county is likely to lose another $3 million in state funding, Hodge said.
That's a total of $7.3 million in lost revenue in three years - the equivalent of 28 cents per $100 on the real estate tax rate.
If the General Assembly allows the county to raise its motel tax to 4 percent and to impose a tax on cigarettes, that would bring in $450,000 a year in new revenue.
How will the county make up the difference?
Other tax increases are a possibility, Eddy said. "I share the Republican philosophy against `tax and spend.' But these are difficult times. I'm not going to say `no new taxes, never.' "
The county has $5 million stashed away that could be used to balance the budget - an idea that Johnson favors. "I won't rule that out," Eddy said. "But I'd hate to see us dip into that very deeply."
Mostly, Eddy said, "we're going to have to look hard at ways to reduce our expenditures."
That makes Johnson worry that the Republicans on the board will "overreact" and start slashing services and passing out pink slips. "When you reduce spending any more in Roanoke County, you're firing people," he said.
After balancing the budget, finding ways to cooperate with surrounding localities will be one of Eddy's top priorities.
"The thing that's going to make cooperation happen is projects that will benefit all the localities," he said. "It has to be a win-win situation. Roanoke County shouldn't go out and horse-trade to try to gain an advantage. We should come up with projects that will benefit everyone."
Fears that his slow, studious style will bring county government to a halt are unfounded, Eddy said. "I know I've suggested at times that we defer action because [an issue] needed more study. But when I get the information I need, I'm ready to make a decision.
"Ninety to 95 percent of the decisions that come before the board are routine. The other 5 to 10 percent require a little thought and study. If we're just going to rubber-stamp the administrator's recommendations, we might as well not be there."