Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 4, 1992 TAG: 9201040222
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK LAYMAN
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
ROANOKE COUNTY BOARD COMES OUT FIGHTING
The new year began contentiously for the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors.Republican Lee Eddy was elected chairman Friday on a 4-0 vote, with Democrat Bob Johnson, his frequent antagonist, simply voting "present." And newcomer Ed Kohinke, also a Republican, was elected vice chairman on a 3-to-0 vote. Johnson again voted "present," while the other Democrat on the board, Harry Nickens, abstained.
In recent years, supervisors have disagreed privately over who should be chairman, but typically have closed ranks when the roll was called. Eddy, however, didn't seem concerned. "That's politics," he said.
Johnson, too, hinted that he was simply being a good Democrat in refusing to vote for Eddy. But his refusal to vote for Kohinke was "personal," he said.
During last year's campaign, Johnson quipped that Kohinke seemed to be "running against everything." Kohinke fired back a blunt letter in which he asked Johnson to refrain from "falsehoods, rumors [and] half-baked observations."
The supervisors also split over whether to ask the General Assembly for authority to raise the county's motel tax and to impose a tax on cigarettes. That could bring in $450,000 per year, which would help offset an expected loss of $3 million in state funds next year.
Kohinke opposed the request, saying it was only a "Band-Aid" solution. But the four other supervisors, including newcomer Fuzzy Minnix, voted to go ahead with it.
Nickens joined Kohinke in voting against a motion to earmark the $450,000 for education. State legislators who met with the supervisors Friday suggested they would push for the new taxing authority only if the money were earmarked for education.