THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 6, 1994 TAG: 9411050137
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 13 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY LINDA MCNATT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ISLE OF WIGHT LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
LOCAL VOTERS IN THIS rural county will have something other than state politics to consider when they go to the polls Tuesday.
In a special referendum, they will be asked if they would like the Board of Supervisors to initiate a meals tax on food and beverages sold in the county.
Both the local Tourism Bureau and the School Board have come out in support of a meals tax. Those agencies say tourists coming into the county then would chip in to help lighten the tax burden on local residents. And a meals tax, they say, could raise enough revenue to prevent real estate taxes and other local taxes from increasing.
The supervisors have proposed a possible 2 percent tax on meals. Legally, the tax could be assessed at up to 4 percent.
In Windsor, a new board member to represent that district on the county Board of Supervisors must be elected. And two experienced contenders are in the running.
Lud Lorenzo ``Ren'' Spivey, a former Windsor Town Councilman who now serves on the county Planning Commission, has thrown his hat into the ring along with J.R. ``Jim'' Hager, a Zuni dentist and former School Board chairman.
Hager was appointed to the Windsor District seat after former supervisor Steve Edwards moved out of the district and resigned from the board. The special election is being held to determine if Hager will remain on the board or give the position up to Spivey.
Whether Spivey or Hager is elected Tuesday, the candidate will remain on the board until December 1995, when the Windsor seat will again be up for re-election.
Hager, 64, is a West Virginia native who has been practicing dentistry since he got out of the Navy in 1961. He has served 12 years on the Isle of Wight County School Board.
Hager has been a member of the Western Tidewater Mental Health Center, chairman of the board for two years. In addition, he was chairman of the Southeastern Cooperative Educational Programs for four years and served on that board for eight years.
Hager's campaign slogan is ``I will represent all the people all the time.''
His wife of 38 years, Catherine ``Katie'' Hager, is a Chuckatuck native. They have three children and one granddaughter.
Spivey, 47, is an Isle of Wight County native who grew up on a farm near Carrsville. He is an adult probation and parole officer for the Fifth Judicial District.
He is a graduate of Windsor High School and attended Ferrum Junior College. He later graduated from the College of William and Mary with a bachelor's degree in sociology.
Spivey calls himself the ``farmers first'' candidate because of his love for the agricultural lifestyle in which he grew up. He said he wants to to assure that farming continues to be a strong influence in the Isle of Wight community.
In another local issue, voters must elect two representatives to the Peanut Soil and Water Conservation District.
Two local farmers, W.A. ``Billy'' Gwaltney Jr. and Cecil Byrum, are vying for the seat. Gwaltney is a Windsor farmer who also runs a peanut shelling and seed peanut operation with his brother. Byrum farms about 700 acres near Zuni.
KEYWORDS: ELECTION ISLE OF WIGHT COUNTY REFERENDUM TAX BOARD OF
SUPERVISORS by CNB