Joker and smoker

By NATE HUBBARD/Staff

A wisecrackin’, dirt-road hatin’, smoke-break takin’ politician has officially called it a career.
So what are his big plans now?
“I’m retired, my man,” Eddie Hagee said. “I’m 71 years old. I ain’t going to do a whole lot.”
Ask Hagee a question and you’ll get your answer – unvarnished, straightforward, political correctness be damned.
And most of the time, a question isn’t even necessary to find out what’s on Hagee’s mind.
“Eddie is very outspoken,” said Coy McRoberts, one of Hagee’s longtime friends and his successor as the Lead Mines District’s representative on the Board of Supervisors. “If he’s got something he wants to tell you – look out.”
Or, as Supervisor Gene Horney put it: “If Eddie thought it, Eddie said it.”
The board’s first official Hagee-less meeting in eight years will be held Tuesday night.
His fellow supervisors said meetings will likely have a different tone in 2010 without Hagee around.
“I think he’s going to be missed if nothing else for his comic relief and his smoke breaks that he’ll just get up and leave,” Horney said.
Hagee, who has battled bladder cancer in recent months but said he has been given a “clean bill of health,” actually had to miss most of his final meeting in December for a doctor’s appointment.
When he finally arrived at the meeting to be honored for his years of service on the board, the supervisors realized that they had breezed through their business without interruption – a virtually unprecedented feat during Hagee’s tenure.
“We teased him that we went through the whole agenda today without a break,” said Supervisor Martha Umberger, Hagee’s frequent good-natured sparing partner during meetings.
A nicotine craving wasn’t the only thing that would cause Hagee to interrupt a meeting in recent years.
On more than one occasion, in the middle of a discussion, Hagee’s cell phone went off. Unlike the usual red-faced rushing to silence the device that typically accompanies such an occurrence, Hagee would calmly answer the phone and have his conversation, never leaving his seat or turning off his microphone.
“He brings a little bit of life to board meetings – if that’s what we can call it,” Umberger said. “I don’t think anybody can challenge Eddie in keeping it lighthearted.”
Although McRoberts may be taking Hagee’s supervisor seat, he agreed that replacing his predecessor is out of the question.
“I won’t be Eddie, that’s a known fact,” McRoberts said.
Hagee, who owns the BP station off interstate exit 80, had two separate stints as a supervisor.
The Democrat represented the Fort Chiswell District from 1976-80 before returning to the governing body as the supervisor for the Lead Mines District after winning a four-person race for the seat in November 2001.
While Hagee’s colorful antics come to mind most easily, the other supervisors – even his erstwhile political rivals – said they’ll remember Hagee’s magnanimity just as much as his bluster.
Fort Chiswell District Supervisor Maggie Poole, a Republican who joined the board in 2008, sat next to Hagee during meetings for the last two years.
Despite their political differences, Poole said Hagee couldn’t have been more helpful in making her comfortable in her new job.
“Once I was here, I couldn’t have asked for more,” Poole said. “I couldn’t have asked for better.”
Poole also pointed out that Hagee would always take time to greet residents at meetings and ensure that the board heard their concerns.
Another Republican supervisor, Danny McDaniel, said Hagee’s combativeness during meetings disappeared as soon as a session ended.
“I can tell you one thing I really appreciated about Eddie is a lot of times we were on different sides of an issue, but once you voted it was over with it for him,” McDaniel said. “He never held a grudge.”
Poole added that Hagee usually had plenty of concrete data to back up his opinions.
“Eddie’s got a brain in his head, buddy,” she said.
For his part, Hagee said he made sure he did his homework before sounding off.
“I never got caught in a lie,” he said. “I would try to be outspoken in a positive way.”
Hagee’s number-crunching skills – another appreciated asset numerous supervisors mentioned when asked about his contributions – came particularly in handy in his role as a member of the budget committee.
Board of Supervisors Chairman Bucky Sharitz also cited Hagee’s tireless efforts to keep down costs as one of the county’s representatives on the regional jail committee.
“That was a place where being outspoken was very important,” Sharitz said about the jail group.
Hagee said he was proud that the governing body was able to reduce the tax rate during his tenure and attract more industries to Progress Park.
More than anything, Hagee was a crusader for the paving of dirt roads in the county.
Hagee frequently railed against the state for failing to provide adequate funding in a number of areas, but his particular nemesis was the Virginia Department of Transportation.
Despite frustrations, Hagee said he felt like his incessant nagging of VDOT got results.
He also added that he was particularly proud of convincing his fellow supervisors to allocate $5 from each county sticker sale toward matching funds for VDOT projects, a funding source that Hagee said allowed the county to take advantage of what little VDOT could offer.
“I don’t know how the hell I got seven votes for that,” he said with a laugh.
While Hagee is stepping aside, McRoberts said he won’t let Hagee’s expertise go to waste.
As he gets settled as a supervisor, McRoberts said he’ll turn to Hagee if he needs to catch up on any issues.
“He’ll definitely be the man I call,” he said. “Eddie will be my encyclopedia.”
From trivial to consequential, irreverent to gracious, and beloved to tolerated, the supervisors said all of Hagee’s behaviors have one thing in common: they’ll be sorely missed.
“Eddie’s not real big,” Horney said, “but he’s got some big shoes to fill.”
Nate Hubbard can be reached at 228-6611 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).