Steve Stewart, publisher of The Smithfield Times in Smithfield, Virginia, is an additional finalist in the under 35,000 circulation category of the Columns category of the Carmage Walls Commentary Prize competition.
Isle of Wight County, Virginia, historically a quaint, rural bedroom community to metropolitan Hampton Roads, is on the verge of a full-blown suburbia. On his entry form, Stewart noted that he is using his columns to help the community navigate the transition, challenging elected and appointed leadership to better manage residential growth.
His contest entry includes three of his columns.
First column:
Heed lessons of Grange's demise
In this column, Stewart writes about Joe Luter IV’s withdrawal of his zoning application for an ambitious mixed-use development on the western edge of Smithfield’s historic district, saying it is a chance for a "collective deep breath, reflection on what went wrong and an important community conversation about the future of the Pierceville farm."
He wrote: "Luter’s Grange at 10Main was doomed by a series of early missteps that proved too much to overcome in the court of public opinion, to which the Town Council is ultimately accountable."
Second column:
Intimidation tactics have no place in civic discourse
Stewart's second column dived deeper into the Grange at 10Main zoning controversy.
He wrote: "The details should alarm anyone who values the right of citizens to get involved in government decision-making and speak up on matters that concern them."
Third column
The Suffolk model: One to be envied or avoided?
In this column, Stewart talks about the crossroads that the Isle of Wight is at: "a choice between suburbia and a rural, quaint bedroom community that enjoys its proximity to metropolitan Tidewater without succumbing to its excesses."
Among the comments made by contest judges:
