If anyone needed a reminder of the importance of journalism to sound government decision-making, we hope that Times reporter Stephen Faleski has provided it with exhaustive reporting on a critical choice awaiting the Smithfield Town Council: whether to accept up to $6 million from longtime benefactor Joseph Luter III and, simultaneously, commit taxpayers to matching it dollar for dollar.

Faleski, a journalist whose talents are rare for a small-town newspaper like the Times, has written two articles that are critical to citizen understanding of the pros and cons of the weighty decision elected leadership must make.

First, Faleski delved into the mysterious trip Mayor Steve Bowman took to Palm Beach, Florida, that ended with $6 million in the town’s bank account before his Town Council colleagues knew anything about it. Utiliizing Virginia’s powerful Freedom of Information Act, Faleski filled in a lot of gaps and exposed some others. We believe Bowman, a longtime lawman, to be a person of integrity and hold out hope that he will provide a full account of events before, during and after Palm Beach. His conflicting explanations and lack of candor to date have greatly hindered citizen understanding of the Luter gift.  

Then, Faleski, in last week’s Times, chronicled Luter’s impressive history of philanthropy in Smithfield, the extraordinary size of the current gift and the equally extraordinary ask of taxpayers by a man who has always expected the community to have some metaphorical skin in the game. If this $6 million offer proves to be Luter III’s last in a lifetime of generosity to his hometown, what a fitting exclamation point. He’s an extraordinary man, and Smithfield is immeasurably better because of him. 

We are deeply appreciative to Times reader Rick Bodson, who built a spreadsheet, checked for accuracy by Faleski, that framed up Luter’s long record of hometown philanthropy and the community’s stepping up to match him.

And we hope that every reader saw Times reader Dave Goodridge’s brilliant letter quantifying the cost to taxpayers if the town borrows the $6 million match of Luter’s gift. It should be required reading before forming an opinion on whether the town should go into debt in order to accept the $6 million.

Disgraced ruling-class lackey Dick Grice, best known of late for trying to get concerned citizens in trouble with their employers, took cheap shots at us in a letter to the editor last week, but like other prudent taxpayers, we await:

• Written clarification from Luter III himself on his exact expectations of town taxpayers, so that we’re not relying entirely on the mayor’s recap of same.

• A detailed accounting from the Town Council of where it would obtain the matching funds and exactly how the money would be spent.

We keep an open mind in the meantime, but we’re much better equipped in our evaluation thanks to Faleski, Bodson and Goodridge.