Five things we’re watching after last week’s Smithfield Town Council election:

• Whether Bill Riddick continues as town attorney. Riddick may step aside gracefully with the departure of political ally Randy Pack and the near certainty of a new mayor come January, but if he doesn’t, expect a very different style from the veteran attorney moving forward. The days of Riddick as Smithfield’s “eighth councilman,” as he’s known by his critics, are numbered. Riddick became emotionally invested in the political success of the ruling class unlike anything this scribe has seen in decades of watching board attorneys in action. The new majority, if it retains Riddick, will limit him to pure legal advice. Unsolicited interjections during policy discussions, lecturing appointed and elected board members, and involvement in anything other than legal questions won’t be tolerated.
• Who succeeds Steve Bowman as mayor. In Smithfield’s form of government, Town Council members every two years select a mayor among themselves. Anyone other than veteran Councilman Mike Smith would be a shocker. Smith, who was booted from the vice mayorship two years ago by the alliance that voters rebuked last week, is the father figure of a council-elect that ran as a slate on Smith’s priority of managed growth. His colleagues surely will reward him the mayor’s gavel that many believe he deserved when longtime Mayor Carter Williams departed in 2022.
• Whether the Isle of Wight Board of Supervisors heeds the message sent by Smithfield voters. The sentiment that northern Isle of Wight County is fast becoming another North Suffolk is not constrained by the town limits. People in Carrollton and rural Isle of Wight are equally alarmed. Citizens for Responsible Leadership, a new grassroots political action committee that was instrumental in the Town Council housecleaning, will likely turn its attention to county government. Supervisor Rudolph Jefferson, a reliable vote for anything proposed by residential developers, will be on the ballot in 2025 should he decide to seek another four-year term. The terms of Supervisors William McCarty and Renee Rountree run through 2027. Will they use that time to get in step with the will of the people? Evidenced by a 3-2 vote to ram through the Sweetgrass residential development over the objections of the county Planning Commission, the growth machine’s grip on county governance is fragile.    
• How quickly town and county comprehensive plans are updated. Essential to the community getting its arms around rapid growth is to significantly reduce the amount of acreage currently targeted for residential development on future land use maps. The county is currently updating its comprehensive plan. One of the early actions of the new Town Council almost certainly will be to commission a rewrite of the town’s. What historically has been a consultant- and staff-driven process will see much more involvement from appointed and elected leadership. The Isle of Wight Planning Commission is fired up. The new Town Council has a voter mandate. The political climate is ripe for decisive action to slow the pace of residential growth.
• Whether the outgoing Town Council takes any significant votes in the next six weeks. At a council meeting the night after the election, several citizens urged Town Council members to heed the clear message from voters and resist any such urge. Decisions such as matching a $6 million donation from Joseph Luter III, approving the controversial Cottages at Battery residential development on South Church Street, finalizing funding for a new Famers Market or selling The Smithfield Times building for well under appraised value would surely cause further backlash from citizens who just handed responsibility for town decision-making to a new crop of leaders. 

 

Steve Stewart is publisher of The Smithfield Times. His email address is steve.stewart@smithfieldtimes.com.