South of the James

Around the blogosphere, we constantly refer to the mainstream media, MSM for short. Most of the time, it is assumed that we are all on the same page in terms of exactly what entities we are referring to. In Virginia, MSM typically seems to refer to national network’s (CBS/NBC/ABC/Fox) regional TV affiliates, regional newspapers owned by corporate media conglomerates (Richmond Times-Dispatch, Virginian-Pilot, etc.) and papers in smaller metro areas, including the Roanoke Times and Lynchburg’s News & Advance. However, once we step down a notch, the lines become blurry.

Do weekly community newspapers, like the Chesterfield Observer, Southside Messenger, and the like count as MSM? What about MSM-owned “alternative” papers like Richmond’s Style Weekly or C’Ville Weekly, which is owned by a company that publishes similar papers in other states? What about ethnic outlets, such as the Richmond Free Press, Richmond Voice, or the New Journal & Guide in Hampton Roads? All of these papers are members of state or national press associations, have “verified” circulation statistics, and are for-profit enterprises owned and operated by journalists who double as businesspeople. Do their smaller coverage areas or niche markets make them less “mainstream?” What about their tendencies to blend reporting and editorializing within articles, fuzzying the relationship between the news and opinion departments?

Mike Shear and others who attended last month’s Sorensen pow-wow talked about how “journalist,” at least in theory, adhere to a set of principles and ethical guides. While experience shows that many (not all) reporters and others for larger national and regional outlets tend to stick to those practices, taking a gander at those “alternative” forms of journalism shows a high degree of latitude and liberty taken by some community papers. This kind of “journalism” seems to sit on a continuum between traditional journalism as espoused by the big boys, and the kind of writing, reporting, and pontificating that bloggers are often taken to the woodshed for by MSM types.

With blogging and bloggers becoming fodder for the MSM’s target practice (type in “blog” on the Richmond Times-Dispatch search engine and you get over 300 hits….over 100 for the Virginian-Pilot…etc.), it stands to reason that bloggers should start asking media entities of all sizes the question of “when is journalism really journalism?”

This blog is meant to be a central gathering place for online discussions among citizens and leaders in Chesterfield. As commentary here is not endorsed by the RGAC unless otherwise noted, Open Forum is designed as a place where writers and comment-makers can individually express their own personal views. To that end, the bulk of Chesterfield-centric writings featured on South of the James will be moving to Open Forum.

The reaction to the Barber posts, as well as, the political fallout that followed demonstrated that Chesterfield residents are itching for a place to tell it as they see it. Moving the county-focused blog postings to Open Forum will accomplish as least two goals. First, it will generate more readership for this blog, leveraging the existing following that South of the James has developed. Second, it will further reinforce the RGAC’s status as an organization accepting of diverse viewpoints as a means of shaping local government and raising the quality of life in Chesterfield County.

As a first step in this experiment, here are some links and abstracted titles from recent blog postings from South of the James regarding Chesterfield politics and policy.

Chesterfield Democratic Reactions to BOS Appointment Process
Midlothian District Politics
Local RTD reporters profile South of the James

As readers here know, Open Forum is the blog that I manage for the Responsible Growth Alliance of Chesterfield, a local smart growth advocacy organization on whose board of directors I sit. That blog is designed as a central gathering place for online discussions among citizens and leaders in Chesterfield, and the commentary there is not endorsed by the RGAC unless otherwise noted. Writers and comment-makers can individually express their own personal views.

The reaction to my postings on Ed Barber’s resignation and the political fallout that followed demonstrated that Chesterfield residents are itching for a place to tell it as they see it. Moving the county-focused blog postings to Open Forumwill accomplish as least two goals. First, it will generate more readership for that blog, leveraging the existing following that South of the Jameshas developed over time. Second, it will further reinforce the RGAC’s practice of being an organization accepting of diverse viewpoints as a means of shaping local government policy and raising the quality of life in Chesterfield County.

Chesterfield has a variety of resources and positive attributes, and despite the criticism often found in the comments on this blog (and in some postings), the county remains a great place to live, work and play. Hopefully, beefing up Open Forum will contribute to this even more. At the very least, this little experiment will add to the municipal democracy south of the James and north of the Appomattox.

RTD editorialist Barton Hinkle continues with his series of opinion columns on the heated transportation debate going on around the Commonwealth. This issue has direct relevance for Chesterfield as the Board of Supervisors seeks to find it way through the funding of necessary infrastructure improvements to accomodate rapid growth in Western Chesterfiend and redevelopment in the county’s Eastern end. Read Hinkle’s articles, and tell us what you think!

Transportation, Cont’d: State Can’t Fix Its Roads Without Changing How It Uses Land

Road Rage: Keep These Points in Mind As Transpo Debate Proceeds

The BOS appointed attorney Terri Cofer Beirne to the Midlothian District seat, filling the vacancy created by the resignation of previous representative Ed Barber. Beirne has an impressive professional and public service resume, and she is a Chesterfield native, to boot. We wish her all the best as she tackles the plethora of issues facing the county during her short tenure in office.

In a move that is certain to allay some fears among old-school Democrats regarding the Webb Senate campaign, it appears that long-time Democratic Party activist Abbi Easter has been brought on to manage the operations of the campaign’s newly-established Metro Richmond office. In some ways, this marks the beginning of a larger Webb push into Central and Southern Virginia. In 2005, Easter helped Del. Rosalyn Dance fend off a pesky independent challenger to retain the 63^rd District House of Delegates seat that Dance initially won in a special election in the Spring of 2005. She initially worked on Emily Couric’s prospective run for Lt. Governor, which was sadly cut short by the candidate’s fatal battle with cancer. Afterward, Easter ran Del. Donald McEachin’s statewide bid for Attorney General. Over the years, she has consulted or volunteered for a number of successful local and state races throughout Central Virginia, having some successes in GOP-heavy localities. In 1998, she won the Democratic National Committee’s Lawrence O’Brien award for her volunteer service to Democratic causes.  

Against the backdrop of a blogger-prominent campaign to date, Easter is well-connected to the more traditional VirginiaDemocratic “establishment,” and she is well-regarded among the core of the Democratic base of women’s, African American, and labor interests. Having already brought on Larry Byrne as Field Director, the addition of Abbi Easter adds a bit more heft and an infusion of grayer hair to the Webb campaign operations. This should assuage some concerns coming from some corners of the Democratic grassroots and netroots about the presence of campaign staffers without significant Virginia statewide experience outside of Steve Jarding.  

On some level, the staffing of the Webb campaign has fallen victim to Virginia Democrats’ own recent electoral success. Governor Warner cultivated quite a bit of talent during his two statewide runs, and when he was elected, many of those people served in and around his administration or received other opportunities. With Warner’s current foray into presidential politics, it stands to reason that a significant talent base of his supporters is focused on the 2008 race. By the same token, many of Governor Kaine’s key campaign staff and advisers are now focused on helping him manage the business of the Commonwealth. For those who called for the addition of Harris Miller’s former campaign staff to the post-primary Webb campaign, it was a bit of a stretch to imagine that they would jump over to Webb in droves given the contentiousness of the race that thankfully ended last month.  

The Weekend Without Echoes is upon us, and bloggers throughout Virginia have been encouraged to deviate from the normal navel-gazing and snarky sniping that often defines our craft. As someone who committed to this soiree from the outset, I pledged to write something a bit different and challenge my normal writing. Well, for those of you looking for a well-reasoned, thoughtful treatise on politics, media, cultural phenomena and the like, for this moment, South of the James is not the place for you. You see, my “typical” writing is mostly original stuff based upon facts that I gather, interviews that I conduct, and data that I analyze. I do not mean to sound haughty or arrogant - the fact is I like being a wonkish political and policy blogger. However, for this weekend, I want to do something a bit different, and showcase another side of Conaway that people may not see.

As most people know, especially those of you who read that Richmond Times-Dispatch article and regularly follow my work, I have been happily married (an unfortunately oxymoronic stage for all too many people these days) for just under three years. Those of you who know my wife, recognize that she is far from a withering wallflower - she’s a firecracker and the definition of a strong woman (but, she’s ticklish and married to a notorious tickler, which is her Achilles Heel). I adore this about her, and she keeps me on my toes most of the time. What many people also don’t know is that she is absolutely, positively my best friend. I love her dearly.

She is also the chief motivator, cheerleader, and feedback loop (i.e. she provides the “you’re really not going to print that, right…RIGHT?” insights) for this blog. The ironic part is that she got started in this blog thing before I did. Initially, she created her site - Get Out There, Richmond! - saying:

“I started this blog out of frustration and desperation of the disjointed information network here in my hometown of Richmond, Virgina. If you know anything about Richmond, you will know that despite the perception, there really is a lot going on around here. Unfortunately, there does not seem to on good source of information on food, dining, arts, entertainment, and politics. So, I hope to make my small contribution. Furthermore, being an African- American woman, I am extremely committed to increasing the diversity in attendance at art and entertainment venues around town.”

For almost 10 days, she had the blogosphere all to herself. Then, in my usual “energetic” manner, I decided to do my own blog. I even used the same template as she did in the spirit of marital competition (sure, men always lose, but hey, we still keep trying). Well, that’s the story that she likes to tell, anyway. My starting a blog was not all serendipity. I had been writing occasional sports stories for just under a year, and I had done some political writing for an nascent political organization, even going as far as suggesting that the group get its own blog. So, I really was not clueless to the world of blogging or the Virginia blogosphere, which I was turned onto via reading Bacon’s Rebellion. I say all this to make the point that even though we have different viewpoints on how it all started, my wife played a major role in the birth of South of the James (the name was totally my thing, though).

Amazingly, nearly a year later, not only is this blog read by other people (which still amazes me…I’m a Toys-R-Us kid kind of guy), but it is doing quite well. And, because of that, I wanted to take the time to dedicate an entire blog post (generous, huh?) to my wife for inspiring me, exhorting me, encouraging me, and even giving up a piece of her time with me so that I could pursue this crazy little thing called blog.

So, with this post, I want to encourage all of my readers to head over to my wife’s blog and check out the sadly infrequent (she actually tries to have other outlets for her time) posts that she’s done on food & entertainment. Lately, she’s waxed poetically about a certain someone’s scandalous apple cake (the classy lady who’s married to the man who employs me), WCVE 88.9FM’s experiment with extending it’s nightly Jazz programming by one hour (which if permanent will reduce by one hour the amount of time I spend listening to XM’s Real Jazz station), and an ode to a little slice of South Boston that we got to see on after a 90-minute drive west last month.

Erika plans to add some more food reviews to her blog in the coming weeks (Alton should be pleased), and I have even agreed to help her increase her blogging productivity because Richmond’s food scene surely can use another alternative voice added to the mix. Why not have it be her’s.

So, on this weekend of alternative blog-posting, I hope my wife doesn’t mind if an “I Love You, Erika” echoes around the Commonwealth. Lord knows she’s earned it!

This has been a really busy week for me. Where has the time gone? Just a few quick things to run down.

First, the gang over at River City Rapids has a new web address. I’m way late on this, but check it out at http://www.rivercityrapids.com. This crew runs one of the top blogs in Metro Richmond, with biting and insightful commentary and analysis on local issues and some things beyond.

Second, Cat is manning (or is that woman-ning?) a new information site for the Virginia Blog Carnival. Ironically, I recently had a dream that someone did this, only to find out the next morning that it was created. The thing is that I don’t know which is weirder: the fact that my dream came to life the morning after…or the fact that I had a dream about blogging…

Finally, the first-ever Weekend Without Echoes is nearly upon us. For this WWE, some of us will attempt to layeth the smacketh downeth on the echo chamber and mutual admiration society that blogging can give way to. Terry and Vivian have done a great job of promoting and cat-herding this affair. Having recently been named by some people (*cough* my wife *cough*) as the Official Navel-Gazer of the Virginia Blogosphere (thanks, honey), I’ll come up with something to contribute.

Having lost their lone representative on Chesterfield’s Board of Supervisors, county Democrats are doing what they can to ensure that the appointment of Ed Barber’s replacement will be the result of a fair, open and honest process. They are responding to comments like those of Vice Chairman Kelly Miller (R) who told the Village News that he wants to appoint, “the person who is best suited to serve the county, although I am a Republican. I’m not going to stand here and say I’m looking to appoint a Democrat.”

With applications closed as of 5 p.m. today, and with the previous announcement that BOS members would deliberate among themselves in an executive session that is not open to the public, the Chesterfield County Democratic Committee issued the following strongly worded statement today:

“The Chesterfield County Democratic Committee today called for the Board of Supervisors to deliberate the appointment of a Midlothian Supervisor in open session. Lynne E. Cooper, spokesperson for the Committee, said, ‘This individual will be serving and representing the citizens of Midlothian. However, because this person is appointed and not elected, and, therefore, the voters’ will has not been heard, the public has a right to observe and listen to the deliberations to understand the rationale for the appointment. Certainly, the outpouring of potential appointees and public comments shows the intense interest by the citizenry of Midlothian in this process and its outcome.’

‘Recently the town of Blacksburg also had a vacancy to fill on their Town Council and they wisely chose to deliberate their selection in public session and not in executive session. We call on the Chesterfield Board of Supervisors to forsake their planned policy of closed doors and smoke filled rooms and to let the sunshine in. The citizens of Chesterfield and particularly Midlothian deserve no less.’”

The race to replace Ed Barber is shaping up to be an interesting affair. Rumors are swirling and grumbling is at hand about both the process for appointing the Midlothian District’s replacement supervisor and elected a new member in November to serve out the remainder of Barber’s term. Thus far, the Richmond Times-Dispatch has identified several interested candidates, including a current planning commissioner, a former planning commissioner, and a failed candidate for supervisor. Though nothing is set in stone, several interesting facets have emerged.

It seems that Mark Tubbs is no longer a candidate…for Midlothian. The eager Republican office-seeker discovered that he actually lives in the Matoaca District. Now he is apparently thinking of tossing his hat in the ring for that district’s spot, one which is currently occupied by Renny Bush Humphrey and coveted by several other candidates.  With his unsuccessful run in 2003 against Art Warren in Clover Hill, his initial interest in the Midlothian seat for the special election, and consideration of a 2007 bid for Matoaca, Tubbs may be nearing some kind of record. There is still time for him to move into Bermuda and Dale in order to come full circle…

Though the RTD reported that he will run as an independent, word is that Will Shewmake is considering a switch to the Republican Party in a bid for the Midlothian seat. The former Planning Commissioner for that part of Chesterfield has a significant history with the Democratic Party, as evidenced by his strong financial support for Democrats in past state elections. According to the Virginia Public Access Project, Shewmake has made over $4,200 in donations to Democratic candidates for the General Assembly or statewide races since 1996, compared to only $250 in support for only one Republican, state Sen. John Watkins. On the flip side, that donation was his most recent contribution of any type to a state-level candidate, coming in 2005.

In a related but slightly different note, current Midlothian planning commissioner Dan Gecker is listed as an Independent in the RTD article. However, that designation seems to reflect a more practical reality; Gecker, like millions of other Virginians, is not currently a dues-paying member of a political party. Despite this, he apparently does not intend to end his association with Virginia’s Democratic Party. 

On top of this, there seems to be quite a family feud brewing among Chesterfield Republicans, with factions forming for and against the current regime of the GOP-dominated Board of Supervisors. Tensions among the 4 remaining supervisors are apparent to BOS-watchers as they each jockey for position on various issues before them. Some local Republicans, including formerly high-ranking party leaders, complain about what they feel is ”interference” from Sen. Steve Martin (the only county resident serving in the Virginia Senate) in county affairs, and they hammer away at the leadership of BOS chairman and vice-chairman, Dickie King and Kelly Miller, respectively.

Against this backdrop, Chesterfield Democrats may be the darkhorse beneficiaries of the goings-on as the political drama in Virginia’s 4th largest locality plays itself out. CCDC quickly and strongly called for Ed Barber’s resignation upon his conviction saying that leaders should be “above reproach in all respects.” Although the seat in question rests in Midlothian, such sentiments reverberate beyond that part of the county. They undoubtedly highlight the loud whispers of skeletons that Chairman King apparently has in his own closet, issues to which he has alluded to himself. On top of that, Democrats are chomping at the bit to challenge Kelly Miller by capitalizing on demographic shifts and Gov. Tim Kaine’s strong performance in winning the Dale district in the November 2005 election. Chesterfield Democrats may be able to capitalize on the combination of GOP dissension, the seemingly widespread citizen dissatisfaction with the Republican-dominated BOS, their own morally solid candidates, and the emerging blurring of clear partisan lines with respect to bread-and-butter, backyard local policy and governance issues.

With the BOS having to appoint a supervisor for Midlothian until a new one is elected and candidates angling for position, all eyes will be on Chesterfield in the coming months. From this writer’s vantage point, it’s about time.