Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 21, 1993 TAG: 9310220375
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Long
He's a no-nonsense farmer and businessman who says what he thinks, knows most every farmer in the county and wears his trademark khaki work shirt and pants, sturdy brown shoes and bright red suspenders.
Montgomery native Stewart, 78, has been a fixture in local business since the 1930s and politics since 1980, when he won a three-way special election for the District C seat by a 2-to-1 margin over his nearest rival.
In 1981 he lost the Republican nomination to Christiansburg lawyer Rodney Crowgey. But he ran as an independent and defeated both the Republican and Democratic candidates and two other independents with 34 percent of the vote.
Stewart, a beef cattle and horse farmer, hasn't had a challenger in the 13 years and two re-elections since.
Jim Smith, 53, of Elliston changed that.
A 22-year county resident and longtime employee of General Electric in Salem, Smith said he decided to run after listening to people across the predominantly rural District C, which includes most of southeastern Montgomery.
Though Smith said he and others admired Stewart's role in defeating a dam proposed years ago for the North Fork of the Roanoke River, that's in the past. ``There have been a lot of things that have happened and there's not been enough of a voice from this end of the county,'' Smith said.
Neighbors and other district residents told him the area needed someone new on the board who will speak up.
``I'm not one to keep quiet, maybe I can make a difference,'' Smith said.
He says he realizes what he's up against, but that he's sticking with the issues, rather than campaigning directly against Stewart as he goes door-to-door in the district.
``From what I hear, the people want a change,'' Smith said.
Smith, a Giles County native, can see Fort Lewis Mountain and Interstate 81 from one side of his North Fork Road home, and towering Poor Mountain from the other. He and his wife, Margaret, a nurse, moved there just before the interstate opened. They raised two daughters and a son, graduates of Shawsville High School. The two daughters are college graduates and the son is attending college.
Stewart, a widower with two grown daughters, continues to work his farms, including the one in Elliston, which has been in the family for three generations. That combined with the operations he started in Riner and Floyd account for some 3,600 acres, Stewart said.
He's overcome disaster. His Christiansburg livestock market burned to the ground in March 1992, and he reopened it with a horse sale in January, the day after his birthday.
For his fifth supervisor's campaign, Stewart is banking on enough of his fellow farmers and other longtime residents believing they're better off sticking with, ``a man you know and a man who knows you and your needs,'' as his campaign flier states.
Stewart said he's running on his record, and because, ``There's a lot of things I'd like to see sort of finished.''
Those include improvements to twisting, turning North Fork Road between I-81 and Elliston, better schools in the area and a spring-fed water system for Elliston, even though the county settled the water issue two years ago.
In 1991, Stewart voted against the extension of treated water from Christiansburg to Elliston, expected to be completed late next year, because he believes the area has plenty of natural springs that would provide better water at a lower price.
Stewart maintains that he has been a strong voice for his district on the Montgomery board.
He points out that his work supported the schools in Elliston and Shawsville and has led to improved roads and low taxes, though they're still higher than he'd like.
Stewart votes ``no'' when he disagrees with his fellow supervisors.
``I've got nerve enough to vote `no' when the other six vote `yes,''' he said.
If he doesn't like a decision the board is about to vote on, sometimes he even gets up and leaves, like he did last week before the vote to accept trash from Giles at Montgomery's Mid-County Landfill.
On other recent issues, Stewart has opposed a new landfill for the Flatwoods-Bradshaw area, the ``smart'' highway linking Blacksburg to I-81, the Interstate 73 proposal from Michigan to South Carolina via Montgomery and the open-space amendment to the county's comprehensive plan. On the latter, he struck a chord with many rural landowners when he decried the plan last month as an attempt to ``put a noose around the landowners' necks'' and infringe on private property rights.
Smith's six-point platform covers education, economic development, the landfill, support for volunteer fire and rescue departments and road improvements. He also wants to see the county maintain a low tax rate.
From talking to district residents, he senses that many people believe the Shawsville and Elliston-Lafayette schools get hand-me-downs from other Montgomery schools in books, computers and other supplies. He said he would pursue equal opportunity for all county students.
Smith also thinks the county should avoid cutting support to the volunteer squads. ``I think fire and rescue squads have been neglected, and that's one of the things I'm hearing,'' he said.
On roads, he too wants to improve North Fork Road, but he favors the ``smart'' highway because of the development dollars it could bring to Virginia Tech and the subsequent jobs that could create. Though he is troubled by the project's impact on the Ellett Valley, he believes environmental concerns can be addressed.
Smith lives within a few miles of Roanoke County's Smith Gap regional landfill and the site Montgomery looked at earlier this year. He opposes the Flatwoods site and thinks the county should pursue cooperation with other counties in the region.
He, too, thinks the tax rate should be kept low, and he believes more state money might be an answer in certain areas, such as county schools and infrastructure. ``If we've got to go to Richmond and sit on the door step and say, `Hey, we need this,' let's try to do it.''
As for economic development, Smith favors a mixture of entry-level manufacturing jobs and high-tech positions for the region. He said he would be in favor of I-73 because of the development possibilities it could provide.
Smith tentatively favors the open-space plan as a way to help the county in the long term by preserving some of the beautiful mountain scenery. He said he needed to study the issue more before arriving on a final opinion.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB