John Edwards wins Press Association award
John B. Edwards, VCOG board member and editor and publisher of The Smithfield Times, has been named the winner of the Virginia Press Association’s 21st annual D. Lathan Mims Award for Editorial Leadership in the Community. Edwards previously won the award in 1998-99 and 2002. He has won the Mims award — the association’s highest individual honor for an editor — more times than any other Virginia journalist. The award judge wrote of Edwards:
“John Edwards’ writing is infused with deep knowledge of his subjects, clarity of position, respect for the individual and the core values of citizens.
“He demonstrates an abiding love of his community through editorials and columns on issues crucial to the future of a rural county struggling with the pressures of urbanization from nearby population centers.
“His concern for the preservation of the county’s rural and agricultural heritage extends from innovative use of conservation easements, to the placement of roads, to praise of crabgrass as ground cover.
“He consistently argues forcefully for the public’s interest in open and transparent government and the need for public participation in decision making.”
2 current and 1 past board member honored
John Edwards, Peter Easter and the late Jay Pace are among the communications professionals who were inducted this year into the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame. Edwards is the publisher and editor of The Smithfield Times and known as a tireless advocate for open government in Virginia. He chaired the steering committee that formed the Virginia Coalition for Open Government in 1995-96. Pace, who died in 2004, was the publisher of the Herald-Progress in Ashland and a strong supporter of the advancement of community journalism. Both men are former VPA presidents. Easter retired in 2006 as executive director of the Virginia Association of Broadcasters.
Landon named to FOI Advisory Council
Sen. Edd Houck, D-Spotsylvania, was unanimously reappointed as the Senate’s legislative representative on the FOI Advisory Council. Houck backed Forrest M. “Frosty” Landon, the retired executive director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government to succeed The Smithfield Times editor/publisher John Edwards as the Senate’s citizen member of the council. Edwards, whose appointment expires at the end of June, was not eligible for reappointment. The Senate Rules Committee appointed Landon in May.
VCOG board president Wat Hopkins will step down from the FOI Advisory Council in June also, when his term expires. He is not eligible for reappointment. House Majority Leader Bill Howell, R-Fredericksburg, named a Fredericksburg-area man, John Selph, as Hopkins’ replacement.
VCOG’s 2008 intern
Clay Landa, a University of Richmond rising second-year law student, is VCOG’s 2008 Laurence E. Richardson intern.
Landa has been answering questions posed to VCOG by citizens via its Web site. He has attended FOI Advisory Council meetings and subcommittees, and has begun research comparing state FOIA-fee structures. Landa will also help lay the groundwork on a VCOG grant to provide legislators with FOIA “media kits.”
Landa is a College of Charleston graduate, and before enrolling in law school, worked at the State Board of Elections.
Welcome, new VCOG board members; Goodbye, former members
Since the last newsletter, the VCOG board has seen five departures and five arrivals. Tonda Rush, president of American Press Works, left the board in the fall to focus on her growing law practice managing and/or representing various press-related groups like the American Society of Newspaper Editors.
Former House of Delegates member Clifton “Chip” Woodrum, stepped down in the spring, also to focus on work and family.
Rush and Woodrum will be replaced by Richmond Sunlight founder Waldo Jaquith and Henrico County Board of Supervisors member Patricia O’Bannon.
Ferrum College librarian Cy Dillon, who headed VCOG’s nominating committee, stepped down from the VCOG board upon being named to a position on a national library board. He will be replaced by the Library of Virginia’s director of information technology Paul Casalaspi.
Nancy Kent Smith, vice president for news at WWBT-12 in Richmond, took over the seat vacated by Smith’s colleague Don Richards, WWBT’s general manager. The seat is appointed by the Virginia Association of Broadcasters.
John Schick, president of Piedmont Communications Inc. (WJMA, WOJL, WCVA and WVCA) assumed another VAB-appointed position in the spring in place of Jim Kent.
Perkins to step down
VCOG’s executive director for the past year, Jennifer Perkins, has resigned, effective Aug. 1. Perkins was hired in July 2007 to replace longtime VCOG director Frosty Landon. Prior to joining VCOG, Perkins served as legislative counsel to Sen. Olympia Snow (R-Maine).
VCOG’s associate director, Megan Rhyne, will serve as interim director until a replacement is named.