
{"id":19811,"date":"2011-07-21T09:39:21","date_gmt":"2011-07-21T13:39:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/?p=19811"},"modified":"2011-07-21T11:44:36","modified_gmt":"2011-07-21T15:44:36","slug":"stewart-closes-out-tenure-as-town-manager","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2011\/07\/21\/stewart-closes-out-tenure-as-town-manager\/","title":{"rendered":"Stewart closes out tenure as town manager"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Susan Dickson<br \/>\n<em>Staff Writer<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\nOne of the things that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s immediately apparent about Steve Stewart is his modesty.<br \/>\nWhen asked about his accomplishments, the retiring town manager gives much credit to those he works with. For his knowledge and skills in municipal government, he thanks his mentors from his school days and early in his career.<br \/>\n<figure id=\"attachment_19812\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-19812\" style=\"width: 250px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/2011\/07\/21\/stewart-closes-out-tenure-as-town-manager\/steve-stewart-2\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-19812\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Steve-Stewart.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"Steve-Stewart\" width=\"250\" height=\"319\" class=\"size-full wp-image-19812\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Steve-Stewart.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Steve-Stewart-113x144.jpg 113w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Steve-Stewart-88x113.jpg 88w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-19812\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Retiring Carrboro Town Manager Steve Stewart. Photo by Alicia Stemper<\/figcaption><\/figure>Including his eight years in Carrboro, the soft-spoken Stewart has worked in local government for 37 years, beginning his career as an intern with the City of Burlington, his hometown.<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It was fun,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said, but also \u00e2\u20ac\u0153really scary.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d That first internship taught him much about local government.<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I knew that I had two ears and one mouth for a reason, so I did a lot of listening,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said.<br \/>\nStewart went on to work for Mecklenburg County, where he stayed until 1978. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s served as a town, city or county manager ever since, including his tenure with the Town of Carrboro, which will come to an end on Aug. 1. According to those who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve worked with him, he will be sorely missed.<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve benefited immensely from Steve\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s knowledge and understanding of the processes of government and the many issues facing the town,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Carrboro Board of Aldermen member Dan Coleman said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153He helped me succeed as an alderman in every way possible and is 100 percent committed to the town and the people of the town and to the town staff.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an elegant professional,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d board member Randee Haven-O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Donnell said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153He has a genuine respect and care for the folks that he works with in all facets of the work, and that comes through in everything he does. He is a people-first professional.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<br \/>\nWhen Stewart came to Carrboro, he thought it would be a good opportunity to return to a community with which he was somewhat familiar. Plus, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I said when I came here that this was the community I wanted to retire in,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said.<br \/>\nBut the Carrboro Stewart came to eight years ago was quite different from the one he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d visited while growing up in Burlington.<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Now people don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t come through Carrboro \u00e2\u20ac\u201c they come to Carrboro,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said.<br \/>\nThough the changes the town has seen in recent years have been less obvious than those prior, Stewart said, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s witnessed small but significant transformations during his time here.<br \/>\nWith the sidewalk bonds approved by voters in 2003, Carrboro has seen a vast expansion of sidewalks throughout town in recent years.<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re an incredibly walkable and pedestrian- and bike-friendly community,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Stewart said, adding, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m confident that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not another town in North Carolina \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 that puts the resources that we do into public transit.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00e2\u20ac\u02dcExciting possibilities\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/strong><br \/>\nDuring Stewart\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tenure, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also seen the town increase its commitment to grow and support local business. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been in the manager\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s seat while Carrboro has considered a number of large developments \u00e2\u20ac\u201c including the planned 300 East Main project, which includes the redevelopment of properties extending from the intersection of Main and Boyd streets near Nice Price Books to the present municipal parking lot on the corner of Main and Roberson streets.<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153That project has the potential \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 to really change the face of downtown,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I just think it has so many exciting possibilities.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<br \/>\nLooking back on his work, Stewart is pleased with the town\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fiscal status, given the current economic climate.<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m really proud of the financial condition that the town\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s in,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said, noting that the town has had no tax increase or reduction in service in three years, nor has it made layoffs or furloughs in that period.<br \/>\nHe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also proud to have seen the town\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s second fire station opened on Homestead Road.<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I think it fits really well,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d noting the project\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s environmental features and sensitivity to the surrounding area.<br \/>\nStewart also launched the town\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Better Together initiative, which got town employees working together across departments on a variety of project, formulating ideas and drawing leadership from all levels.<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Employees here have always worked well together,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. More than anything, he says he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s most proud of what the employees have accomplished together.<br \/>\nStewart attributes much of his success as town manager to his employees, whom he approaches with high expectations.<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I think people want to do well,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If you have that expectation, I think people rise to that expectation.<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It takes all of us to deliver services to the community,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d from police officers and custodians to firefighters and receptionists.<br \/>\nStewart tries to know the names of all of the town\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 155 to 160 employees, and makes sure to send each of them a birthday card every year.<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I think we all like to be recognized,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00e2\u20ac\u02dcBuilt out\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/strong><br \/>\nAs the town moves forward, Stewart said he would like to see more commercial developments come to fruition.<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m very concerned about the lack of commercial tax base here,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said, acknowledging the burden that places on property owners. Stewart said he believes population growth for Carrboro has likely leveled off.<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re close to being built out from a population standpoint,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153A lot of things would need to change for the town to see significant growth.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<br \/>\nIn addition, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d like for [home ownership in Carrboro] to be an option for more people,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said.<br \/>\nAfter Stewart finishes his last day as town manager, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to take the month of August \u00e2\u20ac\u0153to sit back and take it easy.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d In September, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll begin part-time work for the Town of Chapel Hill, working on special projects in the town manager\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s office.<br \/>\nHe hopes to use his free time for volunteer work and other activities.<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll continue to be a part of the community,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153When I walk out of here, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be somebody else\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s responsibility.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<br \/>\nBut, he added, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be around and interested.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<br \/>\nOverall, Stewart has loved his experiences working in local government.<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We really do get a chance to touch people\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lives every day,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just so many ways that we touch people.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of the things that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s immediately apparent about Steve Stewart is his modesty.<br \/>\nWhen asked about his accomplishments, the retiring town manager gives much credit to those he works with.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":19812,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19811","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19811"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19811\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19876,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19811\/revisions\/19876"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}