THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, April 21, 1995 TAG: 9504210496
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: BY THE PEOPLE
SOURCE: BY MIKE KNEPLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines
Leslie K. Fenlon Jr. is proud of the city emblems he wears at civic events: the Virginia Beach lapel pin and the Norfolk tie clasp.
``No divided loyalties,'' Fenlon said. ``I love Virginia Beach, and that's the place I live. . . . But that loyalty has to be extended to the entire area.''
On Saturday, Fenlon hopes to move beyond the symbolism of wearing two city emblems and the rhetoric of regional cooperation.
He'll be convening the first-ever ``Grassroots Regionalism'' conference for civic leagues throughout South Hampton Roads - from 10 a.m. to noon at the Virginia Beach Central Library.
The conference is hosted by the Virginia Beach Council of Civic Organizations, of which Fenlon is president.
Fenlon and his civic group organized the forum because most discussions about regionalism - held by political figures and business leaders - were not being made relevant to neighborhoods.
For example, neighborhood activism and regional cooperation usually are not discussed in the same settings, and many times the two concepts are considered in opposition.
But Fenlon, a retired Navy captain, said he believes that neighborhood and regional issues can be mutually supportive.
Businesses thinking about moving to a new region, he said, look at many quality-of-life issues, including housing, neighborhoods, schools and cultural opportunities.
``Just look at what they're doing in downtown Portsmouth and Olde Towne, how they've redone it. It's just marvelous,'' Fenlon said. ``It improves the quality of life for the whole area.''
Saturday's conference will have at least three purposes:
To begin giving neighborhood groups a voice in important conversations about the region's future, including potential trade-offs.
To encourage civic leagues in different cities to exchange ideas about common issues, such as neighborhood preservation, zoning, and working with city governments.
To lay the groundwork for more grass-roots discussion of regionalism.
Fenlon said he invited Norfolk Mayor Paul D. Fraim as the keynote speaker because he was impressed with recent efforts by Norfolk officials to reach out to neighborhood groups.
But Fenlon said he also invited Fraim to talk about regionalism. It will be the first time the mayor has discussed the issues with grass-roots citizen groups outside his city.
For all of Fenlon's enthusiasm about regionalism, many other Virginia Beach neighborhood leaders remain skeptical, believing that Norfolk mainly wants the suburbs to share urban burdens without getting any benefits in return. Still, they say they are glad Fraim is taking his message directly to civic leagues.
The forum also will feature talks by representatives of several umbrella groups: the Virginia Beach and Chesapeake councils of civic organizations, and the Norfolk and Suffolk federations of civic leagues.
James Janata, first vice president of the Norfolk Federation of Civic Leagues, said he'll discuss ``how to remind city halls to include the community'' in the stages of planning various public projects.
Norfolk neighborhood groups would have liked to participate in the planning of many downtown revitalization projects but were left out, thereby becoming suspicious or resentful, Janata said.
``My point is, that if they include us earlier in the process, then the process is smoother and the result is better,'' he said. ``If we're in on the decision-making, it becomes very difficult for us to fight it, I think.''
Janata said he would apply similar logic to regional cooperation: that more citizens must be involved in discussions to make regionalism succeed.
Support for Janata's philosophy can be found among some scholars of regionalism.
Wolfgang Pindur, professor of urban studies and public administration at Old Dominion University, said regional cooperation has been most effective in metropolitan areas where the general citizenry has become interested and concerned.
``What happens in areas where it's just a small group discussing this,'' Pindur said, ``is that they adopt a fairly conservative approach . . . but fundamental changes in governmental organization doesn't come about.''
Pindur, who lives in Virginia Beach, said greater regionalism does not mean doing away with local governments. He advocates cooperation that achieves governmental efficiencies on more issues, such as economic development and developing parks and recreational facilities.
Andrew Damiani, a former mayor of Suffolk, said he, too, supports the grass-roots effort. He wants cities to cooperate on neighborhood preservation to entice more businesses to move here.
``I'm ashamed to say, but when I was mayor and we brought in business people to look at our city, I avoided certain neighborhoods when we took them around,'' Damiani said. ``You shouldn't have to do that. You should be proud of your community . . . not have to detour around some neighborhoods.'' by CNB