Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 18, 1991 TAG: 9104190222
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER MUNICIPAL WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
He has an electrical engineering degree and has worked for one of Roanoke's major corporations, Appalachian Power Co., but recently began working for Roanoke Gas Co. He also has a master of business administration degree. He is a former president of the Roanoke Jaycees.
He's 33. He has a beard, intense eyes and an engaging smile.
He is also the new chairman of the Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority Board of Commissioners.
Glenn doesn't seem the type to be worried about tenants in housing projects or blighted conditions in inner-city neighborhoods.
He has taken on a tough job, but he already has ambitious goals for the redevelopment and housing agency.
One is to improve the image of the housing projects, which have been tarnished by violence and drugs in recent years.
Glenn said he can't forget the memory of young children, their faces pressed against the windows in the Lansdowne Park project, afraid to go outside because of drug dealers in the parking lot.
As chairman, Glenn wants the board to become more aggressive in trying to provide affordable, decent and safe housing.
"I want us to make a difference. I want us to make things happen and not just react to what is happening," he said.
He said he hopes the authority will become more active in cleaning up rundown neighborhoods and in stimulating commercial and industrial development there.
Glenn, who grew up in Burlington, N.C., came to Roanoke in 1979 after graduating from North Carolina State University. He went to work in Apco's engineering department, with little thought of community service work.
He later became an administrative assistant to the manager of Apco's Roanoke division, a move that ultimately led him to leave engineering to head the marketing and customer service department at Apco's Roanoke division. He got involved in community agencies, including the United Way, Junior Achievement of Roanoke Valley and the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce. He also is president of the Virginia Museum of Transportation.
In a career move after he was interviewed for this story, Glenn was vice president of Roanoke Gas Co. He is responsible for marketing and strategic planning for the company.
City Council appointed him to the housing authority board three years ago. He was recently elected to succeed Wendell Butler as chairman after Butler resigned to accept an appointment to the Virginia Water Control Board.
Glenn said his call for a more aggressive approach for the seven-member board is not a criticism of the authority's management staff or the past commissioners.
"I don't want the staff or the commissioners to think that something is wrong or they haven't done a good job. I feel good about the authority's past record," he said.
"But it is pretty easy to be a follower. I want this authority to be a leader statewide and nationally," he said.
Despite publicity in the past year about drugs and shootings, Roanoke's housing projects are safer than in most cities, he said.
Nonetheless, he wants the housing agency to investigate alternative security arrangements.
He hopes to get tenants more involved in making the projects safer. He wants to hear their ideas on maintenance, management and other issues.
The agency has 1,506 public housing units in 11 projects. It also administers several rent-subsidy programs that provide federal funds to help pay rents for low- and moderate-income residents who live in more than 1,300 privately owned housing units. It also operates about a dozen other housing, commercial and industrial revitalization programs.
"The authority used to just provide housing - the building. But now we provide a range of social and community services for residents that goes well beyond the normal scope of a housing agency," he said.
Glenn said the authority's efforts to provide better housing have been hampered by the lack of federal money in recent years to construct new public housing. He also complains about excessive federal regulations that discourage housing authorities from being efficient or innovative.
"Now there are no incentives for better management because we can't use any money that we might save by efficient management to build new housing," he said. The money has to be returned to the government.
Glenn wants authority officials to talk with Rep. Jim Olin, D-Roanoke, about seeking changes that would provide incentives for innovative management.
He also wants the agency to work closely with city administrators, city council and other agencies.
Glenn said he first become interested in the authority's operations - including urban renewal projects, construction of downtown parking garages and development of industrial parks - while working on economic development projects and providing information on electric rates for Apco.
Glenn says the authority can play an even bigger role in stimulating economic growth because of its powers to sell bonds and condemn property for revitalization projects.
by CNB