Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, May 21, 1995                   TAG: 9505220003
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: TERESA McCOY HYPES
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Long

HERE'S A POINT OF VIEW FROM NEWPORT

One success was attaining certification from the Department of Economic Development. Dozens of us worked on committees developing marketing materials, securing industrial sites or focusing on the quality of life. This collaborative, countywide effort was rewarded when a delegation traveled to Richmond in 1991 to accept our county's designation as a certified business community.

Now, consider a not-so-successful local effort. Like other rural counties, Giles has seen a decline in school-age children. In 1990, the School Board and Board of Supervisors devised a plan to consolidate the county's two high schools and establish a middle school. Many citizens were caught unaware and opposed the merger. They stopped the proposal, but unfortunately plans to establish a middle school - favored by many of the same people - were also thwarted.

Why should others be interested in these two events in a small county?

Localities such as Giles are part of a nationwide issue: How can citizens have a more effective voice in government and in setting the policies that shape their communities? This question is as old as democracy.

Barriers to engaging

citizens in policy making

For many elected officials and civil servants, the mention of a public meeting brings fears of angry citizens storming city hall.

On the other side, citizens often suspect that public hearings are simply formalities or legal requirements and that the "real" decisions have already been made. In Giles, public meetings have at times ended with almost everybody - citizens, administrators and elected leaders - angry, frustrated and, worst of all, polarized.

There are two causes: first, the complexity of today's society and its problems; and second, the failure of our ways of viewing government and citizenship to keep up with social and cultural changes.

The problems are tough! Local issues are often as complex as those at the state and federal levels. More problems such as landfills, water quality, locations of highways and power lines are appearing at the local level as the state and federal governments shift decision-making downward. Many of these problems seem to have no answer that will satisfy everyone.

Giles has had its share of problems. In 1994 the landfill had to be closed, leaving administrators and elected leaders with the difficult decision of whether to build a new landfill, privatize the service, or send trash to another locality. The county has faced two other big environmental and economic issues, as well: the location of both a power line and an interstate highway. Both issues, involving complicated interaction among regional, state, and national parties, remain undecided.

\ The old ways don't always work so well

Many officials see citizens as clients who will have something done to them or for them, rather than as partners collaborating in joint decision making.

David Osborne and Ted Gaebler, in their popular book "Reinventing Government," argue that we rely on professionals to solve problems, not families and communities. "Americans hunger for more control of matters that directly affect their lives," they conclude.

It is no longer enough to include a few citizens on a study committee. People are more diverse, more knowledgeable, and more vocal than ever before. When those affected are not involved in developing that public policy, the stage is set for gridlock.

A failure to involve people early in the process plagued the high-school consolidation proposal in Giles County. A win-lose, rather than win-win, situation developed because there was no commonly held vision for the county's school system.

\ Finding a way through the barriers

I have no perfect formula for broadening participation. Communities have to develop their own processes for involvement.

An essential ingredient is having meaningful opportunities for citizens to be involved. This may mean looking at leadership in a different way.

Author Camilla Stivers suggested looking at leadership in a new way, perhaps involving a leader in a coordinator role rotated among group members.

Rather than being at the top of a pyramid, the leader could be at the center of a network of people with various responsibilities.

My community of Newport is an example of shared responsibility. Local residents decided to administer the community through a village council. The council includes representatives of various groups, civic associations and churches, as well as individuals representing other groups, such as Newport's youth.

The village council works to promote public dialogue by convening citizens when a public issue arises that requires discussion to gauge community sentiment.

For example, when the county Board of Supervisors was deciding what to do after the landfill closed, the village council held a forum with the supervisors to discuss the options and voice Newport citizens' concerns. The council has also received our area's congressional representative to discuss issues such as a high-voltage power line proposed to cross the area.

The Newport village council helps citizens find their public voice, and have that voice be heard. This is no small accomplishment.

Sen. Bill Bradley of New Jersey recently said, "Above all, we need to understand that a true civil society in which citizens interact on a regular basis to grapple with common problems will not occur because of the arrival of a hero. Rebuilding civil society requires people talking and listening to each other, not blindly following a hero."

Citizens, elected leaders and public administrators in Giles County are faced not only with complex, "wicked" problems, but with figuring out how to talk constructively with one another. They'll have to do so, because there are no heroes on the horizon.

\ Teresa McCoy Hypes is an information manager for Virginia Cooperativ Extension at Virginia Tech who received a master's in public administration this month. This article was published by Virginia's Rural Economic Analysis Program.