Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, July 25, 1995 TAG: 9507250058
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Their 250-page report, the final installment of which was unveiled Monday, is a formidable, if flawed, opus. It invokes themes - linking Virginia Tech to economic development efforts, upgrading skills, internationalizing outlook, promoting growth while protecting natural assets, developing regional leadership - that are vital to our future. It is the most important document of its kind ever produced in these parts, and it contains a wealth of good ideas.
Though the harder task - implementing some of these ideas - now looms, this takes nothing from the effort that went into producing them.
Citizens from many walks of life joined the endeavor: businesspeople, educators, homemakers, leaders of nonprofit groups, public servants, civic activists. Their achievement is extraordinary in several respects.
That so many volunteers - a thousand, says New Century Executive Director Bev Fitzpatrick - gave so much time and energy to thinking about our future reflects an extraordinary degree of community commitment.
That participants and their proposals recognized the shared interests of a single region, extending across the Roanoke and New River valleys and Alleghany Highlands, marks an extraordinary advance in regional awareness.
That the New Century Council spawned as many intriguing ideas as it did, knowing that naysayers would be quick to jump all over them, represents an extraordinary stretch for a region whose leaders too rarely think big or long-term.
To be sure, the process was far from perfect. Levels of engagement varied among volunteers and over time. Despite the masses involved, the effort wasn't inclusive enough. Nor was it organized as well as it might have been. It took way too long: almost two years. And there's as yet no serious plan for prioritizing or implementing ideas.
To be sure, too, the proposals themselves are a mixed bag. They include low-hanging fruit ripe for plucking, and pleasant dreams perhaps forever beyond the region's reach. They include great ideas in search of backers, and others warranting little consideration even if money and sponsors were available.
Both organizational difficulties and mixed results were a given, however, for a project as ambitious as this. This was, after all, a process with little form or precedent, involving unexpectedly large numbers of volunteers convening across considerable distances to propose innovations serving the entire region - not for the next few years but for the next 20. The brainstormed proposals combine numerous, disparate visions. They reflect an initially proper emphasis on generating ideas without reference to financial or political barriers.
Now the enterprise enters a new, more difficult phase. Finding partners and holding them accountable to implement proposals will require strength of leadership as much as breadth of participation. Prioritizing proposals will mean moving beyond the evocative, unthreatening precept that all ideas are created equal.
Now a new process must be orchestrated, with proposals winnowed to focus on those most promising for initial action. Yet, in doing so, the New Century Council should not lose sight of lessons illuminated by the exercise so far: that citizen participation stimulates leadership, that willingness to think boldly and take risks spurs progress.
The community, for its part, shouldn't lose sight of the contribution of New Century's civic-minded organizers and participants. They deserve our thanks as well as our congratulations.
by CNB