Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 30, 1995 TAG: 9507310075
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Monday, they will congregate in Hotel Roanoke's ballroom to have a little fun, eat hors d'oeuvres and hear a motivational speaker.
The 6:30 p.m. celebration is expected to attract a third to half of the 1,000 council volunteers.
Those present will receive a gift for their work, which made possible the writing of the first all-inclusive plan for improving the quality of life in the Roanoke and New River valleys and the Alleghany Highlands.
When the crowd goes home, some have begun to wonder, what will happen next?
How, they ask, should the region begin to build five recommended commerce parks, revamp schools, slash teen pregnancy and do the many other things needed to make the council's 20-year vision a reality?
Beverly Fitzpatrick, the council's executive director, said 25 to 30 people have approached him, asking, "What can I do?" and saying, "Please let me be involved" and "I want to be part of this."
Their comments seem to show an urgency to move forward, to make something worthwhile come of the efforts of the many volunteers who wrote the report and the $600,000 in public funds committed to its creation and distribution. And Fitzpatrick said they are turning to the New Century Council for guidance.
The implementation plan, however, isn't finished. The plan will not be approved until at least Tuesday by the New Century Council steering committee, led by Tom Robertson, president of Carilion Health Systems, and Paul Torgersen, president of Virginia Tech.
Those familiar with the plan said it is based on a simple premise - that the scores of people who wrote the council's "vision" should help execute its recommendations, with lead roles taken by school boards, economic development groups, city councils and other existing organizations.
There is also talk of the nearly two-year-old New Century Council becoming a stewardship organization to advance the grand plan.
Citizens, Fitzpatrick said, ``are going to be asking us, and legitimately, `How do you think this should be done?'''
The New Century Council has already matched some recommendations with the organizations best suited to put them into effect. Superintendents of schools are supposed to take the lead in putting an Internet connection in every public classroom. The state Department of Transportation is supposed to oversee formation of a regional transportation district. Chambers of commerce are supposed to help localities build business incubators.
As Fitzpatrick sees it, he and New Century Council staff researcher Edwin Whitmore will visit the nine counties and five cities in the New Century Region and invite the various organizations to take an idea and run with it. Their pitch will note that the council's citizen volunteers chose which organizations would carry the ball for each idea.
Fitzpatrick said he will ask, "Will you accept the responsibility that these folks would like you to accept?"
If Fitzpatrick's success can be predicted by the reaction of two groups likely to be called on, his overturn should be well-received.
"We'd love to be an active participant," said Danny Hardy, a vice president-elect of the New River Valley Economic Development Alliance.
As for the council's ideas on improving the economy, "I don't see how they are going to be able to accomplish them without everyone who has an economic development function being there. It's crucially important," said Hardy, an executive vice president at First National Bank.
Roanoke Superintendent of Schools E. Wayne Harris is likely to lend a hand, too, said Lissy Runyon, his spokeswoman.
"He'd be willing to help out where he can," Runyon said. "He can be an advocate if they need someone to sell the concepts to another school board or superintendent."
Fitzpatrick acknowledged the strategy has a weakness: Some groups may decline to get involved.
What happens then? "I don't think there's been any answer to that," Fitzpatrick said.
Still another problem concerns those ideas too bold or novel to fall to just one group. The council doesn't know, for instance, who should pursue high-speed passenger rail service among the New Century Region, Richmond and Washington, D.C.
The New Century Council has recommended formation of several new groups to help pick up the slack.
But don't expect anything to happen right away. The plan needs time to sink in, said Taylor Cole, an area manager with Central Fidelity and chairman of the implementation committee.
To keep the process on track, the committee is calling for creation of a new board made up of four citizens, a chairman and a representative. Each of the New Century Council's seven major study committees would be represented - those dealing with the economy, infrastructure, quality of life and environment, health and safety, leadership, government and education.
This board, Cole said, would set priorities and provide coordination, but rely on citizens and organizations and government agencies to do the work.
In the implementation committee's view, Cole said, the massive new plan for change "is not going up to a leadership group and say, 'You implement this.'
The leadership group will work on developing consensus in all of the areas of the New Century Council and then mustering resources to coordinate implementation.
"Then it will be sent back down to all of the groups to implement the program. It is very much a coordination effort," Cole said.
"Everybody is going to be touched by and have a role in implementing this program for the next 20 years," he said. "There may be a lot of people who at this point are unaware of how important they are going to be to securing the future of the New Century Region."
by CNB