ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, July 18, 1996 TAG: 9607180036
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ROBERT W. GLENN JR.
THE ROANOKE Regional Chamber of Commerce has not been as involved with local government as it should. Our members want us to be considerably more involved.
We are proud of public-private partnerships that have resulted in another All-America City award for Roanoke. The business community will host a gala event to celebrate this extraordinary award, together with the international award recently won by Center in the Square. Our gala will provide a cornerstone to launch a public-pride campaign that we have been discussing with Mayor David Bowers.
But we must never become too confident in our successes.
Previous councils and Mayor Bowers know of chamber members' keen interest in improving the efficiency of local government. We believe the experience gained in the private sector should be shared with the public sector.
We ask you to utilize task-specific ``solution teams,'' composed of knowledgeable business people, to help the administration find new ideas, gather information and make recommendations to you on issues facing our city - free consulting, if you will. The problems we face all across America are far too complex to be addressed only by politicians and bureaucrats, descriptive words that need not continue to be thought of as derogatory. If public-private partnerships can produce award-winning results, like the Hotel Roanoke and the Jefferson Center, partnerships can be successful in solving day-to-day problems.
The chamber, like most businesses and other organizations, has faced considerable change. We are now devoting a major part of our resources to supporting small-business interests and needs. Our Small Business Development Center and the Export Office continue to receive high marks for their contributions to small business. We have partnered with the city to develop the Small Business Incubator.
Unfortunately, many of our small-business members have been led to believe it is not appropriate for them to reach out directly to you with issues that concern them. Some have been told that contacting City Council members is not the way business is conducted in Roanoke. We strongly disagree, and we will continue to stress that each council member welcomes ideas and feedback from citizens. At the same time, our members want the chamber to represent them, and we expect to be increasingly asked to bring specific issues before you.
Unfortunately, as exemplified by our ongoing objection to the Business, Professional and Occupational License, we cannot always agree with your actions. But as my childhood minister was fond of saying, we can agree to disagree agreeably. And as Mayor Bowers has said, spirited debate is healthy. Remember that we stand, side by side, with council on the vast majority of the decisions it makes.
With the difficult decisions facing us in the New Century Region, it only makes sense that we should ask the regional business community to identify local issues that we believe are important, together with our position on those issues. Our purpose is to partner with you to focus heavily on nurturing new business start-ups, growing existing businesses and increasing the economic strength of our region.
No single issue interests us more than improved efficiency. We do not seek tax reductions at this time; rather, we want to see the city find new and creative ways to deliver its services at lower cost, and then direct those savings toward business assistance and job creation, whence all personal income is derived. We believe the people of Roanoke would like to see the city increase its revenues through business growth instead of tax increases.
Too few people seem to grasp the importance of a strong business climate for any community. Downsizing, mergers, acquisitions and re-engineering have taught us that we need to focus heavily on new and existing small businesses headquartered here. Those companies will provide community leadership, job creation and improved quality of life.
Chamber members, as significant taxpayers, demand more for the dollars they pay. We cannot operate our business as usual; likewise, we cannot run our governments as we have in the past. Expectations and needs are changing, and we will have to respond to our customers. Members have spoken firmly in our chamber meetings about their growing impatience with the time it takes governments to study and act on issues.
In his book ``Meltdown on Main Street: Why Small Business Is Leading the Revolution Against Big Government,'' the president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce points out that millions of small-business people are up in arms about big government and determined to cut it down to size. Our members feel the same way.
Obvious solutions are almost never the best ones - for example, giving citizens the option of a tax increase or the elimination of a service. The shallowness of such extreme options gives rise to loss of confidence and apathy among voters, particularly small-business people, who know that implementing extreme options yields poor results. Small business could never survive if operated the way our governments operate and, according to the ``Meltdown'' book, people are sick of it. Let us use this emotion positively by getting people involved in finding better solutions.
We must be willing to seek new ideas and communicate freely, without fear of upsetting each other. We spend far too much time on feelings and not nearly enough on issues. Good alternatives almost always need to come from outside any organization, another reason increased communication is vital. We urge City Council to quickly develop measurable goals - upon which we can all agree, be held accountable, and work together to accomplish.
We must be partners in providing leadership for our community. As we all know, the leadership in Roanoke is changing; gone are the days when pleasing a couple of key individuals will please an entire community.
Robert W. Glenn Jr. is chairman of the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce. This is an edited version of remarks he made Monday to Roanoke City Council.
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