ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, January 31, 1997 TAG: 9701310081
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: DAN CASEY STAFF WRITER
CITY COUNCIL has been brainstorming on the city's future for two years. Now, residents get to put their 2 cents in.
On Saturday morning at the Jefferson Center, Roanoke residents have a chance to begin developing a ``vision'' to guide the city for decades to come.
``Quality of life'' is the topic of the city's first citizen "vision" workshop since 1993. It is the first of similar events that City Council will convene over the next month.
``What do you need as a family? What do you need as a neighborhood? What do you need as a community to continue to make Roanoke a place you want to live and work?'' asked Michelle Bono, a city spokeswoman. ``That's the kind of information we're seeking from citizens on Saturday.''
The public is invited to the gathering, which begins at 9 a.m. in Fitzpatrick Hall. Advocates for linear parks, business leaders from the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce or Downtown Roanoke Inc., and neighborhood activists are among those expected to attend.
Regular folk, the people Mayor David Bowers calls "the little old lady in the gingham dress," also are expected.
"If you live in the city and want to help structure how our community looks and works in the future, we need your help at these visioning forums," Bowers said. "We need citizens to help decide what specific plans and programs are needed to reach our goals."
City Council has been "visioning" in spurts for two years. The strategic planning process began in January 1995 at a city leadership retreat in Charlottesville.
From time to time since then, those talks have continued in one-and two-day mini-retreats, first at Roanoke Regional Airport and later at the Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center.
By design, the draft vision statement is vague.
It begins: ``Roanoke, `The Star City,' appreciating its past and planning for a shining future, will provide a superior quality of life through educational, economic and cultural opportunities for all people who live, work and visit here.''
What follows are four subdivisions, grouped under the headings effective government; economy; education; and quality of life. The latter category is the one for which the city is seeking input Saturday.
After all four visioning workshops are held, the city will appoint teams of residents and city workers to implement ideas derived from the workshops. The city also intends to include ideas garnered from its last citizen visioning process, in 1993, said John Marlles, chief of community planning.
The result, said Vice Mayor Linda Wyatt, will be a plan "that we will use on an everyday basis to guide future initiatives."
The visioning idea is not new to the region. The New Century Council engaged in a similar process, as did Roanoke County government more than a year ago. The difference it will make in Roanoke, Wyatt said, is that residents will have a yardstick by which to judge the city's progress.
"This is a set of measurable goals and objectives for this city that have never been there before," Wyatt said. "For years, we've operated on a cycle from yearly budget to budget. This is long-range planning. It's an accountability factor."
The other workshops are:
* Economy - Feb. 11, 7 p.m., Roanoke Civic Center exhibition hall.
* Effective government - Feb. 13, 7 p.m., Roanoke Civic Center exhibition hall.
* Education - Feb. 22, 2 p.m., Fitzpatrick Hall at the Jefferson Center.
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