THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 8, 1994 TAG: 9412080430
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE KNEPLER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 97 lines
Advocates for Virginia's larger cities convene in Richmond today for the state's first-ever ``Urban Summit.''
They might call it Operation Hard Sell, though not for what will happen at the meeting - speechifying and panel discussions about urban problems.
The big challenges come later when the advocates - mayors, city managers and urban business leaders - attempt to raise public consciousness about the importance of cities to Virginia's economy, and to convert that awareness to pro-city state policies.
The summit is being held by Urban Partnership, an alliance born this summer after leaders of several cities that had been meeting on common issues compared notes with the Virginia Chamber of Commerce.
The partnership now is composed of the Virginia chamber and 15 cities, including Norfolk, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach, Hampton and Newport News.
``I'm not naive about this,'' said Hampton Mayor James L. Eason, the partnership co-chairman. ``What we've set out to do will be very, very hard.''
For example, Norfolk City Manager James B. Oliver Jr. wants the General Assembly to address state laws that he says ``basically increase the disparity'' between affluent and poor communities through school funding formulas or reliance on local real-estate taxes.
``Virginia public policy pushes cities and counties to compete with each other while everybody says these communities should work together,'' said Oliver, chairman of the Urban Partnership's research and issues committee.
Adjoining localities must be given more incentives to pool resources, the partnership leaders assert.
The payoff, they say, will be that Virginia and its metropolitan regions will become more competitive with growing areas such as Raleigh-Durham, N.C.; Charlotte, N.C.; Memphis, Tenn.; and Jacksonville, Fla.
Virginia's metropolitan regions already are losing out to competitors in North Carolina, said Roanoke Mayor David Bowers.
``There's nothing more odious to the psyche of Virginia than to play second to North Carolina,'' he said.
Summit leaders intend to hold a second urban summit in May to develop a legislative package for the 1996 General Assembly.
Concern about being shut out of possible legislative proposals was what attracted Virginia Beach to the partnership, said Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf.
``As the largest city in the commonwealth, it's absolutely critical to be part of the dialogue,'' she said.
She also has discovered that regions such as Hampton Roads have a name-recognition problem when trying to market themselves overseas.
On a recent trip to China, Oberndorf found that her hosts were interested in developing a trade relationship with Houston, because of its port. They didn't know about the shipping facilities in Hampton Roads.
The cities hope their alliance with the chamber of commerce will make the General Assembly more willing to listen to urban concerns.
Partnership members also are encouraged that suburban and rural Virginians are becoming more concerned about traditional urban problems such as crime and poverty.
``One of our premises is that, for the first time, we're seeing that these problems know no geographic boundaries,'' said Hampton Mayor Eason.
Still, sharing common problems does not necessarily translate into solutions.
``We fully expect people to deny the problems,'' Oliver said. ``That will part of our discussion.''
Norfolk Mayor Paul D. Fraim said, ``There is not enough of a perceived economic crisis regionally to initiate change.''
To make headway, Eason said, ``We've got to prove, without any reasonable doubt, the relationship of city problems to the state's overall competitiveness.''
The partnership has raised about $400,000 to hire an executive director, Neal Barber, and to commission several research projects with university professors.
Barber is a former director of the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development.
The research reports, to be released today, include a comparative analysis of Virginia's metropolitan areas with those in competing states, and a report on the migration of traditional urban problems from the cities to the suburbs.
Earlier this week, a partnership-sponsored study on public attitudes about urban issues found that many suburban and rural residents are concerned about the health of central cities.
The question asked, ``How important are strong central cities to the overall economy of the metro area around them?'' Statewide, 50 percent of non-urban residents answered ``very important;'' in Hampton Roads, 52 percent of suburban and rural residents agreed.
Oliver and Eason promise not to let up.
``We can't be satisfied with having two or three meetings, make a report, give it to the legislature and feel good about it,'' Eason said. ``We're plowing new ground . . . but we still have a long way to go.''
KEYWORDS: SUMMIT CONFERENCE by CNB