THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 1, 1995 TAG: 9412300224
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Ida Kay's Portsmouth
SOURCE: Ida Kay Jordan
LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
A lot of people accuse me of being a public relations person for the city. City Hall, I think, would have some serious disagreements with that assessment.
If I sometimes sound like a cheerleader, it's because I think Portsmouth has so much to offer. I choose to live and work here.
For this New Year's Day column, I started out to write some suggested resolutions for high profile people in the city, but that didn't seem too productive. And it might have damaged my image as a ``PR person.''
Instead, let's think about Portsmouth's place in the region as a basis for our collective resol-ution.
For the good of Hampton Roads, Portsmouth must be all it can be. The city sits almost directly in the center of the region on one of the most beautiful spots on the water.
The health and well-being of Portsmouth is very important to Norfolk, Chesapeake and Suffolk. Whether the other cities recognize that fact or not, I sometimes seriously doubt.
Throughout the land these days, there's a lot of talk about what happens to areas around cities such as Portsmouth when the old cities without suburbs get into trouble. Problems in the cities sooner or later are replicated elsewhere.
Actually, Portsmouth probably has no more problems at this time than most other small and old cities. But its image based on rumors, some of them perpetuated by Portsmouth residents themselves, creates a different sort of problem that ultimately could ruin the city and damage the entire region.
Portsmouth is no different from any other city. It has many wonderful people and wonderful places. Likewise, it has some really awful people and places. I don't know of any city or town that is any different.
Yet, for some strange and unknown reason, people like to picture Portsmouth as a place that is different, a place where the bad outweighs the good. This strange attitude abounds even among life-long Portsmouth people.
So, for the new year, I propose that we all do our part to make Portsmouth's regional image shine.
The new Children's Museum of Virginia is exposing more and more people to the city's wonderful side. The TCC Visual Arts Center will increase that exposure.
As I have suggested before, every citizen of Portsmouth can make a difference by talking about the positive aspects of the city. Every one of us can make a difference by inviting friends from other cities to accompany us to events in Portsmouth.
By the same token, we also have to lean on city officials to be sure the city lives up to what we expect.
For instance, we must be sure that Willett Hall is clean and functioning as the fine concert place that it can be, not as a second-rate high school auditorium.
We must be sure that High Street is clean and safe. We must be sure that city employees are courteous and helpful, and that we as individuals are pleasant and helpful to strangers.
Individual efforts might seem like little bits in relation to the big problem of image. But if each of us makes one gesture to improve the unfair image of Portsmouth in the region, I bet it can make a difference.
Meanwhile, city officials must do everything they can to improve Portsmouth's relations with neighboring cities.
If I have any suggested resolutions for anybody, including myself, it is that all of us should do some cheerleading and public relations for the city.
Portsmouth is unfairly maligned. We won't get beyond that unless each of us individually takes a responsibility for changing the situation.
We must do it, not only for ourselves and Portsmouth but for the entire region.
And, by the way, we all might have a happier new year if we start thinking positively. by CNB