THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, February 13, 1995 TAG: 9502100041
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
It could become the hottest ticket in town.
The first Tuesday of every month, Norfolk Mayor Paul Fraim is meeting individually with residents for 10 minutes each, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. His first meeting was Tuesday. His next one, March 7, was booked up a month ahead. Several people already have signed up for the April 4 session. (To do so, call the city clerk's office at 441-2831.)
Over coming months, the mayor will sit through more complaints about water bills than any human should have to endure; but if he can stand it, we're all for it.
There is an element of ``steam control'' when residents get to sound off to the mayor, and identifying and complaining about city problems is a good start, though only a start.
We share with City Manager James B. Oliver Jr. the hope that citizens will go a step further and take more responsibility toward solving community problems. James Janata, president of the East Ocean View Civic League, noted in a recent report by staff writer Mike Knepler that citizens cannot afford the level of taxes that would be required for the city to fix everything.
In these hard-pressed times, no city can be first-rate without citizen participation. The meetings with the mayor are just part of a new outreach program aimed at making that participation easier. Workshops on ``How to do business with City Hall'' are to be held quarterly. The first one will be 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., Feb. 25, at Lafayette-Winona Middle School. Civic-league presidents are to meet with the mayor every three months, starting in March.
Probably since the beginning of democracy, elected officials have met individually with constituents to hear them out and to solve their problems if possible. Area congressmen often set aside periods at their district offices to hear voters' concerns.
Other South Hampton Roads cities besides Norfolk have citizen-participation programs.
Last August, Portsmouth started annual citizen forums to help the City Council develop goals. The goals are listed on a chart outside council chambers at City Hall.
Virginia Beach is in its fourth year of a leadership-training program for certain neighborhoods. Among other things, it helps civic leagues get organized.
One citizen cannot solve a city's problems, but one citizen can go a long way toward solving some problems in a single neighborhood. A city is hundreds of neighborhoods.
With city outreach programs, there should be gains aplenty. by CNB