THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 23, 1995 TAG: 9504240209
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: BY THE PEOPLE
An occasional series on citizens taking steps to build better
communities.
SOURCE: BY MIKE KNEPLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Long : 137 lines
Neighborhood leaders shared the same feelings Saturday that politicians and business leaders experience when dealing with regional cooperation:
That citizens throughout Hampton Roads have more in common than they usually think, but it's frustrating to try bringing people together for action.
Or just to talk.
``What could we do to get people out here to talk about one of the most important issues in Hampton Roads?'' muttered Leslie K. Fenlon Jr., a Virginia Beach civic activist, as only about 50 people attended the area's first-ever ``grass-roots regionalism'' conference for neighborhood groups from throughout the five-city area.
``Raise taxes!'' someone in the audience shouted back.
Jokes aside, the quip underscored a huge fear among advocates of more regionalism: that little will be done until the Hampton Roads economy goes into crisis as the area falls behind competing regions, nationally and globally.
Fenlon, who convened the conference at the Virginia Beach Central Library, said his city already shows many signs of typical urban-core problems, such as crime, drug abuse, blighted housing and underachievement in public schools.
He hoped the meeting would help more citizens become aware of the collective problems facing Hampton Roads, spur civic leagues to learn from each other and convince politicians that neighborhoods deserve a role in making important decisions about the area's future.
Fenlon said grassroots forums will continue. A committee of civic league representatives from each city will coordinate the programs.
``We hear a lot about (regional cooperation) at the political level. We hear a lot about it at the business level. But we don't hear anything about it at the grass-roots level,'' said Fenlon, president of the Virginia Beach Council of Civic Organizations.
Several neighborhood leaders suggested that regionalism advocates must make their issues more relevant to neighborhoods.
``As parents and citizens, for us to buy into regionalism, we have to understand how it affects us,'' said Carolyn Lincoln of Bellamy Woods in Virginia Beach.
Al Strazzullo of Lynnhaven Colony in Virginia Beach questioned whether political and business leaders were sincere about letting neighborhoods participate in regional problem-solving.
``We always seem to be told that somebody's vision is taking us somewhere. The guy on the street doesn't feel as though he's part of formulating that vision, which I see as a huge stumbling block,'' he said.
Talmadge Jones, president of the Suffolk Federation of Civic Leagues, said: ``Until you politicians start listening to citizens, you'll never get regionalization.''
Jay Lafler of Bay Colony-Cavalier Park in Virginia Beach faulted the news media for not reporting solutions from across the nation. ``No one's being told what's going on elsewhere,'' he said. ``We don't have enough information
Lafler also criticized bickering between the political leaders in Hampton Roads. ``I feel like we're in a feudal system,'' he said. ``We have the serfs right here. Then we have the kingdoms, and the kingdoms are protecting their assets.''
Norfolk Mayor Paul D. Fraim, keynote speaker, said he has become convinced that ``communities revive from the bottom up, from its neighborhoods, from its grassroots.''
``We have to make room at the table for leaders from the neighborhoods, leaders from the minority communities. Everybody has a stake in it,'' he said.
Problems that hurt neighborhoods, he said, often are connected to broader issues.
``Social and economic change has left Americans less bound together by common ideas,'' Fraim said. ``The deepest problem we have - the trend we need to most closely study - is not housing, education or even health care. It is the collapse of community in our society.''
While urging attention to grassroots solutions, Fraim added: ``Only cohesive, efficient urban regions are going to make it in the new world economy. The United States' economy is now structured around regional systems.''
But Hampton Roads cannot compete with other regions unless core cities like Norfolk become more viable, he said.
Fraim, though, said he does not ``mean super or regional government. I do not imply merger, annexation or the elimination of any identified community.''
Fraim and other advocates of regionalism still are groping for specific proposals through an organization called the Urban Partnership.
Most area cities, with the Virginia Chamber of Commerce, belong. The group will announce specific legislative goals at an ``Urban Summit'' in Norfolk on June 15.
Goals may include proposals to encourage revenue sharing from economic development and changing state funding formulas for education, social services and public health.
Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera Oberndorf promised to help neighborhoods learn about the partnership. ``We need to know what we're going to be involved in financially,'' she said.
While the turnout at Saturday's forum was sparse, the neighborhood activists and political and business leaders remained enthused about working on the grass-roots level.
``I'm an example of this regionalism,'' said Herb Wittersheim of Kempsville Greens in Virginia Beach. ``I belong to the Norfolk Sports Club. I have a son who lives in Suffolk. . . . I have business in Norfolk.''
Oberndorf also described her area-wide connections. ``I, too, am a child of the region,'' she said. ``I was born and bred in Newport News. . . . My first home of my own was in Norfolk.''
``There are many things that need to be done to make all of us strong. But I'm interested in the grass roots actually sparking the flame, because it is going to take all of you going to your individual neighbors to explain to them why this is going to be in their best interests in the long run,'' she said.
Several leaders talked about the importance of citizen involvement.
``We have a tremendous amount of power within us, but we're not using it,'' said Gene Waters, president of the Chesapeake Council of Civic Organizations. His group produces an annual report on how each city council member votes.
Carolyn Lincoln said: ``If we don't get involved, then it's back to from where we started - government making all the decisions. We have to remember that we are the government.'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
WHAT'S NEXT
Some local civic-league leaders will form a regional committee of
neighborhood representatives from Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth,
Virginia Beach and Suffolk.
The committee will organize more conferences on regional issues
and to exchange problem-solving ideas among neighborhoods. Forums
will rotate among the five cities.
The organizers also will monitor the work of the Urban
Partnership, a statewide coalition of 16 cities and the Virginia
Chamber of Commerce. The partnership has been studying problems of
regions such as Hampton Roads and plans to announce a legislative
package for the General Assembly at an ``Urban Summit'' in Norfolk,
June 15.
by CNB