THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 2, 1995 TAG: 9507010449
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J6 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: IN THE CITIES
SOURCE: BY FRANCIE LATOUR, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
Bynum J. Whitehurst has enough trouble fighting his own inertia.
A small sign hanging above the back door serves as a constant motivator for the retired Chesapeake gardener.
It reads: ``The hardest thing to get is going.''
``I read that to myself every day,'' Whitehurst, 62, says. ``Sometimes even out loud.''
Go, Whitehurst says. Move. Do something.
For the past two years, that has been precisely his message to government.
From our nation's president to our city managers, political leaders have implored citizens to stop looking to government as the ultimate quick fix. The solution? Start taking responsibility. Get involved. Wake up.
But what happens when government gets what it asks for?
Whitehurst showed the way in his response to a letter from the Department of Waste Management in March 1993. The state agency cited him for illegally piling up 5,000 tires behind his wooded, 10-acre property.
A serious fire hazard, tires are also havens for mosquitoes, bacteria and pollutants to the air and water.
Unless Whitehurst responded within 15 days, severe criminal and civil penalties would follow.
The next day, Whitehurst found the tires. He saw clearly the threat to his community.
He also saw the tires were not on his property; they lay instead on a vacant property nearby.
Within the week, he wrote to state inspectors about the confusion, urged them to find the owner and pledged to alert his civic league.
Even though he hadn't broken the law, Whitehurst felt compelled to act.
``What made me write the letter?'' Whitehurst says. ``Well, it seems pretty simple: Anytime you have that many tires in a wooded area like ours, that's extremely dangerous.
``What would you do if you were faced with that situation?''
Two years, five letters and many phone calls later, Whitehurst is still waiting for answer to that question.
``Time passes,'' Whitehurst says, opening a folder of letters documenting his efforts. ``Nothing takes place. Zilch.''
He and other members of the Clearfield Triangle Civic League wrote to their mayor and fire marshall. They called the city manager's office and the inspections department.
When the city declared an amnesty period for residents to dispose of tires, the civic league offered to help remove their tires. No response.
In March, the city brought suit against the owner. But before the hearing could be held, the owner sold the property.
The city would have to begin the entire process again, Whitehurst was told.
Whitehurst says he is discovering that overcoming narrow self-interest may be the easiest part of becoming a citizen.
The hard part comes when the morass of bureaucracy gets in the way of government's own pleas for community-building.
``I don't understand inertia when a problem exists that is big enough that the state would write a letter with the urgency it did,'' he says. ``I was just saying to the state `I agree with what you're saying.' ''
But the problem extends beyond inaction, Whitehurst says. Sometimes, the action taken may not move the problem closer to a solution.
Several weeks ago, a city environmental inspector arrived unannounced to photograph the site.
Whitehurst says the time for pictures has long past.
``It seems like, to them, being responsive means `I'll just go through the motions,' '' Whitehurst says. ``They just don't seem to know how to conclude anything.''
Whitehurst agrees that citizens too often rely on government to solve problems. But he doesn't think government can say that about him.
``I stick with things, at least until someone gives me a reason why they won't answer,'' Whitehurst says. ``So that's what I'm going to do.'' by CNB