THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 16, 1995 TAG: 9507140188
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Editorial
SOURCE: JOHN PRUITT
LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
What does it take to get a public discussion going in this city?
If you've got even a hint, I'd sure like to hear it. We so often hear complaints, privately, about practically everything - from the way our children are educated to the ever increasing bureaucracy of government - yet, in Suffolk, public comment seems relegated to a few people.
It's not the way to get best results. With large corporations realizing so many benefits of brainstorming, it seems to me that communities should be getting on the bandwagon.
That's specially so in a city like Suffolk, which is seeing just the tip of the iceberg of growth. Will the city's future be entrusted entirely to City Hall, or do citizens really want a voice in determining its future?
Corporate America is acknowledging, as never before, that there's a lot of brain power among its workers. Teamwork is more than the latest fad; it's the way to get things done, sometimes in ways that corporate leaders would never have imagined.
Its lessons carry over easily to communities and communities of interest with communities. We say as citizens that we want more say about the way things run around here; public discussion is one way to show that we mean it.
Last week, after the City Council voted to fund sewerage for Westhaven Lakes - a vote that I labeled mindless - I have no doubt that some citizens were moved to discussion, or at least thought about just what the city's policy should be regarding sewerage.
Should the priority be with neighborhoods that health officials have identified as critically needy, with neighborhoods that can help foot the bill for the expensive service, or should it be the old squeaky-wheel approach: neighborhoods that yell the loudest and can muster most political clout get the attention and the sewerage?
And just what are we willing to pay to remedy this longstanding problem of - incredible as it is in 1995 - pit privies, inadequate shallow-water wells and open drainage ditches?
These are not just questions for some lofty brain-teasing exercise. They're questions that beg answers before someone gets the notion that there are other, more economically appealing, priorities.
But this is certain: They're not going to get answered unless citizens become more willing to participate in public discussions. The answers shouldn't be up to a committee - committees, remember, often work outside of public view and present recommendations after private debate - but based on public involvement.
One of these days, perhaps an organization like the Chamber of Commerce, the Board of Realtors, the PTA Council or Suffolk's Planning Department will realize the role it could play in helping citizens chart Suffolk's future by hosting spirited, public sessions on such issues as sewerage.
I've advocated this before, but no one has seemed willing to take the lead. If you're a member of any of these organizations or a service organization, ask why not. And push to get started a structure to put to work all the brain power we can to solve some of the city's problems.
It just won't do to simply continue private discussion, as callers about last week's column on the Westhaven vote did. More of us need to step out for public discussion.
Otherwise, decisions will just continue to be made, and we'll one day be asking how in the world that happened. The answer will be simple though sad: we kept our views to ourselves, so ``they'' just did what they wanted. MEMO: Comment? Call 446-2494. by CNB