THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 3, 1995 TAG: 9512020152
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY GREG GOLDFARB, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Long : 164 lines
SUNRISE TELEPHONE CALLS, marathon meetings, neighborhood disputes, personality clashes, political conflicts, endless research - it's all in a day's work for the head of the Virginia Beach Council of Civic Organizations.
And for John A. Moore, that day arrives in about two weeks.
``I really felt that I could help a lot, but I didn't strive to be president,'' said Moore, who will be installed Dec. 13 at a CCO banquet as the group's 29th leader in its 36-year history. ``I love to help people and I hope to be able to help any way I can to make this a better city.''
A retired Navy commander with a 30-year military career, Moore, 66, knows the importance of groups working as teams, setting goals and meeting them. But unlike most military operations, the CCO's work is often impeded, Moore said, because it usually lacks the legal power to compel action and change. It can only advise and make recommendations to city officials.
Still, the group is an umbrella organization for 78 of the 260 civic leagues citywide and represents about 10,000 families.
``We are pleased with the city's overall condition and livability,'' said Moore, a Kings Grant Forest resident. ``But, utopia doesn't exist anywhere. There are problems in this world, and we will deal with them as they arise.''
Deteriorating family values, cultural and societal decay and uncertain economic conditions are all reasons for the city and its civic leagues to build better relationships, said Moore.
``Community life has broken down because mom and dad are both out in the workforce now, just to get by,'' said Moore. ``We need to respect other people's views, help when we see someone needing help and be a Good Samaritan.''
Reba S. McClanan, a former City Council member, vice mayor and two-time CCO president, has watched the CCO mature, while the city has come of age. She's blunt in her concern that, as invaluable as the CCO is, it should not veer far from its overall mission.
``John will be a good leader,'' said McClanan. ``He has a lot of experience working with people. He can listen, as well as lead. But, I've been a little concerned that the group has gotten away from its original purpose. The city needs some group that's not tied to anybody, or to any civic action group.
``I think the CCO's gotten confused over what the rules are. People have used it in recent years for their personal agendas.''
The problem, McClanan explains, is that all too often people join civic leagues, and civic leagues join the CCO, hoping that they can get all of their neighborhood problems solved. If the CCO can't help, however, citizens may strike out on their own and form new groups. Some civic leagues, such as the Pembroke Meadows Civic League, have already left the CCO's fold and have either regrouped or disbanded, said McClanan.
``If things don't change, people who aren't happy will form new groups,'' she said. ``The CCO can't fight everybody's battles. There has to be a certain responsibility to lead the group, and know what's going on in the city. You have to build up leadership and keep building it.''
Most of the city's civic leagues are located in and around Kempsville, which was where the CCO was formed in 1959, just before the 1963 merger of Princess Anne County and the resort town of Virginia Beach.
According to the CCO's charter, the organization was created to promote community welfare, friendship, citizenship and understanding; study and help solve community problems; present member civic leagues' viewpoints to city officials; and conduct educational programs.
As a non-profit organization, the CCO has its own constitution and bylaws and is supposed to remain apolitical in its activities.
But while the all-volunteer group receives praise for its devotion and service, it has been criticized for getting involved in politics. Disputes have erupted between the 12-member executive committee and general membership over such matters.
Chief among the issues is two-time CCO president Maurice B. Jackson's efforts to change the way citizens elect City Council and School Board members. Jackson led a successful petition drive earlier this year to put the matter on the May ballot. The referendum question was narrowly passed by voters, but will be voted on again this spring. The General Assembly approved redrawing borough boundaries to equalize the population in each but stopped short of adopting a ``ward'' system in which only the voters living within a borough elect their representative. Currently voters citywide elect borough representatives.
The Pembroke Meadows Civic League withdrew from the CCO over the matter, claiming the CCO misled them by focusing attention only on the equalization issue and not the ward system.
Jackson defends his action and adds that Moore will provide the necessary leadership to provide clear direction for the CCO.
``Some people want to do nothing and not take a stand on anything,'' said Jackson. ``I think the CCO needs to be involved. The city is growing like crazy and it's hard to believe there was a lot of planning in past development.
``As with any organization, some want it to be more pro-active. Some want it to be reactive. I think John's going to be an outstanding president because he's interested in being pro-active.''
Outgoing CCO President Leslie K. Fenlon says that in addition to the big and most-often-publicized issues facing the city, the CCO, and Moore, are also concerned about such things as school buses parking on neighborhood streets; social problems, such as spouse and child abuse, teenagers at-risk and homelessness; and other ``metropolitan'' problems that are expected to loom larger as the city's population increases.
``John's an outstanding person to be president of this organization,'' said Fenlon. ``His background and interests are going to help the CCO make it to the 21st Century, without falling back.''
Expressing a little regret over Moore's impending presidency is his wife of 44 years, Eileen, who is about to enter her third term as the CCO's treasurer. The couple had planned a trip to the Grand Canyon, but it may have to be put off to another day.
``My first reaction to his being president was, `but, we were going to travel,' '' said Eileen Moore. ``But, that's all right. When he gets involved with something, I get involved, too.''
John Moore, an Elkins, W.Va., native, is one of six children, the son of a carpenter/cabinet maker and a homemaker. He left his Appalachian valley hometown of about 9,000 residents after hitching up with the Army Reserves for a one-year stint right out of high school.
Moore then attended Davis and Elkins College for one year on an academic scholarship, before enlisting in the Navy in 1948. Among other places, his military service took him for four years to Belgium, where he served as a lieutenant commander for electronic warfare at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe. He retired in 1978 as a commander stationed at the Fleet Combat Training Center Atlantic at Dam Neck in Virginia Beach.
His civic league activity can be traced to 1988 when he helped found the Groveland Park Civic League, as it was known at the time. The group successfully opposed city plans to build sidewalks along Edinburgh Drive, leading into Kings Grant and Kings Grant Point. Moore went on to become the civic league's CCO representative.
A member of the CCO executive committee since 1992, Moore has served this year as second vice president, in charge of programs, and was elected as CCO president in October, succeeding Leslie K. Fenlon. One of the original founders of his neighborhood's crime watch program, Moore also serves as a neighborhood block captain and he is a four-year member of the Virginia Beach Police Department's Third Precinct Citizens Advisory Committee.
Moore also has worked on the 1994 Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC) and the ongoing Lake Gaston water pipeline talks.
As president, Moore will preside over two CCO meetings a month and sees his position more as a traffic cop, than as a policy- or decision-maker.
``My goal will be to try to encourage more civic leagues and civic organizations to join the CCO and strengthen the ties that we now have,'' Moore said. ILLUSTRATION: [Cover, Color photo]
COMMUNITY LEADER
Staff photos, including color cover, by CHARLIE MEADS
John A. Moore, 66, will be installed Dec. 13 at a CCO banquet as the
group's 29th leader in its 36-year history. The group is an umbrella
organization for 78 of the 260 civic leagues citywide and represents
about 10,000 families.
Moore's wife of 44 years, Eileen, is about to enter her third term
as the CCO's treasurer. The couple had planned a trip to the Grand
Canyon, but it may have to be put off to another day. ``My first
reaction to his being president was, `but, we were going to travel,'
'' said Eileen Moore. ``But, that's all right. When he gets involved
with something, I get involved, too.''
Staff photos by CHARLIE MEADS
CCO BANQUET
The Virginia Beach Council of Civic Organizations will hold its
36th annual Christmas dinner and installation of officers banquet at
6:30 p.m. Dec. 13 at the Shifting Sands Officers Club at Dam Neck.
The keynote speaker will be retired Adm. Richard M. Dunleavy.
Tickets are $20. Call Terry Elliott at 721-0291.
by CNB