THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 12, 1996 TAG: 9605100202
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY IDA KAY JORDAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 230 lines
Simply put, Junius has worked harder and has been in more positions of responsibility in Portsmouth during the past 10 years than any other citizen. He has earned our respect and the recognition as a First Citizen.
- Morton V. Whitlow
THAT COMMENT BY ``Mo'' Whitlow, himself a former First Citizen, summed up a two-page nomination of Junius H. Williams Jr. for this year's award.
Williams has been visible in the city ever since Virginia Power brought him here in 1983 as manager of a district that includes all of Portsmouth, the Western Branch and Deep Creek sections of Chesapeake and Suffolk.
``I was told I didn't want to live in Portsmouth, and I could have lived in any of the cities served by the district office,'' Williams says. ``But we decided we wanted to live here, and now I would not move from this city.
``Petersburg is where I was born, but this has become my home.''
The Williams family - Junius, his wife, Costella, and their two daughters, Tiffani, 17, and Angela, 14 - have lived on Shamrock Drive in Elizabeth Manor from day one in Portsmouth.
``It's a wonderful neighborhood where people are there when you need them,'' Williams says. ``It's that kind of attitude that makes a neighborhood.''
But his love for Portsmouth has extended far beyond the neighborhood, where his family is one of only a few African-American homeowners. Explaining his commitment to the city, he says people have got to be involved and be concerned about what is going on.
``This city will survive because anybody who comes to Portsmouth loves it. I struggle constantly with how to turn the image around and get more people here.''
Williams, who has a bachelor's degree in business administration and a master's in economics from Virginia State University, has taken a positive role in Portsmouth's business community, serving as chairman of the Chamber of Commerce's Portsmouth division, chairman of the Industrial Development Authority and president of the Portsmouth Partnership, among other things.
But he has not limited his concerns to business.
He is deeply involved in his second year as chairman of the Portsmouth Schools Foundation, a non-profit advocacy group. His daughters, both toddlers when they moved here, have grown up in Portsmouth public schools.
``I could not move from here because I could not take my children away from these schools and the friends they have here,'' Williams says.
He works on the schools' problems because he sees his job as ``saving the next generation.
``We've got to get to little ones. I think we can.''
The foundation has two major success stories: the Access project, which helps high school students with good grades and no money get college scholarships, and a program that provides grants to teachers.
``Now we've got to get our arms around little kids before the hoods get them,'' Williams says. ``Money is what they're looking at.''
And with good reason.
Many children go to school without money and can't even go on school trips to area museums, he says.
``We should be able to change this. There's something wrong with the picture if they can't even go on a field trip with others in their class.''
Williams believes the foundation - or somebody - has to start making all children part of the picture. That would be a good beginning toward saving them, he says.
``Sometimes we look at a situation and say it's so big we can't deal with it. I say we can, but we need money. And raising money right now is tough, but we have got to do it.''
Williams is a thoughtful and compassionate man who puzzles over the recent shooting death of a 14-year-old boy.
``Kids are not supposed to die violent deaths,'' he says.
Teenage pregnancy is another real concern.
``What's the incentive? I ask over and over. I get so disturbed by this.''
The answers to society's problems today, many of them manifested in Portsmouth, are not easy, Williams says.
``Business as usual won't suffice. We've got to be innovative and creative. We must have total commitment from the community to solve some of the problems.''
Promoted in 1991 from district manager to manager of community and governmental affairs for Virginia Power's eastern division, Williams moved to an office in Norfolk, so he's even more aware of the distances among Hampton Roads cities.
``But there are no brick walls between these cities. If the entire region doesn't get a handle on crime and deal with it, everybody suffers.''
Economic development also is a matter of regionalism, he says.
``Each city has its own strengths and weaknesses. If each one stands back and points fingers at the other, we're going to all lose.''
But in a rare negative comment, Williams is not optimistic about regionalism.
``It's going to be a long time before this entire region really works together.''
Portsmouth's Vision 2005 economic development plan must be put into action, he says.
``If we don't get a larger tax base by retaining what we have and getting new business, then we all lose.''
He sees a need in Portsmouth for more cooperation among factions.
``People have got to understand that they must compromise. All of us are not going to agree, and it's all right to fight - but not to the extent that you can't compromise at some point. To me, it's simple. But a lot of people don't get it.''
In 1992, Williams did a six-month stint on City Council, appointed to take the seat vacated by Louise Lucas when she was elected to the Virginia Senate. He accepted the appointment on the premise that he was not interested in running for the seat. Despite a lot of pressure from people who wanted him to stand for election, he did not.
``I can't deal with politics. I'm going to do what I think best - not for a friend, or for a neighbor or for me, but for the benefit of all. Sometimes people really don't understand that.''
He describes his experience on council as nerve-wracking.
``It was a great experience, but you have to take a lot of time and energy to work at it to do it right. You can't vote by the numbers in the audience. You have to do what you think is right in your heart of hearts.''
Williams says he is bothered by candidates for office who make promises they can't keep.
``A lot of people,'' he says, ``don't want to deal with the real issues.''
Sometimes called ``Juice'' by those who have worked with him on volunteer projects, Williams works long days to do his job with Virginia Power and to keep up with his volunteer work.
Although his easy-going, friendly demeanor belies it, Williams claims he has ``the temper that goes with the red hair (now darker and graying) and these freckles.'' Only his wife and his assistant at the office see him bent out of shape, he says.
A sign on his office door reads, ``Expect the Best'' - and that's what you get.
``My family says I got to do everything at 150 percent,'' he laughs.
Those work habits were formed early in life.
His mother, who will be in Portsmouth to see him honored as the first African American to be named First Citizen, was a good example. She was forced to drop out of high school when both her parents died.
``She stopped school to take care of her younger brother and sisters,'' Williams recalls. ``She went to court to get authorization to keep them.''
He has been working since his second year in high school, when he got a job at a Petersburg shoe store washing windows and delivering shoes. At 16 he got a job at a local funeral home, a job he continued through his college years.
``I liked working with people in that job. When I retire, I probably will go back to work at a funeral home.''
In fact, he thought he was going to a mortuary school when he enrolled at Central State in Wilberforce, Ohio.
``I thought I was going to be able to study business and mortuary science, but it was the wrong Central State. After two years, I transferred back to Virginia State.''
Meanwhile, he also had picked up a part-time job with Virginia Power, a contact that led him to his career after a stint in the Army, where he rose to rank of major.
``Virginia Power gave me an opportunity, and I took it.''
Church is important to Williams. The family belongs to Zion Baptist downtown.
``My mother and grandmother instilled the values of hard work and the importance of religion in life,'' he says.
Also important to him are the historically black organizations, especially the Eureka Club.
``Eurekas are good people. They are the guys in my life that I'm very comfortable with. They're there for me.''
Williams sometimes seems to live in two worlds, keeping his ties with Omega Psi Phi fraternity, for example, but also linking up with historically white groups such as the Rotary Club.
He is comfortable wherever he is, a good example for young people, fitting as well in one place as another.
``The city is made up of people, and you got to care about people,'' he says. ``You have to have concern for what's happening.''
Williams says he tries to live by these words, from an unknown author:
The rhythm of success is based on faith:
Faith in God,
Faith in your fellow man,
Faith in one's self,
Plus hard work, Yes, hard work. ILLUSTRATION: [Cover, Color photo]
FIRST AMONG CITIZENS
Staff photo by MARK MITCHELL
Junius Williams had a choice of three cities to settle in when he
moved to this area, and he chose Portsmouth. ``This city will
survive because anybody who comes to Portsmouth loves it,'' he
says.
Staff photo by D. KEVIN ELLIOTT
Costella Williams stands beside her husband as he takes the oath of
office as a City Council member. Williams filled Louise Lucas' term
after she was elected to the Virginia Senate.
CELEBRATION
What: Annual First Citizen of Portsmouth Banquet
When: Monday, May 20, 6:30 p.m.
Where: Olde Towne Holiday Inn on Crawford Parkway
Cost: $25 per person; reservation deadline is Monday, May 13.
Call Ports Events at 393-9933 for information.
Program participants: Eva Teig, Portsmouth native and vice
president of Virginia Power; Dr. Hugo Owens, former vice mayor of
Chesapeake and first African American named Chesapeake First
Citizen; John Stone, an administrator of Maryview Medical Center
who also is involved in many community organizations; Joyce
Harding, vocalist; the Rev. Curtis Edmonds and the Rev. H. Edward
Whitaker.
A LIFE OF SERVICE
Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce: Chairman of Portsmouth
Division and city's representative on the regional board.
City of Portsmouth: Boards of the Industrial Development
Authority, Port Authority, Redevelopment and Housing Authority;
interim member of City Council in 1992.
Portsmouth Partnership: A 12-year member of the group, he was
active in its merger with the Portsmouth Industrial Foundation. He
has recently served as project chairman and been active in
successful efforts to recruit new business. He was president of the
Partnership in 1994-95.
Ports Events: One of the five founders in 1986 of the
organization that actively promotes waterfront and entertainment
events.
Portsmouth Schools: Chairman of Portsmouth Schools Foundation
1995-96; active in the Parent-Teacher Association at his daughters'
schools; recipient of a Distinguished Service Award from the
Portsmouth Council of PTAs.
Maryview Medical Center: Member of the board of Bon Secours
Maryview Health Corp. and the Bon Secours Maryview Foundation.
Other activities: Former member of the boards of Medical College
of Hampton Roads Foundation, Urban League of Hampton Roads and
Norfolk State University School of Business Advisory Council.
KEYWORDS: PROFILE FIRST CITIZEN by CNB