THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, June 6, 1996 TAG: 9606060408
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN WEINTRAUB, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 58 lines
Virginia Beach has the most innovative local government in America, according to a national group of government officials and consultants.
The city received the first National Innovation Recognition Award late last month, beating out other cities, such as Phoenix, Ariz., and Charlotte, N.C., that are known for their creativity.
The Beach didn't win by turning a mountain of trash into a kite-flying mecca or by holding 17 public meetings on its comprehensive plan.
It won for a management structure that has helped improve services, according to the American Society for Public Administration, which made the selection.
``They won because the city's got a strategy in place to make significant change,'' said Bill Mascenik, a member of the awards committee. ``There were other cities that would have a great deal of innovation in one department, say, in fire services, but there's very few that are truly innovative organization-wide.''
Mascenik, director of the Innovation Group, a nonprofit research agency catering to local government, said that what set Virginia Beach apart to him was the coordination among political leaders, city officials and workers. He said he was impressed by Virginia Beach's ability to balance competing needs for police, parks and schools.
``Right now the big issue is public safety, but you just can't put all the resources into the public safety area,'' he said, adding that he knows of some cities that devote 80 percent of their budgets to hiring police.
``There are too many cities that take the easy approach and say, `We'll just put more of the budget into the police area, hiring more cops,' rather than saying, `How can we prevent this in the first place?' '' he said.
According to its award documentation, Virginia Beach's city government has gone through an extended reorganization since 1990, improving customer services, cutting 500 jobs and encouraging employees to find cheaper and better ways to get their work done.
Today, the city's department heads are meeting all day to push the next phase of the evolution. For most of the past year, teams of department heads have been trying to address larger issues facing the city, instead of just responding to crises.
The ``Safe Communities'' team, for instance, combines the expertise of the police and fire chiefs with a representative of the school district and city department heads responsible for social services, housing and emergency services.
The team is developing strategies to maintain Virginia Beach's position as the safest city of its size in America, through conventional crime-fighting means and less-conventional efforts such as literacy programs and child abuse prevention.
Diane Roche, assistant to the city manager, said the strategic planning work has made her feel better about her job.
``I've been a city employee for more than 20 years, and this is one of the more exciting times that I've been privileged to be a part of, because we're getting better at communicating with our citizens and addressing their needs,'' she said.
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA BEACH AWARD by CNB