THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 5, 1996 TAG: 9607040310
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY NANCY LEWIS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: 90 lines
Matt Souder's macho pride just wouldn't allow it, but Bobby Diaz didn't mind wearing his heart on his sleeve.
Both 16-year-olds said they were devastated when they learned that the new manager of their apartment complex, Barbara Bishop, had been fired.
``I wouldn't cry in front of her, but . . . ,'' said Souder. He got a job and got off parole, he says, thanks to Bishop.
``I cried,'' said Diaz, unabashedly. The high school dropout is back in the classroom. He gives Bishop credit for that.
More than 200 residents of the 244 units that comprise Bancroft Hall Apartments on First Colonial Road have signed a petition urging Great Atlantic Management of Hampton to rehire Bishop. They said that she's solved many of their problems, including idle, mischievous teens. A police officer agreed.
Great Atlantic's owner, Edwin Joseph, wouldn't comment, except to characterize Bishop's actions as ``inappropriate.''
Bishop, 35, had worked for Great Atlantic for 1 1/2 years as a ``super renter,'' troubleshooting 11 properties in Newport News and Virginia Beach. She said when she took over the management of Bancroft Hall in late April, gang activity and vandalism were problems. ``They were running wild. I went to the parents of troublesome kids and warned them. The kids came to me and said they didn't want to be evicted and asked what they had to do. I told them, `clean up.' Now, they're the best group of workers. They cleaned storage sheds, the pool.''
But the message her dismissal gives the young people is, ``Why bother if this is what you get - if this is how big companies treat you. Why bother?' '' she said, adding, `Great Atlantic doesn't encourage pro-active management.''
Bishop said she was told only that she had violated company policy on resident confidentiality based on her association with the children. There was no investigation, she said.
She still has fans of all ages in the apartment community.
Sandy Boyce, 55, who's lived at Bancroft Hall for five years, said she was grateful for Bishop's help during her recent move within the complex. She asked Bishop about hiring a maintenance man, but Bishop sent a teen resident. ``He was nice as he could be,'' said Boyce. ``I was pleased as punch.''
Boyce added, ``She took all the kids and tried to make them responsible, and it was working.'' In addition, Boyce said that Bishop had been successful in seeing that Dumpsters were emptied more frequently to keep them from overflowing as they had in the past.
Resident Doris Hawkins attributed Bishop's firing to her ``firm and strict'' approach to ``problem kids'' in the complex. ``Some parents didn't like it,'' she said. Hawkins, 43, has lived there since February. She said Bishop made ``positive'' changes. One was improving the parking situation. In the past, she said, management had turned ``a deaf ear'' to complaints about parking and other things, said Hawkins.
According to Wolaya Gondo, a 33-year-old Bancroft Hall resident and Army wife with a 3-year-old and twins on the way, Bishop kept teenagers busy and responded to residents' complaints. ``If you had a problem, she'd go the extra mile,'' said Gondo, telling how Bishop introduced her to a nurse who lived on the property when she learned that Gondo's blood pressure needed to be monitored.
She went beyond what's required of her, said Gondo. ``She has a genuine concern with children running loose. There were lots of things she really wanted to do. The parking situation is ridiculous, and she had ideas about it. She is great. Her interpersonal skills . . . she ought to be a politician. She does things she doesn't have to do'' as property manager. ``I'm not the property.''
On one occasion, ``A kid broke down the tennis net, and she made him police the grounds'' to make amends, said Gondo. ``The teens respected her.''
``I don't know why they let her go,'' said Gondo. ``It really baffled me. It really shocked me. I want her here. She cared, and when you find someone who really cares . . . .'' Virginia Beach police officer John Bryant said that Bishop had made a ``tremendous impact'' on the quality of life at Bancroft Hall. ``She took a real interest . . . a hands-on approach.''
Diaz added, ``She tells kids, `I'll talk to your mom if you don't listen to me.' And she gives us rides to work. Our parents don't have time to give us rides.''
``She turned around and came back and got me the other night when I was walking,'' said Matt Souder.
Bishop took the two youths job hunting. Now both work at a nearby Taco Bell.
``She gets involved with people,'' said Diaz, ``She got us involved with our community.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by DAVID B. HOLLINGSWORTH
Barbara Bishop was fired as manager of the Bancroft Hall Apartments
on First Colonial Road after helping to bring teens in the complex
under control by putting them to work. Some of them, like Matt
Souder and Bobby Diaz, are urging Great Atlantic Management of
Hampton to rehire Bishop. by CNB