DATE: Friday, April 18, 1997                TAG: 9704180610

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B9   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY LOUIS HANSEN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: SUFFOLK                           LENGTH:   43 lines

SUFFOLK CITIZENS FORM GROUP TO WORK ON CIVIC BETTERMENT

Landlords, tenants and homeowners gathered in City Hall Thursday night and reached at least one agreement: Their city needs to clean up.

Facing problems ranging from drug dealing to weedy lawns, about 75 residents gathered to form an informal civic association with hopes of bettering their town.

Hall Place resident Wendy Hill said the meeting was a chance for neighborhood associations to work with one another and with the city.

``We need to pool our resources,'' said Hill, who organized the meeting.

She said the purpose of the meeting was not to ``put anyone on the spot,'' but to create a formal system for the public and city officials to combat neighborhood blight.

Residents polled informally Thursday night said that their top concern was better code enforcement. That broad category included the slow process that it takes to haul away broken-down jalopies from front lawns and recover wind-blown litter.

City Manager Myles E. Standish said the meeting was a productive step to bring together groups from both the urban and rural sections of the sprawling municipality.

Steve Herbert, assistant city manager for development, said that a city's greatest ally in the fight against deteriorating neighborhoods is its residents.

``It isn't just a city effort, it takes strong civic associations,'' he said.

Some problems that have plagued the downtown, such as boarded-up window panes and litter-strewn lawns, have been brought to the city's attention numerous times, some argued.

``This is old hat to all of us,'' said former Suffolk Mayor Andrew B. Damiani. The remedy, he said, is ``enforcement, enforcement, enforcement.''

Others said the city has not done enough to prevent decay.

Bank Street resident Ronald Thames said he has approached the city several times about problems in his downtown neighborhood. He cited prostitution, loitering, drugs and the recent murder of a 19-year-old Suffolk man 75 yards from his house.

The City Council, he said, ``has got to be held accountable.''

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu