DATE: Tuesday, August 26, 1997              TAG: 9708260357

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MATTHEW DOLAN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   64 lines

SOUTH NORFOLK'S PERFECT CANDIDATE? LEADERS BELIEVE THEY'VE FOUND HIM

South Norfolk native and activist Anne Tregembo thinks she's found a flawless job candidate.

``I think he's a perfect person,'' she said. ``He was born and raised in South Norfolk. He knows people and the needs of the people. He has his real estate license. He served on the planning commission for eight years.

``He knows who is where and how to get things done.''

The object of her adulation? Robert L. Briggs Sr., 52, a retired Bell Atlantic employee and South Norfolk resident, who was presented last week as the South Norfolk Leadership Council's choice to head the borough's new liaison efforts with the city.

The retired chairman of the city planning commission, Briggs has offered his time, effort and connections for the revitalization of South Norfolk - gratis.

``I have never had any problem in finding out who to go to in the city to get things done. But I know there can be a lot of red tape, even finding out the basics,'' Briggs said Monday.

The new, unpaid position was prompted by a comprehensive report released earlier this month by the Virginia Downtown Development Association. It provided technical analysis and suggested strategies for commercial district revitalization.

The leadership council - comprising the borough's civic, business and revitalization organizations - recommended Briggs last week during a meeting with Deputy City Manager Clarence V. Cuffee and Anna M. D'Antonio, a city management analyst.

Cuffee said Monday that he will present the official nomination to City Manager John L. Pazour and City Council members over the next week.

``Part of our charge will also be to find a place in South Norfolk for an office,'' he said, adding that the city owns several buildings in South Norfolk with available space.

At an earlier work session between the City Council and the South Norfolk Leadership Council, residents said their primary focus was the hiring of a downtown development director to help implement South Norfolk's overall agenda as well as serve as an intermediary between city officials and residents.

Other suggestions the leadership council brought to the City Council included widening of 22nd Street to help reduce truck congestion along Poindexter Street and purchasing the J.G. Wilson site, now owned by a company that wants to create a trash transfer station there. South Norfolk residents have opposed those plans.

Mayor William E. Ward talked at length about the need to rid South Norfolk of its large surplus of blighted homes. He suggested condemning whole blocks of dilapidated homes to create room for more homes or rezoned land for office and industrial use.

Razing a home is not an easy task in Virginia. According to John King, environmental coordinator for the city's Inspections Department, it can take as little as six months or as long as two to three years to tear down a blighted building. MEMO: Staff Writer Mac Daniel contributed to this report. ILLUSTRATION: D. KEVIN ELLIOTT/The Virginian-Pilot

Robert L. Briggs Sr. is the South Norfolk Leadership Council's

choice as the borough's new liaison with Chesapeake. The retired

chairman of the city planning commission has offered his time and

talents gratis. ``I have never had any problem in finding out who to

go to in the city to get things done,'' he said.

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