
DATE: Sunday, August 31, 1997               TAG: 9708310085

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY NIA NGINA MEEKS, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:  182 lines

TEAM TACKLES REALITY AT OCEANFRONT GROUP QUIETLY TRIES TO FIND WAYS TO EASE BEACH TENSIONS

In the past, the Labor Day holiday has been like a cloud threatening a sunny day for some city residents, police officers and visitors. Much of that feeling stemmed from a racial storm that crashed onto the Oceanfront almost a decade ago.

But the sun has begun to break through. Tourists are smiling. People are flocking. Friction is lessening.

Summer 1997 has been calm at the Oceanfront. Some police officers called it the best in recent memory. They expect the same conditions for Labor Day, the official season-closer.

Some of the credit belongs to time. But break a little credit off for the Resort Area Issues Team.

Most Beach residents have never heard of the team. That's OK by members, who have been working quietly for nearly a year. They'd rather residents and tourists see their results. And they hope their results will end ``the problem.''

The problem, team members said, is the clash between the resort's image and reality: Pristine '50s For-Whites-and-Families-Only vs. Funky-Young-Multiethnic-Multicultural Mix.

That difference fuels perceptions on all sides. Young people say police pick on them. Black people say the Oceanfront is hostile to them. Store owners blame flagging sales on rowdy young people. Hoteliers complain that there isn't enough police presence. And so on.

The team knows that erasing the problem and the reactions that spring from it is not an easy task. And shepherding in a new era, based on reality, will take a lot more work, and time.

``It's an extremely complex issue,'' James B. Ricketts said. He is director of the Beach's Department of Convention and Visitor Development and co-leader of the Resort Area Issues Team. ``It's part of a process. This goes beyond Labor Day.''

The problem at the Oceanfront is not new. Some in the city have talked about it before. Just not too loudly. Or in public. Last year, Ted Lee changed all of that.

The tourist from suburban Ohio complained of his ruined vacation, spoiled by ``gangs of pre-teen and teen-age youth that roam Atlantic Avenue.''

Loud. Raunchy. Disrespectful. Scary. That was his opinion of the Oceanfront hoppers. Others around town shared his view.

The city made nice with Lee and his family this summer, paying for his accommodations and bending over backwards to show him a good time.

But the specter Lee raised couldn't be solved as easily.

After some discussion, James K. Spore, the city manager, decided on action. He asked the city's Safe Team - one of six municipal committees promoting Virginia Beach's vision - to start finding some answers. The Safe Team, in turn, created the Resort Area Issues Team.

Representatives from the visitors bureau, police, schools, social services, military, neighborhoods, resorts, recreation centers, emergency medical services and businesses were appointed to the team.

While some were designated as ``youthful'' representatives, few students were part of the group. Conflicting school schedules were blamed.

The team members gathered in November and met weekly, three or four hours at a time, for nine months.

``This was a working group,'' said Lanitha Roberts, a city housing specialist and team member. ``There was a lot of talking, hashing out ideas.''

The team took its show on the road, conducting focus groups at Dam Neck Naval Base, Kellam High School and Norfolk State University. Scenarios were discussed.

Restaurant owners who felt young customers wore T-shirts with borderline obscene messages had to look at the shop owners who sold the shirts.

Hoteliers realized their competition enabled all kinds of people to afford to stay at the Beach. Young people stood in the shoes of frustrated shop owners who tired of folks holding up the walls and blocking doorways rather than shopping.

Revelations occurred, as did a greater understanding.

``Our first cycle of work was to find out what the problem was, why there was a problem. The who, what, where, when, why and how of the problem at the Oceanfront,'' Roberts said. ``The second piece of that goal was to come up with some solutions.''

The team then shifted to monthly meetings. By April, it had issued a report to the Safe Team. In the 40-page study, the team offered sets of short-, medium- and long-term recommendations.

Mingling amid waves of young people on Atlantic Avenue Friday night were members of the Youth Intervention Team.

The group - some two dozen strong with members aged 16-29 - acts as a liaison between the police and those who might be bending the law.

The unique summer job program is the first visible result of the resort issues team.

Offenders either thank or scoff at the intervention team. But no one has tried to scrap with its members.

``I think I'm a little bit too big for that,'' Damian Warrick said, then smiled. Part of the team, he stands at 6-foot-3-inches and about 195 pounds.

``When they talk to people, it's an encounter that the police don't have to involve themselves with,'' Lt. Greg Mullen of the 2nd Police Precinct said. Mullen is co-leader of the issues team.

``The possibility for confrontation is not as great. It's a positive addition to the Oceanfront operations,'' he said.

For sure, tensions are not completely dismissed by those who visit. Joshua Bayer, 23, and his three friends rolled in from New Haven, Conn.

``I heard a lot of good things. That the people were friendly,'' said Bayer, a repeat visitor. ``I also heard about the police. That they'll lock you up for anything.''

His feeling lingers from the madness of Labor Day 1989.

Throughout the '80s, impromptu masses of black fraternity and sorority members and hangers-on gathered in New York and Philadelphia. The Greekfest parties began to roll down to the Oceanfront.

In '89, a fracas erupted, pitting young black vacationers against police. Rioting and looting ensued. In came the National Guard and the national news.

A human relations board formed in its wake, and the city has tried to move past that notorious weekend. Thoughts of '89 still make some shop owners skittish about the present. But for most, Greekfest is a memory, said Mullen, the police lieutenant.

``I think people are going to remember it,'' he said. ``It's in the back of your mind, just like a hurricane. But most people looked at that as a learning opportunity. That's why we are at the point we are.''

Now, Greekfest jogs few memories among today's young.

``Wasn't that some years ago?'' 22-year-old Erin Kelly asked as she chilled on Atlantic Avenue with her cousin, Malaika Bryant, also 22. Both shrugged their shoulders about it as they people-watched.

``People are still coming down here,'' said Bryant, who came from New York as she normally does for Labor Day.

In fact, young black people from out of town have been visiting the Oceanfront in higher numbers, Mullen said. Particularly on holiday weekends. After sunset, young people as a whole make up the majority of the crowds.

Most are peaceable. But the ways of some remain off-putting to others. Profiling. Cursing. Bumping-and-grinding. Most of these actions can't be legislated against. The team hopes to take the case to the people, through more focus groups and dialogues.

``We're aiming at saying, `Here's something you need to look at. Where do you guys want to go from there?' '' member Bruce W. Edwards said. He runs the city's emergency medical services.

``This team is to act as a catalyst to bring folks together,'' he said. ``What we see for Virginia Beach is a change for the good.''

The team brought such a group together in July. Another is set for September. The team wants to gather more input for its list of suggestions.

Some of the current suggestions on that list are simple: Get the universities, military bases and other parts of the community more involved in activities at the Oceanfront. Continue to pull in officers assigned to work at schools for summer duty. Work on brighter lights, and more bathrooms and telephones.

Other suggestions are more involved: Develop a youth forum to talk about Oceanfront issues before and after the season. Bring in people from other resort cities to discuss similar problems and solutions. Dedicate space to basketball courts, a skate park and a non-alcoholic club for the under-21 set.

What will become of these and costlier solutions is hard to say. As it is, city resources get strapped every budget season. And the city has run into more walls than ramps, for example, when it comes to the skate park issue.

Team members say they plan to keep pressing, no matter the timetable.

``One of the things I don't want to happen is for all the work we've done to sit as a stack of paper on someone's desk,'' said Roberts, the housing specialist. ``I want to see the solutions come to life and be implemented.''

The team will resume work this fall after a summer hiatus. It has been slow moving from ideas to action. But the feeling-out stage is finished; now the team heads for more action. Its existence has won approval.

``It's been a lot of problems,'' said Michael Weingard, owner and operator of Y Not Pizza at 19th Street and Atlantic. ``We need community involvement. We have plenty of trees. The city should concentrate on community involvement. I hope that this is the first year of something good.''

So does the Resort Area Issues Team.

``If we have to become advocates for this, we'll become advocates just like the other city programs do,'' said Ricketts, the team co-leader. ``We're not just going to submit a report and walk away from it.'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphics

THE TEAM: The Resort Area Issues Team, a diverse, 15-member group,

has been meeting behind the scenes for nearly a year to identify and

smooth tensions at the Oceanfront, especially as they pertain to

young people and people of color.

AT ISSUE: The Beach's image as an all-white, family resort area

clashes with its growing reputation as a multiethnic, party spot.\

SOLUTIONS: 1. Provide more recreation for the under-21 set. 2.

Gather young people twice a year to discuss good and bad experi-

ences at the Oceanfront and then work to improve problem areas. 3.

Initiate a series of meetings throughout the region to share

information and find solutions for dealing with offensive behavior,

and to provide customer service.