THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 26, 1995 TAG: 9510260436
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE KNEPLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Long : 135 lines
Nelson Andrews knows what it's like for a small cadre of white male business and political insiders to call the major shots in a community.
He was one of them.
That was in Nashville, Tenn., two decades ago.
Since then, Nashville has developed a leadership-improvement program that welcomes citizens from a wide array of backgrounds, Andrews says.
The results, he said, include better ``black-white leadership relations in Nashville than from everything else combined.''
On Wednesday, Andrews came here with this message: A diversified leadership program can help South Hampton Roads do the same.
``I get excited about what happened in Nashville. I get excited about what you can do here,'' Andrews told about 230 community leaders at the Holiday Inn Executive Center in Virginia Beach.
The regionwide gathering was convened by several longtime Norfolk insiders who are launching a leadership development effort called CIVIC, or Civic Improvement Volunteer Institute Corp.
``Our goal is to broaden the base of leadership in the community because . a former mayor of Norfolk.
Leafe and other CIVIC organizers acknowledge that the region no longer can look to small groups of business and political leaders to advance important community causes.
Many of the locally based major corporations that used to supply the leaders are gone, Leafe said. Other problems include continuing reductions in government services, increased social problems and more competition from around the world.
``We have to engage a more diverse community to get where we want to go,'' Leafe said.
CIVIC, in conjunction with Old Dominion University, plans to start offering leadership courses in late January. CIVIC will not have a political agenda nor groom politicians, Leafe promised.
Organizers say they hope to draw a wide range of participants from throughout the region. Leafe said CIVIC also intends to expand its board to include citizens from all five South Hampton Roads cities.
CIVIC has looked at programs in other cities, including Nashville, but has not decided many details.
Andrews' talk at Wednesday's luncheon was designed to stoke enthusiasm over CIVIC's possibilities.
Andrews, who heads a property-management company, was the founding president of the 19-year-old Leadership Nashville program.
He spoke of the ``good things'' and ``dumb things'' that Nashville's old-guard leadership had done for their community:
``We started the airport authority, we got a downtown hotel, we elected a mayor, we did some good things, but that day's gone.''
Yet Nashville's old-style leaders, Andrews said, also pushed for construction of an interstate highway that ran through the middle of a black neighborhood.
``Up until that time, North Nashville's rate of growth was just about the same as the rest of Nashville's,'' he said. ``Then it absolutely stopped and has not regained momentum to this day.''
The leaders who supported the highway project did so ``not because they were really trying to get North Nashville,'' Andrews said. ``They did it from a point of view that wasn't inclusive.''
Since the creation of Leadership Nashville, leaders from diverse backgrounds have forged friendships that have led to positive programs and better understandings of one another's concerns.
Andrews urged CIVIC to maintain ``true diversity'' or the effort could be perceived as tokenism.
``Most leadership programs self-destruct across the country,'' Andrews said. ``What happens is the liberal group grabs hold of it or the conservative group grabs hold of it. Somebody tries to take over and it destroys it. You have to have the diversity.''
Andrews' remarks and the plans for CIVIC seemed to draw favorable comments.
Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf endorsed CIVIC as ``a magnificent idea.''
``The decision-makers have historically always been male and white Anglo-Saxon Protestant. I think it's exciting that we're going to have the opportunity to do more than give lip service to appreciating each one's perspective,'' she said.
``Honest and legitimate dialogue is absolutely necessary to keep wrong perceptions from popping up. I think the ability to meet with people frequently and sit down and air your concerns and differences and find a common point where you can build something positive is an absolute necessity.''
Pamela Riddick, principal of Ruffner Middle School in Norfolk, called CIVIC ``a phenomenal idea.''
``People usually don't have an opportunity to network outside their professions or their immediate communities or their birthright,'' she said. ``The notion of pulling together people who typically would not have an opportunity to work with each other in common cause would be uplifting to the whole community.''
B.J. Stancel, president of the Park Place Civic League in Norfolk, applauded the program's aspirations to ``transcend those racial barriers'' and help the region as well as neighborhoods. MEMO: REGIONAL MEETING
Portsmouth Mayor Gloria Webb will give her views on regionalism at
the next meeting of the Hampton Roads Coalition of Civic Organizations
from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday in City Council chambers of Portsmouth
City Hall.
Also, local civic-league leaders will hear a presentation on the
Hampton Neighborhood College and a proposal for a similar
neighborhood-leadership development program in Virginia Beach.
The discussions will be part of the monthly public meeting of the
steering committee of the Hampton Roads Coalition of Civic
Organizations. The group fosters the exchange of ideas among civic
leagues across the region and tries to give neighborhoods a voice in
regional issues.
For more information, call Les Fenlon, chairman, 481-2501.
ABOUT THE GROUP
CIVIC, or Civic Improvement Volunteer Institute Corp., is an effort
to develop and diversify the region's community leadership.
The core courses, limited to 30 people, will begin in late January at
Old Dominion University. It will emphasize communication skills,
problem-solving techniques and civil deliberation.
Tuition will be about $200, an amount that can be offset by
scholarships for those who cannot afford the fee, says Joseph A. Leafe,
CIVIC's board president and a former mayor of Norfolk.
CIVIC will hold two more community forums and brainstorming sessions:
Nov. 6, 7 p.m., Chesapeake campus of Tidewater Community College,
Phase II Building, Conference Room, 428 Cedar Road, Chesapeake.
Nov. 16, 7 p.m., Room 313 of Virginia Beach joint graduate center of
Old Dominion and Norfolk State universities, Virginia Beach Boulevard
and Little Neck Road, Virginia Beach.
For information, call ODU, 683-3116.
KEYWORDS: DIVERSITY by CNB