THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 3, 1996 TAG: 9605020129
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY JANIE BRYANT AND REBECCA MYERS, STAFF WRITERS
LENGTH: Long : 428 lines
KAREN JORDAN TRAVELS the Simonsdale area, inspecting drainage problems and photographing the garbage left behind neighborhood stores.
Bob Gray meets with small-business people in Cradock's historic square to try to come up with things the community can do to help improve the area.
Reggie Allen keeps his finger on crime in Brighton and Prentis Park, coordinating a patrol that works about 13 hours a day, seven days a week.
But that's just a small part of their jobs.
They're civic league presidents - unpaid souls who get re-elected year after year, for one simple reason:
They'll take the job.
I've been president of this organization so many times and for so long that I'm looking for someone to take this job,'' says Louis Whitehead, who has headed the Westhaven Area Civic League for about a dozen years.
``It's just one of those things. And all civic leagues are the same way.''
He won't get any argument from Carleen Smith, president of Park View Civic League.
``I offered myself up for re-election, I think back in September. But nobody wanted to run against me. They're not stupid.''
In fact, Smith is the only officer.
``We've got me. . . . And as long as I enjoy doing it, I don't mind. But, no, we don't do officers. We don't follow parliamentary procedure. People aren't interested in that, . . . and I don't even know how to do it properly.
``So it's me. And if I need someone to do something, I just ask for someone to raise their hand and take on the responsibility.''
A civic league president's fantasy may be hammering the gavel to quiet the multitude in the meeting hall and needing an organizational chart to keep track of which members are serving on which committees.
But most of those who have been around for a while - and in Portsmouth, that's most of them - know and accept the reality of neighborhood leadership.
Fortunately, they don't judge the strength of their organizations by the number of people willing to take office - or even the number that attend meetings regularly.
They may do most of their work with a small platoon, but they know they can raise an army over a single issue.
``If it's an issue that people feel affects them,'' Whitehead says, ``then they'll turn out.''
He's had meetings in Westhaven where no more than 10 people showed up. But about 125 people pay their annual dues without a real ``concerted effort'' on the part of the organization's leaders.
J. Robert Gray of the Cradock Property Owners Association has found that to be true in his neighborhood as well.
``Civic leagues are something that everybody wants and everybody's interested in, but few participate unless there's a real cause,'' Gray says. ``And real causes are those things that irritate citizens such as school closings, re-routing of traffic or construction of something in their neighborhood or in their back yards.''
``It hasn't always been like that,'' the former city councilman says. ``It used to be that people came into the communities and staunchly sought and worked with civic leagues. We would have, I can remember, . . . 100 to 125 people who would show up at meetings.
``But, like everything else, TV has taken over.''
Actually, Cradock has probably held onto the old sense of community as well as any of Portsmouth's neighborhoods.
The gazebo is still the gathering place for Fourth of July parties and a perfect backdrop for the civic league's community Christmas tree.
The league offers support to the neighborhood Scouts, the women's club, the churches and the Little League. They even keep a community assistance fund in case someone in the neighborhood needs a helping hand.
And league members still trudge on, battling everything from go-go bars to school changes.
The success of any civic organization, Gray says, is tied to its ability to keep up with what's happening in the neighborhood.
``I had a fellow in Cradock who for years used to tell me that, `The only way you can really have a good meeting is to have a cause. And if you don't have one, create one.' ''
The fact is few neighborhoods in an aging city with a shrinking tax base need to manufacture a good cause.
What kinds of things do civic leagues worry about?
Just about everything that detracts from the community they've invested in, from the need for curbs and gutters to codes violations and crime.
Raleigh G. Harsley, president of the Lee Ward Civic League and the Central Civic Forum, says his neighborhood organization has worked for everything from street improvements to zoning changes.
``I suppose civic leagues get stronger when you have things you need to do,'' Harsley says. ``Everybody seems to hold the civic league together for things like that.''
Harsley has 30 to 35 active members, and he's been president for about 10 years. He and other members serve on city boards and commissions and are vocal about those things that concern them.
``When you have a civic league, you have people that will speak out,'' he says. ``That's the one criteria that people want you to have if you are serving them in doing things. If you're not doing anything, they'll put somebody else in that position.''
Reggie Allen, who has headed the Brighton/Prentis Park Civic League for about five years, says that with about 140 members, his organization keeps a treasury large enough to help maintain the community's patrol car.
The only fund raiser they have each year is a banquet.
Allen is also coordinator of the Tri-Neighborhood Patrol, which watches over the community with about 60 volunteers from three civic leagues. The other two organizations are the Lee Ward and Prentis Place civic leagues.
Crime also proved to be a rallying cry for Park View, which had a ``pretty defunct'' civic league just a couple of years ago, according to Carleen Smith, the league's president.
``That was really the big thing - crime and rental property problems, which also involved crime,'' she says.
One of the best things the Park View organization did was to come up with a mission statement, Smith adds.
``It really focused what we wanted to do, and we could kind of cross off as we did things, which gave people a feeling that there was some accomplishment.
``We wanted to do outreach to the community, so we did flyers announcing the meetings. We got as many telephone numbers attached to addresses as we could and called as many people as we could.''
Another goal in Park View's mission statement was to ``promote and maintain a clean, pleasant-looking neighborhood,'' Smith says.
So the civic league organized a huge, annual clean-up, distributed information on the city's bulk-refuse pickup schedule and made contact with the Naval Hospital with a problem the league felt was detracting from the neighborhood.
``They've got their new wrought-iron fence going up on Park View because we complained that area looked really bad,'' Smith says.
She now serves on the Mayor's Task Force Committee that oversees codes and how they are enforced, and she also serves on the Code of Appeals Board. At least one, sometimes two members serve on the city's architectural review board.
The Park View leader also has established good working relationships with city officials and the staff of Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority.
``We started out with everybody just hating the city, like they weren't doing anything for us,'' Smith says. ``People are beginning to see that the city is working with them.''
Smith attributes that cooperative spirit to the neighborhood's willingness to come to the city with solutions as well as problems.
``Now anything that the city is going to do - and in that, I include PRHA - they come to the civic league first and say, `This is what we're thinking of doing. What does the civic league think about it?' ''
When PRHA recently had a builder for a plot of land the agency was going to sell, RHA staff brought the blueprints over to get Smith's opinion.
``Now that was unheard of before,'' Smith says. ``I looked at it and I said, `I don't even have to take this in front of the civic league. . . . I mean, it didn't fit the neighborhood.''
Smith faxed 10 examples from a pattern book of houses that would complement the historic neighborhood's architecture.
``They picked one, they approved it and they're already surveying the land,'' she says. ``That's great.''
For some of the city's oldest neighborhoods, the enthusiasm growing out of the city's Vision 2005 economic development plan has fueled renewed hope and dedication into community involvement.
But suburban neighborhoods across town still stay plugged into the city's future and how it affects their own areas.
In fact, when it comes to packing a meeting hall, Karen Jordan probably has as much success as any civic league president.
Out of about 117 members in the Simonsdale Civic League, Jordan sees anywhere from 40 to 60 people at meetings.
Informative speakers are her key to success, she says.
And she knows a lot of the missing members are the large number of senior citizens in the neighborhood who don't get out but still support the organization.
So Jordan runs off 1,500 newsletters and has a phone committee that makes calls to every dues-paying member to keep them informed.
But while she knows she can count on those older residents, she still has a problem that many civic leagues face: getting the younger residents involved.
Over the last three years, nine of her hardest-working board members have passed away.
``We're finding out we've got to reach out to the younger crowd, and it's hard for them to get there,'' she says.
Whitehead, of the Westhaven Civic League, agrees.
``The younger people are the ones that have the most pressing schedules and the most commitments and the least amount of time. But they're the very ones that you need to survive.
``I've been to meetings where I'm 69 and I'm the youngest person there. I think our treasurer is 83. It's a situation where we desperately need some young people.''
Jordan urges them to bring their children with them, if that's what's keeping them at home. In fact, she's hoping the next generation does a better job of stepping up to the plate when it comes to playing a part in neighborhood improvement.
``I think the kids need to see their parents go to these things so they know this is how you become a part of your community,'' Jordan says. MEMO: Related stories on pages 14-16.
THE CIVIC LEAGUES
These are the civic leagues active in Portsmouth, based on a listing
provided by the City Clerk's office and from information gathered by The
Currents staff. Currents was unable to reach those leagues where only a
meeting time, place and president's name is listed. That information was
provided by the city.
Bide-A-Wee Manor
Meets: First Thursday, 7 p.m., Cornerstone Community Church, 500
block of McLean St.
President: Charles Proffit.
Members: About 80.
Dues: $5 per year per household.
Area: 151 homes in Bide-A-Wee Manor Civic League.
Brighton/Prentis Park
Meets: First Monday, 7 p.m., The Pines, 1801 Portsmouth Blvd.
President: Reginald Allen.
Members: 140.
Dues: None, but donations are accepted when there is a need.
Area: Brighton and Prentis Park.
Cavalier Forest Association
Meets: Third Tuesday, 7:15 p.m., Church of the Resurrection.
President: Dale Wyatt.
Cedar Point
Meets: Second Monday, 7 p.m., United Congregational Christian Church,
5900 block of Portsmouth Blvd.
President: Henry Fallon.
Members: About 50.
Dues: $5 per year.
Area: An area of about 550 households bounded by Mimosa Road,
Portsmouth Boulevard, Elmhurst Lane and the Hodges Ferry Bridge.
Central Civic Forum
Meets: Fourth Wednesday, 7 p.m., DAV, Portsmouth Boulevard.
President: Raleigh G. Harsley.
Members: An umbrella organization representing several civic leagues
in the city of Portsmouth.
Area: Open to all civic leagues in the city.
Cradock
Meets: First Tuesday, 7:30 p.m., Cradock Community Center, Afton
Square.
President: J. Robert Gray.
Dues: $2 a year (voluntary).
Area: More than 1,500 households in Cradock; also includes the area
from West Cradock to Greenwood Drive.
Crystal Lake Association
Meets: Every other month, but no regular meeting time.
President: Dr. Max C. King.
Members: About 35.
Dues: $25 per year, per household.
Area: About 51 households in Crystal Lake.
Ebony Heights
Meets: Third Monday, 7 p.m., Grove Baptist Church, West Norfolk
Road.
President: Angela Hill.
Hattonsville
Meets: Only when there is a need.
President: Sylvester Brown.
Dues: None.
Area: Hattonsville.
Highland-Biltmore
Meets: Third Tuesday, 7:30 p.m., Biltmore Baptist Church
President: Robert Lawrence.
Members: About 15 attend regularly.
Dues: $10 a year or $1 a month.
Area: About 600 households in Highland-Biltmore and Highland Park.
Hodges Manor
Meets: Third Tuesday, 7:30 p.m., Westside Christian Church.
President: J. Brewer Moore.
Members: Between 50-60.
Dues: Discontinued.
Area: Households between Portsmouth and Airline boulevards from
Hodges Manor to Alexanders Corner.
Hosiers Oak
Meets: Second Tuesday, 7 p.m., model home in Hosiers Oak.
President: David Gatewood.
Lee Ward
Meets: Third Monday, 7 p.m., Wesley Center, Elm Avenue.
President: Raleigh G. Harsley.
Members: About 40.
Dues: $1 a year.
Area: Includes parts of Brighton and Prentis Place.
Long Point
Meets: At Churchland Middle School, when there is a need.
President: DeForest Mapp.
Dues: None.
Area: About 130 homes in the subdivision of Long Point.
Merrimac Point
Meets: Third Tuesday, 7:30 p.m., Portsmouth Christian Church.
President: Don M. Cericola.
Members: Approximately 40.
Dues: $10 a year.
Area: Merrimac Point.
Mount Hermon
Meets: First Thursday, 7 p.m., Mount Hermon Village.
President: Willie L. Marshall Sr.
Members: Unsure.
Dues: None.
Area: Represents homes from the Beltline Railroad on High Street to
Jeffry Wilson, and from Hartford to High Street.
Olde Towne
Meets: Third Tuesday, 7:30 p.m., Trinity Episcopal Church.
President: Leslie R. French.
Members: Anywhere from 30 to 75 attend meetings.
Dues: $5.
Area: Olde Towne and Swimming Point.
Olde Towne South
Meets: Third Thursday, 7 p.m., second-floor board room of main
library.
President: Jasper Short.
Members: About 10 to 15.
Dues: None.
Area: Primarily Olde Towne South, but some parts of Olde Towne also.
Park Manor
Meets: Fourth Monday, 6:45 p.m., Olive Branch School library.
President: Keith Nance.
Members: 300 to 400.
Dues: $5 per year per family; $3 per person.
Area: Park Manor to Cypress Road.
Park View
Meets: First Thursday, 7 p.m., Park View Baptist Church.
President: Carleen Smith.
Members: About 70 total.
Dues: None.
Area: About 600 households in Park View.
Port Norfolk
Meets: First Thursday, 7:30 p.m., 432 Broad St., second floor.
President: Madalyn M. Grimes.
Members: More than 100.
Dues: $5 per year per person.
Area: Port Norfolk.
Portsmouth Council of Civic Leagues
Meets: Third Wednesday, 7 p.m., Manor branch library.
President: Louis Whitehead.
Members: An umbrella organization representing the civic leagues of
Westhaven, Hodges Manor, Cedar Point and Park Manor.
Dues: None.
Area: Open to all civic leagues in the city.
Prentis Place
Meets: First Saturday, 10 a.m., Wesley Community Center.
President: James R. Griffin.
Members: 30 to 40.
Dues: $1 a month.
Area: Prentis Place - from Thomas Circle to Gilmerton Avenue and from
Elm Avenue to Effingham Street.
Progressive Civic League
Meets: First Tuesday, 7 p.m., Joseph E. Parker Community Center, 2400
Turnpike Road.
President: Littleton Southall.
Members: 25 to 30.
Dues: $5 per year.
Area: Mount Hermon.
River Shore
Meets: Different each month.
President: John Hardy.
Members: Open to 70 families.
Dues: None.
Area: River Shore.
Shea Terrace
Meets: First Thursday, 7 p.m., Calvary Baptist Church.
President: Dutch Andrews.
Members: Approximately 45 dues-paying members.
Dues: $5 a year.
Area: Represents about 410 homes in Shea Terrace only.
Simonsdale
Meets: First Monday, 7:30 p.m., Simonsdale Civic Hall.
President: Karen Jordan.
Members: About 117.
Dues: $2 per year.
Area: Simonsdale and surrounding neighborhoods bounded by Clifford
Street, Elmhurst Lane, Portsmouth Boulevard and the water.
South Fairview Heights
Meets: Fourth Monday, 7 p.m., Fairview Heights Baptist Church.
President: Ernestine Derleth.
Members: About 20.
Dues: $5 a year per family.
Area: Highland Park, Loxley Place, West Cradock, Fairview Heights and
South Fairview Heights.
Truxtun Community League
Meets: Fourth Tuesday, 7:30 p.m., Mount Carmel Baptist Church Annex.
President: Lucy Overton.
Members: Between 10-15.
Dues: None.
Area represents: About 250 homes in the historical area of Truxton.
Twin Pines
Meets: Only when there is a need.
President: Nathan Thomas.
Members: About 60 people attend meetings when there is an issue of
importance.
Dues: None.
Area: Represents less than 100 households in the Twin Pines
neighborhood.
United Civic League of Cavalier Manor
Meets: Second Monday, 7:30 p.m., Cavalier Manor Recreation Center,
Viking Street and Greenwood Drive.
President: Elijah Sharp.
Members: 30 to 40 show up for meetings.
Dues: $6 per year.
Area: Includes Cavalier Manor, Victory Manor, Lincoln Gardens,
Charlestown.
Waterview
Meets: Quarterly on the Second Monday, 7:30 p.m., Life Savings Bank
President: Daryl Beasley.
Members: Average attendance is 30.
Dues: None.
Area: Waterview and also what is called ``Little Waterview'' on the
opposite side of High Street.
West Park View
Meets: Second Monday, 7 p.m., Calvary Baptist Church.
President: Martin Smith-Rodden.
Members: About 30 to 40 people attend meetings.
Dues: $5 per year, per household.
Area: West Park View.
Westhaven
Meets: Second Monday, 7:30 p.m., Kingman Heights Recreation Center.
President: Louis Whitehead.
Members: About 125 dues-paying members, but meeting attendance can be
as low as 10.
Dues: $2 a year.
Area: Includes Westhaven, Grove Park, Kingman Heights and Oregon
Acres.
Westmoreland Civic Association
Meets: Second Monday every other month (starting with January), 7
p.m., Green Acres Presbyterian Church.
President: Joyce Jackson.
Members: About 70 dues-paying members out of 130 total members.
Dues: $12 a year (voluntary).
Area: Westmoreland.
Wilson Ward
Meets: First Tuesday, 8 p.m., John F. Kennedy Center
President: William R. Ray Jr. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo on cover by MARK MITCHELL
Andrew Shepherd, center, is among the listeners at a recent
candidates forum that was sponsored by the Central Civic League.
Photos
Raleigh Harsley heads the Lee Ward Civic League and Central Civic
Forum.
J. Robert Gray heads the Cradock Property Owners Association.
by CNB