I’m risking kicking off a complaint session here but let me ask you a question: what’s wrong with Manassas? I’m looking for substantive strategy-sort of stuff. I’m not real interested in a busted street light but things that need longer-term strategy to resolve. I have my own thoughts and you can rest assured that I’m cooking some stuff up but I’m interested in some other view points.
December 13, 2010 at 10:18 am
At a really high level, I’d say we get sucked into the “run the engine” type stuff so frequently, that pulls our eyes off of the long-term plan. Granted, we are forced to react to all sorts of small and medium-sized crises, but it seems like we just roll from one, to the next, to the next. A little more “wargaming” might be in order, to get in front of things.
December 13, 2010 at 11:12 am
What;s wrong with Manassas? It is he same thing that is wrong with Dale City:
Negativity.
The community is often defined in a negative fashion. Citizens discuss the negative instead of the positive.
The use of the web, blogs and social media means everyone has an opportunity to take a poke at you.
Irresponsible remarks by disgruntled citizens with an ax to grind out weigh the multitude of good.
The answer? We need a good PR person who will work tirelessly to combat that negativity. (Oh, and we have no funding, so that person will need to work for free.)
December 13, 2010 at 12:27 pm
That was my first response, Connie – throw out the negativity. The city needs to get out of the reactive mode whenever someone yells porn or, as in today’s headlines, fire.
The City’s strength (and the county’s) is neighborhood services — working at the street level to activate the citizens who LIVE here and unearth & train neighborhood leaders who connect with non-profits and local businesses and build community where we live.
The City already has a great PR person in Kisha Sogunro. She’s got the logo – a puzzle piece – and the tag line “Everyone is an Essential Piece.”
That PR is BACKED by action, and I’m not talking about just painting fences or cleanups, although that’s the most visible part of it. It’s activating citizens to join neighborhood watch, run for HOA boards, speak at citizens time, use the resources we have like the Boys & Girls Club, fill positions on the city’s boards, commissions and committees.
People do want to help, they just need to be connected and given a specific task.
Take the puzzle piece city-wide, and make it a rallying point. Everyone should be doing their part for their city, not just paying taxes.
Also bring in young people. I just talked to a Mayfield student yesterday who is going to be shadowing an administrator at her school. Get high school/college interns in local govt – not just to learn and interest them in a career track, but to benefit from their points of view.
You’ve already heard my comments on improving communication. I can re-run them if you want.
December 13, 2010 at 2:27 pm
The busted street light thing is exactly what you and the Council need to focus on. Not women’s health issues, not controlling the borders, not ladies unmentionables, but potholes, schools, street lights, police and fire fighting issues and sewers. Get your nose out of State and Federal issues and make sure what IS in your jurisdiction is done well.
December 13, 2010 at 3:01 pm
The difficulty with strategy is when it is not implemented; and if implemented, not monitored to make sure it is on track.
Implementation means either having sufficient City Staff to do so – or like you have done, oh Vice Mayor, by calling a summit and forming a core of people who wil then are there for other pieces to be added. As Steve Thomas says, wargaming it and then taking it to the streets, where the next piece of pulling in neighborhoods can be accomplished.
We have a 5-year old Strategic Plan which is outdated in more than chronological time…we have a Comp Plan from 2002 that is stalled in its update because of other Staff missions. Citizen input can be done with these in more than one way to get them to the street.
Strategic Planning includes short, near and long term. Before further long range planning should be done, a full-disclosure-stop-in-place-catch-our-breath-pause should be done….had a Colonel once who called them roll-up-the-shirt sleeve-coffee-swills. Looking too far ahead and you never notice the mouse nibbling on your shoes laces.
December 13, 2010 at 4:20 pm
A small community like this is only going to have a limited revenue so priorities need to be set.
The basics first,
Police
Fire
Schools
Public works
Doing whatever it takes to get Employers here.
Done well, Manassas will continue to be a place people will want to call home.
I believe thats all that is expected from the electorate.
Having grand plans and outlooks are great but if you can’t afford it , its not going to happen
Fire and Rescue
My opinion is the Council is trying to please too many people.
Almost every property owner has contributed $300 or more annually for a fire and rescue service with addition of a paid service.
But trying to appease the volunteer staff was wrong, you made a decision for a paid chief, so he should be in charge with no questons asked period.
Any complaints in that department should have been dealt with by him with your full support, no matter how unpopular.
December 13, 2010 at 6:06 pm
While I do not have much time to put in fancy prose here, I have thought about this a great deal in my seven years here. On the local level, money can solve a lot of issues (not all, but a lot).
While there are a great deal of community events that bring revenue and attention into our city, there needs to be investment to ensure long term revenue growth from corporations and small businesses. This includes keeping the ones we have and attracting more.
It sounds simple, but expansion of the tax base is where we should start.
Every corporation (and city) should be comprised of tactical and strategic initiatives. Tactical for the day to day, and strategic for the horizon planning – and yes, the two should be in synch as much as possible.
I am not saying this is not being done – but in these times the following must occur:
Squeeze the ‘fat’ out of the day-to-day operations
Ensure efficiency and coverage of current services.
Plan investment dollars where $1 today has a high probability of making $2 per year within the next few.
You get the point – each of the members should treat the city as if it were their own business – one of the good ones that takes care of it’s people – but refuses to get bogged down in items which do no propel us to our current needs, and future goals.
December 13, 2010 at 6:13 pm
Real vocational training at the high school level. This needs to be an obsession. We have a relatively high dropout rate. There is a very large number of 17-21 year olds who do nothing in the city. Most of these have fallen through the cracks academically and are unskilled. Each of these young folks had some untapped promise. Everyone is not cut out to go to college right out of high school. But the vast majority of our young people who don’t graduate or go to college are not suited to high tech manufacturing jobs. This can’t be at all helpful when trying to attract a company to this area. The school board seems indifferent toward quality vocational training. We can pay now or pay later- in the form of law enforcement and social service costs…..
December 13, 2010 at 8:19 pm
I’ve already said more than once what I believe is wrong with the City.
I’ll go in a different direction this time.
We have a lot to be proud of. From the Fall festival to the train festival. The farmers market, etc. Of course many other small towns have the same attractions. So, what can Manassas do to set us apart from others?
Maybe we need a wider range of shops in old town. A mens store of some short. I used to travel into Arlington for shoes(the Public shoe store) because it was a great store with a small town feel to it. How many years has it been since Mikes diner went out of business? It would be nice to have something like that again.
How about adding football night to go along with movie night?
December 13, 2010 at 8:34 pm
Do everything we can to improve (and keep improving) all scores and data relating to the schools. This will drive nearly everything else: Who moves here, what companies locate here, how much people pay for housing. Adopt and implement an effective five/ten year plan and stick with it. Let’s commit to this. Let’s make this happen. Failure is not an option. I’m out of breath….
December 13, 2010 at 11:44 pm
Cindy B. said:
“The city needs to get out of the reactive mode whenever someone yells porn or, as in today’s headlines, fire.”
Cindy,
I would appreciate it if you did “move on” in regards to the porn issue as you said in another post. I thought Steve Thomas did a pretty decent job of seperating the two main sides, so why try to needle the other side whenever you see a chance? I don’t mind getting into it again because I’m just as convinced that I’m right as you are convinced that you are right, I just doubt Andy wants another round here.
Thanks,
Doug
December 14, 2010 at 12:21 am
Rich,
I agree with your suggestion that a focus on improving test scores would help to attract business and people into the area, but in the near term, the next two to three years what could we market in regard to educational excellence in the area?
I would suggest, at the risk of making some people twinge, marketing the area’s private schools and strong homeschooling trends along with with the public schools. I know families who moved here just to go to schools like Seton, Holy Family Academy, John Paul the Great and even specialized schools like the new Emiliani Montessori School and yes In some cases they have brought businesses with them, in addition to being economic additions themselves to the area.
Yes, there is an obvious compettion and some outright antagonism between the private schools/homeschooling camp and the public schools but you sell the product you have not a product that has three year, four year delivery date.
Besides embracing the vitality and diversity (i hate that term but I’m using it!) of our educational resouces might help to even heal some of the divisions within the community.
December 14, 2010 at 12:37 am
Andy,
When we were first looking at moving to the Manassas area a few years ago, the number one issue that helped us decide to live in the county over the city was the schools. Robert and I are huge proponents of public school and in the end did not feel comfortable with sending our boys to city schools. I’m not sure how those issues can be adequately addressed due to the small size of the school system. The county has some of the same issues as well, but I think its size allows it to better address them.
As to the volunteer issues, my older son Alex tried to volunteer last summer to be a drummer boy during the train festival. I sent an email to the person in charge and was given a time and place for a meeting. Both the time and the place were changed without any notification. Somehow we accidentally stumbled upon it anyway. My boy was the only youth who showed up. In fact, he was the only person new to volunteering who showed up. He was virtually ignored. His questions were not adequately answered, and a lot of pressure was placed on him to move around hay bales, something he didn’t volunteer to do and was not physically ready for. He never received the follow up email that was promised and felt uncomfortable about the whole thing so in the end I didn’t make him go.
If the city is really interested in attracting volunteers, it would be wise to do a better job. It was not a positive experience for him. I imagine what your experience dealing with the city is can depend largely on who you are and who you know. I have no doubt if I had admitted to knowing your honorable, our experience would have been different.
December 14, 2010 at 1:14 am
And to turn that volunteerism complaint into a substantive/strategy issue,what I’m trying to get at is that Manassas is still a closed society. If you aren’t from there you can’t ever really belong. I see Manassas as friendly but not welcoming. By that I mean that Manassas wants my money but not my input, and certainly not if it differs from the status quo.
If Manassas really wants to fluorish, it needs to decide what it is. Is it a small town or is it a medium sized city. Right now it is still governed largely like a small town. If Manassas wants to grow, it needs to start acting more like what it wants to be and not like what it once was. And if it wants to be a small town then it needs to accept the financial limitations of that choice too.
December 14, 2010 at 10:57 am
Hi Patty,
1. I think a small school system is easier to turn around than a large school system.
2. I appreciate and respect that it is a personal matter but I do not feel that Manassas is closed. I’m especially thankful that so many doors have been open to me. It’s one of the things I like best about Manassas.
Rich
December 14, 2010 at 11:48 am
Hi Rich. Thanks for your response. I always appreciate what you have to say.
1. I think sometimes that can be the case. However, the main issue I see in Man and PWC schools is the diversity of the student body. Diversity can be a great good (and is largely why public school is so important to us), but there is no denying that it can cause issues as well. Because PWC has more schools and more money, I think it is better able to maximize the pluses of diversity while minimizing the negatives. I think Manassas has been overwhelmed financially by the burdens of those issues to the point that the positives aren’t as easily felt.
2. I’m glad you’ve had a better experience in Manassas. Maybe it’s because I’m a county resident and not a city resident, but it’s not been my experience. I spend a lot of time in the city and spend a lot of money there, and people are always very nice to me. But I have gifts and abilities and time that I would be happy to offer, and I’ve yet to find any place nearby that was interested. I didn’t bring that up to complain but to offer another perspective. Whatever the secret is to getting involved in this area, I’d love it if you shared with me. My attempts so far have been disastrous to the point I’m wary of trying again.
I hope you are well. Patty
December 14, 2010 at 2:20 pm
Rich, I’ve been thinking even more about it and I’d really like to expand on what I’m saying. When we first moved to Manassas, we found this house and I totally fell in love with it. I thought it was the most beautiful house I had ever seen. Seven years later, it looks completely different. We didn’t do that because it was ugly and needed to change. We did it because we made it ours. Seven years ago it was just a beautiful house. Now it is our home. People do the same thing when they move to a town. They choose that place because they love it, but once they move in they want to make it their own. It isn’t the love for the place that makes it home. It’s the investment.
The times I have tried to get involved in the community, the organizations have been led by people who had a strong vision of how they wanted things to be. To the extent that I already shared that vision, I was welcome. However, when I suggested change I was rejected, and in hurtful and belittling ways. That’s what I mean as Manassas being a closed town. It seems to me that Manassas is largely run by a small group of people who have been here forever and who have a strong sense of how the town should be. To the extent people share that vision, they are welcome to be foot soldiers, but I don’t see a whole lot of openness to new visions.
I always see the same few names in charge of pretty much everything around town. In fact, Andy’s call for volunteers just this morning elicted a response from some of the same names I always see. Now, I have no doubt they are all quite capable people who will do a wonderful job. But I can’t help but wonder how many others might also do a wonderful job who never get a chance because the positions always go to the people who are connected, who already share the vision, to the ones who belong.
In the same way, I see all of the different controversies as people’s way of trying to make Manassas their home. It is messy for sure, and can be frustrating, but it is an important part of making a community. When those people are belittled and marginalized, whenever they are called negative or reactionary for not going along with the status quo, they are pushed out of the community. Manassas is a very difficult place to be different. That sucks for me because I’m different. And it makes me worry for my children because they’re different too.
December 14, 2010 at 9:36 pm
Patty, your points are quite excellent, and I can relate as a parent to your son’s experience wanting to be part of a Civil War re-enactment. My daughter volunteered up at the Musuem when she was in high school, and her first year of college. Five years of volunteering, then with a change of positions there among the Staff, suddenly her talents were no longer wanted. She also tried volunteering with HMI, and I had to chuckle when she was told she was “over qualified”. What? Over qualified to work in the Train Station Visitor Center?
I also understand your view as to how Manassas has folks with a strong vision of how it “should be”. One of my most frequently used observations is it will take another generation before the view of the small town shifts to “Manassas – a historic setting for your 21st Century business and life”.
I firmly believe in the Bible’s Second Book of Thessalonians 2:15 which speaks to “hold fast ye traditions”. I am a Marine Brat, and learned that one from the cradle as the USMC does such. Manassas as the a City rich in historic life does too; but lately I feel the “new attiude” many strive for is not there.
December 15, 2010 at 7:37 am
http://projects.nytimes.com/census/2010/exploer?hp
December 15, 2010 at 7:43 am
http://projects.nytimes.com/census/2010/explorer?hp
December 15, 2010 at 11:23 am
That is so cool, Steve.
Here’s a report from the UK that says getting neighborhoods online so residents can communicate with each other makes for better communities.
http://networkedneighbourhoods.com/?p=522
December 15, 2010 at 12:15 pm
That’s interesting Raymond. My older son wanted to volunteer at the museum, but he was told he had to be in high school. So maybe next year. I think what probably happened was that the person in charge assumed he was doing it for school credit, but he had already finished and turned in his school hours and just wanted to do it for fun.
Part of what attracted me to Manassas was the traditional feel of the town. We specifically avoided Fairfax and Arlington because we wanted to raise our boys with more old-fashioned values. But I want traditional with a twist, if that makes any sense. I also think sometimes people don’t always understand how hard it can be for newcomers to try to invest in a new community. It’s simple for extroverts I imagine, but we introverts have a hard time. I don’t think people are usually even aware of the barriers that can inadvertently be placed. I guess everywhere struggles to get that right.
December 16, 2010 at 4:33 pm
Andy, this is a great question. Thank you for asking!
I have lived here 22 years and have witnessed a lot of changes. I have seen neighbors come and go … and move to Bristow, Gainesville.
Where could we improve?
1) Enable more people who live here, work here. Offer incentives to businesses who allow employees to tele-commute (not just Federal employees).
2) Define better who we want to be and how we support that character of the City. We used to be a small town, now we are becoming an urban City with all the problems. It is unappealing and scares people away. The recent murder of the OHS student brings this to light. We need to be aggressive in enforcing behavior codes at schools, graffiti, small crimes (overcrowding, vandalism).
3) Work with local businesses more to have them share in the vision of the Sector Plans and provide incentives for renovations in accordance with those plans.
There’s a grittiness to this City that is unattractive and threatening and needs to be faced head-on.
December 17, 2010 at 8:33 am
Cindy’s suggestion and posting of “Networked Neighborhoods” is a fascinating concept. Only have gotten past the four page Executive Summary, but is something to consider as a long-range strategy. Correspondently, the City Website expanding to have more media push (i.e. live viewing of Council and other meetings held in the Chambers, with associated replay on demand capability). We have the capability in terms of Comcast/Verizon out of City Hall…now just need the person to handle it. Once set, tie in the neighborhoods.
That kind of use of automated tools could also work in the favor of someone considering moving into our CIty!
December 17, 2010 at 4:06 pm
Would a network neighborhood concept include the ubiquitous cameras that track and hound British citizens whereever they go?
If so, I have a suggestion for any local American politician/ community activists where the first cameras can be placed. 🙂
December 18, 2010 at 12:35 pm
Doug…good one! LOL!
December 18, 2010 at 12:40 pm
Actually the county’s neighborhood leaders group has made it one of their goals to create a neighborhood portal website to connect connect all county neighborhoods:
http://www.pwcgov.org/docLibrary/PDF/10612.pdf
I was working on it with Pat Reilly and some other neighborhood leaders group members on it earlier in 2010, but it got put on the back burner — maybe in 2011.
Anyone know who set this up?
http://manassasnrc.org/index.html
All it takes is for a hub or portal like that, and someone willing to host it (and pay for it) and monitor it.
December 18, 2010 at 2:15 pm
Cindy,
Overall that is a very nice, thoughtful NW plan in your first link. I worked with a Neighborhood Watch leader on Capitol Hill during the 80s and 90s and PWC seems to be hitting most of the key areas for for keeping people involved without going overboard. I mean we don’t Bolivar Circles to start popping up do we? Best of all the plan mentions nothing about cameras on every street corner. 😉
December 20, 2010 at 11:47 am
You’ve received a lot of good comments to your question. Now what to do with them?
I have 3 principles for solving a hard problem. One – Start. Two – Work every day. Three – Finish.
I see many starts, but not much finishing.
December 20, 2010 at 12:44 pm
Chet: The next step is I take all of this and stew on it a bit. Thinking strategically might allow us to solve several problems at once instead of trying to fight every fire individually….
December 23, 2010 at 1:55 pm
Before looking for additional things to do, how about analyzing at services the City is already paying for – like Historic Manassas Inc. This is basically a non-profit that is the acting PR firm for the City, and it is staffed with people that have absolutely no experience in public relations or marketing. In fact, they outsource the PR to an outside PR woman. How can a np that size with a nominal budget afford to oursource anything??? Shouldn’t the City’s money not be spent on salaries for experienced PR/marketing people on staff with np backgrounds that can bring results to Manassas? Shouldn’t there be directors on the board specifically selected to offer expertise the organization would otherwise have to pay for (human resourses or accountant would help – they outsource those too). What you have now is 3 people repeating what the organization has been doing year after year. How is that progress?? The City is wasting a considerable amount of money by not getting the results that is should for that money. BTW no one pull the Blue & Grey Ball card, its a once in a lifetime opportunity.