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Regional dialogue
WHILE THIS NEWSPAPER has from the beginning regarded Virginia’s regional planning districts with some apprehension—a wariness which continues, incidentally, in the light of some talk heard in Richmond about expanding the power of these so-called “advisory” groupings—there can be nothing to quarrel with in Chairman Pete Luke’s desire to try and establish a closer relationship with the people who could be affected by the district’s decisions.
Accordingly, a series of meetings will be held, beginning in July, in each of the jurisdictions represented in Planning District 9—the counties of Fauquier, Rappahannock, Culpeper, Orange and Madison, and the town of Warrenton. Luke, in outlining the plan, expressed his desire to receive information from various citizens’ groups, such as the Piedmont Environmental Council and the Upper Fauquier Association, about their concerns and about what they have done in the way of studies and investigations of land use problems, and possible solutions.
It is a good idea. But we have one big question: Will the citizens respond? Instead of just grumbling about “regional government,” and of how “those bureaucrats” are taking away local prerogatives, or threatening to, will the citizens actually avail themselves of the opportunity to learn about what their regional planning district is up to, and make suggestions?
IF THE PATTERN OF LOCAL participation in each of the member jurisdictions is any guide, the answer is, “No.” There won’t be many people attending the “rotating” meetings, and there won’t be much citizen “input”—to use that crippled word, borrowed from computer terminology, which is heard so much in councils of government these days.
We hope we’re wrong. We hope the meetings are "well attended and produce lively exchanges of views, and generate incisive examinations of problems, and produce some recommendations for action.
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