In August, Virginia Beach added Avalon Avenue to its list of streets known for speeding. Drivers caught going over the limit would get a higher fine, but the city didn’t put the new signs up right away.
Avalon Civic League president Larry Strauss attended the first class of a new program by the Virginia Beach Council of Civic Organizations and learned who to reach to get the signs.
Soon, signs warning of a $200 fine were posted at each end of the avenue.
“We’re a pretty big city, and it’s got a pretty big infrastructure,” Strauss said. “And navigating that and getting things done at times can be frustrating and difficult.”
VBCCO Academy teaches citizens how local government works and how to get things done. Sessions are aimed at neighborhood leagues but open to all residents, as space allows.
The program is led by Chris Taylor, a former city council member who ran for mayor. Taylor said he wanted to continue engaging the public after he left office. He and Rick Boyles, VBCCO’s president, spoke about how to educate people about government.
Taylor sometimes asked people basic questions, such as who the city manager is and which voting district they live in. Some didn’t know.
“So that told me that even locally there was either a gap in how people were getting the information or there just was a lack of knowledge,” Taylor said.
In October, Taylor had a full room of civically engaged people, but he learned that he needed to slow down to cover fundamentals, such as the role of the city manager in running day-to-day government.
“That tells us that the CCO has the right mission and that this academy is something that is needed within our community to assist the local government and other organizations,” he said. “To just get information out and educate.”
The next session on Jan. 29 will recap the October meeting and discuss how a council agenda is developed and how to communicate with the people who shape it.
“Sometimes it takes somebody, just a group, to stand up and say, here, let us gather information for you and put it in a spot where you can find it,” Boyles said.
More than 50 people attended the October meeting, and about 120 seats for the next one are nearly full. Information about the program is at the VBCCO website.
Boyles said he hopes people will spread what they learn.
“Our goal is to educate citizens, and they can take that information ideally back to their neighborhoods and continue that education down into the neighborhoods,” he said. “Then people can make informed decisions about city leadership.”
VBCCO’s academy is different from the city's new Civic Leaders Academy, which is now in a pilot program.
Fran Sansone of the Princess Anne Plaza Civic League attended the last meeting and picked up information and ideas. She plans to attend the next one.
“I want to learn more about how our ... our city government is working and make it work better for me and for those around me,” she said.