Neighborhood Leaders Group Needs Growth

The Prince William County Neighborhood Leaders Group faces some challenges, not the least of which is getting people to attend its meetings.

Jaimi Washburn, the new Prince William County Neighborhood Coordinator, met with a handful of volunteer community leaders on Monday night in the first Neighborhood Leaders Group meeting of 2011. 

The group at the meeting reviewed the organization’s strategic plan and brainstormed volunteer programs such as litter pickup and taking care of overgrown vegetation, but the top priority to come out of the meeting was the goal of growing the group.

Washburn listed a series of tools and methods the group uses for outreach, but despite the slew of outlets, only a core group of four neighborhood representatives showed up at the meeting. 

The second priority to come out of the meeting was to develop community guidelines to supplement county code in making neighborhoods presentable, particularly areas without homeowners associations to enforce stricter rules. The question for the group is how to ensure compliance with community standards in areas with no authority for enforcement mechanisms.

Several members of the group voiced concern over unspoken differences in cultural expectations, especially in areas with high immigrant populations, saying that in many cases those from foreign cultures don’t know the expectations that their neighbors may have for maintaining the exterior of their homes. The group wants to help remedy this by drafting community guidelines that will explain to all members of the community what they ought to be doing to maintain their property.

The group’s strategic plan, a three-year outline adopted in 2008, lays out goals and methods for improving communities. The goals are ambitious, if sometimes vague, such as fostering effective communication between communities and government, and improving neighborhood quality of life. But the goals are designed for a sizeable, active group, and may become irrelevant unless the group is able to attract engaged leaders from neighborhoods all over the county.

Information about the Neighborhood Leaders Group and its meetings can be found on the county website at www.pwcgov.org/neighborhoodleaders. Meetings will occur monthly through November, featuring different topics and speakers. The group meets in room 202 of the county Development Services building at 5 County Complex Ct. Woodbridge, VA 22192. For a full schedule of meetings, see the attached PDF file.