Two Perspectives In the Argument Over Grove

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Is the Grove community being neglected by James City County?

The question of Grove citizens’ representation became a divisive issue during James City County’s nearly complete redistricting process. Citizen redistricting committee member Debbie Kratter created two map options that attempted to put Grove in a district to link it with more racially and socio-economically similar parts of the county. Kratter argued that the Kingmill community drowned out the voice of Grove citizens. Grove residents’ voting strength is diluted, she said, as is their representation by their supervisor.

Kratter couldn’t create a true majority/minority district in the county. Legally such a district can only consider race and not income, plus there's an insufficient concentration of African Americans to make such a district. Goodson said he asked citizen committee Chairman Jeff Ryer to try to create a majority/minority district with Grove in mind, but it couldn’t be done.

What’s left now that a different Roberts district isn’t likely to be chosen by the Board is a host of unhappy Grove residents who have signed a petition arguing that their community has been neglected. Heard, who is not a Grove resident but has close ties to the community and votes in the Roberts District, says her petition with about 500 signatures on it will go on to the Department of Justice. The department needs to approve the county’s redistricting to ensure, among other things, that the minority vote hasn’t been intentionally diluted.

“I have been angry from day one when [the county] blended Grove with the Roberts [district], which diluted the vote,” says Heard, who worked to organize a union for Colonial Williamsburg workers in the 1970s and 80s. “This time, you see them diluting the vote even more by adding more areas and neighborhoods [to Roberts].”

The County “has turned a blind and deaf eye to this community,” she says. “All people [in Grove] want is someone to look out for them. I talked to Goodson. He is not interested in helping.”

Some of the community issues that haven’t been addressed include sidewalks that haven’t been completed and an insufficient number of fire hydrants, according to Heard. There are also many properties with abandoned cars in their yards and other signs of neglect. The community would like a playround for children, too, according to the petition. Heard says she has asked the county for help with these issues, but has gotten none.

The county has been making an effort to put businesses in Grove over the years, such as the Walmart distribution center and an assisted living facility. This highlights how the county thinks about Grove, according to Heard. “We had a vibrant community, and now all I see is big business coming in… so much that we had to get an interstate bypass. It’s like they completely forgot or don’t care about the community.”

As for Goodson specifically, Heard highlights his appointment of Hampton resident Rev. William Dawson to the Community Action Agency Board. Local CAAs are meant to fight poverty in low-income communities. Dawson doesn’t live in the area, so when Goodson appointed him to the agency’s board recently, it “proves he doesn’t make the best decisions for Grove.”

Goodson sees things very differently than Heard.

He feels it’s a good idea to keep the communities of Kingsmill, where Goodson lives, in the same district as Grove, which is next door. “They have a lot in common,” Goodson says. “The kids go to the same school, and the people live in the same area of the county – just look at the [recent] tornado, which affected both Kingsmill and Grove. Compactness [of a district] is so important.”

He talked to Heard about redistricting, and told her he’d tried to create a majority/minority district.

Goodson is in the Grove community often, he says. “When I hear from citizens, I act on it. Just because I don’t live there, doesn’t mean I don’t think about those residents.”

When he first took office, the community had no sidewalks. Goodson said he worked to get them installed, but some residents wouldn’t allow sidewalks to be built on their property, even though he knocked on those residents’ doors and asked them to help.

Goodson considers the overpass project in Grove an important part of his contribution to the area. “VDOT was talking about widening Route 60 to four lanes when I was elected. It would have ruined the character of Grove,” he says.

The road widening would have meant demolishing up to 35 homes, he says. “I have worked since elected to solve the truck traffic issue in Grove while saving the folks from losing their homes or front yards to a large highway project.”

This week, the Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organzation committed $10 million to help with the construction of the Skiffes Creek connector in Grove, which will connect Route 143 and Interstate 64 and eliminate the need for road widening in the community. Goodson counts this as a success.

He has heard complaints from residents about trash dumping and abandoned cars. The complaints haven’t fallen on deaf ears, he says, but the county is limited on what it can do regarding these issues on private property.

Goodson says he wants to see the petition, which Heard says she’ll send to the Board soon. “I want to address what needs to be addressed. If anyone contacts me in the district, I react.”

As for the sense that Grove’s vote is diluted, Goodson says, “Until about 20 years ago, Grove was a main political spot in the county historically. Now Grove still has the same amount of people, it hasn’t grown, and it doesn’t have the same clout.”

The Roberts District was created to have representation for the African American population in the area, “but the county’s population has grown and shifted, and we can’t achieve a solution” that would give Grove the same voice it once had.

There is one thing Goodson and Heard agree on, which is that members of the community are less involved in the community and in politics than they once were.

“It was a cohesive community in Grove years ago,” Goodson says. “It’s not so much now, it seems. Maybe the young people just aren’t as interested… there needs to be a commitment to the community coming together again and becoming active.”

Heard agrees. “The younger people, they don’t step up. Others are older. There needs to be a [community] voice now.”

When Martin Luther King, Jr., came to Williamsburg decades ago, Heard says she had a chance to ask him how to instill in people the desire to fight for their rights and needs. “He told me the world was one great big piece of cheese – you just can’t eat it all. You take your piece and chew it well. That’s what I’m doing. I’m chewing it well.” She hopes the Grove community will do the same.