Anybody remember the Asheville-Buncombe Vision? It was a non-profit that sucked up a lot of taxpayers’ dollars, then did very little with it except for producing an annual “report card” on how local governments were doing in terms of achieving their stated goals. What is it about local government officials who feel the need to hire an outside non-profit to hold their feet to the fire? I don’t know. In my opinion, the Asheville-Buncombe Vision accomplished very little.
But that apparently has stopped the organization’s one-time leader here in Asheville from getting the same gig in Raleigh. Here’s the Raleigh News & Observer story:
Pam Wall is convinced the Triangle needs a reality check. So she’s spearheading one. Wall is executive director and the only full-time employee of Triangle Tomorrow, a nonprofit group about to begin a Research Triangle Regional Reality Check.
The goal is to develop a consensus vision for handling the region’s growth over the next 20 years — plus a list of actions to carry out that vision. The Reality Check is a joint initiative with the Triangle District Council of the Urban Land Institute.
“A lot of the people engaging in this project may not be here in the year 2030,” says Wall, 57. “We’re not doing this for the people who live here now. We’re doing it for our kids and grandkids.”
It’s the most ambitious undertaking yet by Triangle Tomorrow, a program of the Research Triangle Regional Partnership, an economic development organization. Fundraising for the project has brought in $415,000, exceeding the $400,000 goal, from sponsors such as SAS, Progress Energy and AT&T. This work has been led by Wall and Jack Clayton, the head of Triangle Tomorrow’s finance committee and Wachovia’s regional president.
Smedes York, president of York Properties and chairman of Triangle Tomorrow’s advisory board, says that Wall gets along well with people and that people respond to her well. “She has a passion for what she’s doing,” York says. “It’s not just a job.”
Wall, who gesticulates nonstop as she talks — “I’m animated. That’s me,” she says — has first-hand knowledge of vision plans. From 1996 to 1999, while living in Asheville, she was executive director of Vision for Asheville-Buncombe County, a group charged with implementing the region’s community-based strategic plan.
Results included an “education summit” that led to lowering the high school drop-out rate and a free vaccination program for low-income children.