Evening star., 1955-11-06
By MOsBY GRANT

OF one county federation. when
interviewed. had different
notion of the number Of their
affiliates) the fact is apparent
that outside Of do-it-yourself.
civic -mindeiness Is the great
est after-hours preoccupation
of local folk. To District resi-
dents. the civic group is the
only available form Of self
government.
Combination OF town meet
ing. public forum, social club.
debating society-or as one
sardonic neighbor expressed it.
"A nice place to stay warm
with nice people" civic
association at the neighbor-
hood level is woven together
In q fabric Of relatively minor
Illustrations. Near Rural
Woods. one association was
tied up in months Of hot de-
bate over the question Of
where q bus should turn
around at the end Of its run.
Problems Are Varied
Larger problems vary ac-
cording to the area. In. Fair
fax County. for instance. spot
zoning is q constant threat to
residential property values,
while in neighboring Arlington
County the question is not
nearly so acute.
But whatever the focus of
the organization. whether it
deals IN trivia or tackles the
more serious difIicuIties Of life
in Suburbia. the civic associa-
ton In the Washington area
plays ! unique role. In the
opinion Of one veteran OBJ
server, Bernard r. Mullady. the
civic association is the govern
ment workers substitute for
political action. Mr.. Mullady, q
former president Of Fairfax
County's Federation Of CivE
Associations. and an ex-
reporter and political pub
ljciSt. claims the Hatch Act
has robbed q good proportion
of the local population Of their
normal course for redress Of
local grievances.
Mr.. Mullads's views are
shared to q degree by most Of
his fellow leaders. but they are
uNick to point out that polite
cal pressure is not one Of the
Weapons favored by local as
EDciations. John Shower, .
vice chairman Of the Inter.
Federation Council, represent
ing federations in the four
counties and the District.
claims extreme care must be
taken To avoid any suggestion
of political intent. Not too
long ago. the Fairfax County
federation decided to MAKE 9
study Of county government. "
he said. ut was quite q study.
The committee actually re-
viewed the minutes Of q years
meetings Of the Board Of SUI
pervisors. and one Of the
things we came up with was
the fact they were wasting too
much time on trivial matters
md not giving enough atteIl-
tion to the major problems.
We also came up with 3 lot Of
sound reasons for adopting
The county executive system of
government. But when that
report was finished we were
very careful to do one thing
and that was to make sure the
county ofiicials had plenty of
time to study it themselves be-
fore we published 1t. In other
words. we wanted to make 1t
absolutely clear that we were
not attempting political pres
sure. and we have achieved q
great deal in just that way 2
Role ii Local Affairs
In one other sense, the civic
associations play 3 unique role
In local affairs. While the
Greater Washington area il
actually an integrated eco
nomic unit. its seven-way po-
litical subdivision makes CO..
operation and joint effort diff
ficult II not actually irnpos-
sible. The Inter-Fe Federation
Council Is therefore the only
group that can speak lii terms
Of representing an overall
viewpoint Of the citizens who
are In actual fact Washing
tonians whether they live in
four Virginia jurisdictions. two
Maryland counties or the Dis
tfict. The chairman Of the
council, DR.. Laurence 8. Knep-
pen, q utility rate consultant
and former professor Of eco
i1omics at Rutgers University.
points out that problems cali
ing for joint effort are becom-
ing more pressing the pollu-
ton Of the Potomac. for ex-
ample: the question Of q tram
sit authority based on New
York's or Chicago's; the prob
lens ef integrated highway
systems.
"Of course all we can do is
study. suggest. recommend and
educate one civic association
Official stated. "Tt's slow and
sometimes frustrating--hut it'z
also democracy 1t work