Who? Dena Gross Leavengood, co-founder of Tomorrow Matters, a citizens advocacy group focused on sustainable growth issues in Hillsborough County.
Sphere of influence: In 2000, Leavengood partnered with other civic leaders like developer Ron Weaver, Hillsborough Community College vice president Robert Wolf and activist Sharon Joy Kleitsch to create Tomorrow Matters. Leavengood facilitates the group's listserv, posting events and calls to action that reach over 500 people each day. She is a longtime member of the League of Women Voters (and former president), the Sierra Club, Florida Forever and One Bay (formerly known as Reality Check Tampa Bay).
How she makes a difference: After years of working at the Florida Aquarium and as an environmental consultant, Leavengood, 56, retired after 9/11 to pursue community activism full-time. She's a regular at county commission meetings; former commissioner Ronda Storms used to walk out when Leavengood would arrive. In 2005, she successfully fought the Hillsborough County Commission's proposed elimination of the county's indigent care program. And long before "sustainability" became a Tampa buzzword, Leavengood organized some of the county's first workshops on the subject.
CL: How has the Internet changed community activism?
Leavengood: The Internet I love and I hate. I think it's a formidable tool, a powerful tool, in reaching out to a lot of people at one time. If you need to organize quickly, you can get information out almost instantaneously and get people to turn up [to meetings].
The challenge with the Internet is anybody can send anything out. And many people don't seem to realize that not everything they hear is true or accurate. Not everything they hear on television, on the radio or in the newspaper is what really happened. People aren't spending the time to get informed, and that is dangerous. That's why I try to make sure that the sources on our listserv are accurate and we know who is responsible for sending them.
You have a phrase: "W1, LU2, TR3." What does that mean?
Fifteen years ago, or longer, we had a sustainability meeting in Sarasota to bring together a lot of people throughout the state that were concerned about the issue. And John Lambie, with the [Florida House Institute for Sustainable Development] down in Sarasota, was talking about the way we should approach growth management and the things we really need to think about to become sustainable.
Water is first [priority], and that's what the "W" represents. L-U-2 is land use second, and transportation should follow after you've designed your community. We made bumper stickers. We made posters. It was just a wonderful way for people to raise the issue and dialogue about how do we want our communities to grow.
Why is water first?
Water is first, because our natural resources, until we make sure we can protect them, are not going to be sustainable in the long run. Water is an issue around the world. But particularly here in Florida, we're seeing water wars between our state and surrounding states, and in our immediate communities. That's why we had to create a regional plan. Water is not inexhaustible, and while it may always be here, it's not always accessible or available. In the future, it may not be affordable for some people; this is going to be an issue. So we have to protect the water and that means we have to protect the recharge areas [wetlands and other protectors of the watershed]. We also need to protect the environments around those recharge areas to make sure they don't become decimated or polluted or withdrawn too fast. All of that is connected.
Earlier, you mentioned the one segment of our community that hasn't yet entered the conversation on sustainability. Can you explain?
I think sustainability is defined as balancing natural, social and economic systems. But our social services are really our clean-up crew for the people we have failed. And I say "we" because people don't just fall out of society on their own; something's contributed to that. It may be you were not born in the right time, at the right place or to the right people. It may be you have not had access to opportunities in the way others have had. You may not be motivated. You may have emotional or physical problems. You may have dependency problems.
But I think of a community almost in a business sense. We would not hire someone and allow them to stay on our payroll without contributing. I think the people of our community are all assets, so why would we be satisfied to let someone fail because of something we're doing. I think we really need to make every effort possible — and I'm not saying just throw money and I'm not saying support programs that are in existence right now that aren't doing good — but I think it's really important for us to look at the opportunities to help people become the best human beings they can, and therefore the best contributors to our society as they can be. And that's our loss if we allow them to fall through the cracks.
What is the biggest issue facing Tampa Bay right now?
Our community is not working together to try to improve things. We're all working on our own particular interest instead of [leveraging] resources. And without good leadership and good governance, it's difficult. I guess it even comes down to we don't have many leaders in this community who are really stepping forward. Our group is a small group that tries to connect as many people as possible, but we don't have the resources necessary to really focus the energies. The community is only as strong as its weakest link, and we have so many weak links right now.
What do you think is the biggest healthcare issue affecting Hillsborough County?
The fact that people do not readily have access to wellness and prevention to keep themselves healthy, and don't understand and aren't educated about how to do that. And don't have the resources to be able to do it. Hunger is huge in our community. Without adequate transportation and mass transit, people aren't able to reach services they might need. I think that we have huge issues here in Hillsborough County starting with homelessness, affordable housing, as well as food. And that contributes to health, not being able to work, and not being able to support [businesses]. It all comes down to economic terms. Unless we have a healthy community, we don't have a strong economy and vice versa. So we need to really start focusing on a caring community or it's just going to continue to decline.
Do you feel women have much influence in Hillsborough County these days?
That's an interesting question. I think there was a time in Hillsborough County when women were approaching a zenith, and women were respected, had high professional positions and were elected to office and served well. I think we've seen the pendulum swing. It's much more difficult for a woman to get elected these days than it has been in the past. Part of that relates to the concept of the caring economy. Women are considered mostly caregivers, consensus builders, and that has not been the approach for the last 10 years.
Is there any hope to turn back the sprawl in Tampa Bay?
I sure hope so. I am hopeful that wise people will make wise decisions, and great minds will come up with solutions to some of our problems. … The agricultural community is pretty close to my heart, and I'm so sad to see some of the growth management laws that are going into effect that make it almost impossible for people who have agricultural lands. Farmers and ranchers are an important part of Florida's history and are still critically important to us, and possibly in the future will be more important to us when we can't ship food from California because of the cost of oil. We need to have local food, we need to grow local food, we need to eat local food, we need to support local agriculture. We need to make sure we have that available to us for our future. I think the agricultural community is becoming aware of this. They're getting more actively involved in the political discussions. I hope the greater community at large is beginning to understand the importance of getting involved in this dialogue.
What do you mean when you say good governance is gone in Hillsborough County?
I think government is less responsive to the people now, but in a much more underhanded way. It has learned to say the things they think people want to hear, which doesn't necessarily translate to real action in a substantive way. And I think that government, in a lot of ways, instead of working for the people as it was intended, is now afraid of people and the public. I look at our schools and our educational process that's designed to teach children how to pass a test, but not how to think, and certainly not to question and not to think about the bigger picture and their role in it. I think that's intentional. A citizen who doesn't really understand how our government works, doesn't have a voice, it makes it very much easier for the people who are governing to control what's going on.
What is the best way to influence our elected leaders?
What we need to do is organize ourselves on the issues that we can agree on are big items, and as a group, communicate to our elected officials. We can do that by working with spokespersons who are articulate, respectful and responsible. I don't think attacking anyone personally is a way to effect positive change. We are responsible for putting them there, and we need to help them do a good job. That means we hold them accountable to the things we think are important. That means as an individual, you can write, or call, or email your elected official. And you should. Tell them what you think about a position they are taking on an issue that you care about. Be articulate — you don't have to be longwinded — and be respectful. Offer solutions, don't just complain. Because again, we are part of the problem. If we've elected this official and they aren't doing the job we've asked them to do, we need to tell them why they aren't doing the job, how they're not doing the job, and how we would ask them to improve their job performance. I think that's really important. As individuals, as groups, we can effect change. Five hundred emails will make someone sit back and think. You need to register to vote, you need to be informed. And you need to vote; that is our most powerful tool.
This article appears in Apr 16-22, 2008.