Voting for Reston Association Board of Director Elections Begins Today

Voting for Reston Association’s elections begins today, launching a month-long voting period that would dramatically alter the nine-board Board of Directors.

A total of thirteen candidates are vying for four open board seats. Paper ballots will be mailed today and online voting will open at 5 p.m. on RA’s website.

All votes must be cast by April 2. Results will be announced on April 10 at 7 p.m. during RA’s annual members’ meeting at 12001 Sunrise Valley Drive.

This year, four candidates — Travis Johnson, Sridhar Ganesan, Tammi Petrine and John Bowman — are running on a slate, a choice they said was driven by shared positions on the Tetra purchase and a plan to increase Reston’s population density.

In mailing distributions, four other candidates — Colin Meade, Aaron Webb, Andy Sigle and current South Lakes District Director Julie Bitzer — are running as the “Alliance for a Better Reston.” In mailing distributions, they say they are committed to “implement[ing] Bob Simon’s original vision” for the community.” The alliance’s endorsements include Eve and Rick Thompson, Cheryl Terio-Simon, Bill and Betsy Keefe and others.

A breakdown of candidates with links to their profile statements is below.

At-Large Candidates (Two seats for a three-year term)

• Derrick Watkins
• Sridhar Ganesan
• Aaron Webb
• Travis Johnson
• John Pinkman
• Colin Meade
• Ven Iyer

At-Large Candidates (One seat for a one-year term)

• David Ballard
• Andy Sigle
• Ray Wedell
• John Bowman

South Lakes District Candidates (One seat for a three-year term)

• Tammi Petrine
• Julie Bitzer

Voter turnout for Reston Associations hovered just under 20 percent of eligible voters last year. With contested elections for every open board seat, RA’s election committee hopes for more voter engagement this year.

Photo by Caren Anton