Voting in the 2018 Reston Association Board of Directors election will run from March 5 through April 2. This week, we will continue posting profiles on each of the candidates.

Featured here is Aaron Webb, who is facing six other candidates for two at-large seats, which run a three-year term. The profiles are in a Q-and-A format. With the exception of minor formatting edits, profiles are published in unedited form. Each candidate had an opportunity to answer the same questions in their own words. 

How long have you lived in Reston? What brought you here?

My family and I came to Reston from California for a one-year assignment when I was working for the Navy. A year among the trees in the Barton Hill area was enough to convince us to sell our house and make a career change so we could stay and raise our kids here.

What inspired you to run for the board?

I have had the opportunity to work on the Hook Road Recreation Area Working Group and really enjoyed working with fellow Restonians to plan for the future of our community. After one of the meetings of the working group I came across a flier about serving on the board and felt I should do my part to contribute. I was encouraged by the process of obtaining signatures for the application, everyone I spoke with agreed that running for a position on the board was a great idea.

What are three of the biggest concerns you have for Reston?

My three largest concerns are infrastructure, stagnation, and Reston being exploited by outside entities. I want to ensure that Reston’s growth into the future is well thought-out and designed with the long-term health of the community in mind. Infrastructure and amenities should accompany growth, not be an after-thought. Reston must continue to lead in innovative concepts and excellent management. We must also protect Reston from any entity that would trade away long-term benefits for short-term windfalls.

What do you hope to accomplish by being on the board?

I hope to keep a focus on the principles that have formed and sustained Reston. I will ensure that the seven goals outlined at the outset are still a driving force behind board decisions (see https://www.restonmuseum.org/reston-history).

How will your personal or professional experience help you in your role with RA?

I have served in several capacities that have given me useful experience for service on the board. As the Director of Engineering, I have learned to analyze and evaluate the costs and benefits of alternatives and select the best approach for the company. Serving in my church I have a deep respect for entrusted funds. The time I spent on the board of the Lakeside Cluster honed my skills in working with others for the benefit of the community.

Click here to view video statements or read candidate statements submitted to RA. 

Photo by Reston Association

Voting in the 2018 Reston Association Board of Directors election will run from March 5 through April 2. This week, we will begin posting profiles on each of the candidates.

Featured here is Ray Wedell, who is facing three other candidates for the at-large seat for a one-year term. The profiles are in a Q-and-A format. With the exception of minor formatting edits, profiles are published in unedited form. Each candidate had an opportunity to answer the same questions in their own words. 

How long have you lived in Reston? What brought you here?

I have little doubt that you will be flooded with answers that say people have lived here for an eternity (or at least most of their adult lives), and that Reston’s ambiance, environmental planning, diversity, etc. were driving forces. All well and good, I consider all these givens about our community.

Here is my reality: I have lived in Reston for 19 years. I used to live in a vast mansion in Oakton, living a dream life with dream kids, and a dream….well, modern world realities forced me out of that life because my ex-wife thought it would be a great idea to get a divorce. ‘Nuff said.

I needed a place to stay, and one which would be a good place for my then-10 year old daughter and 7-year old son. I rented a town house in North Reston, not because of any long research on Bob Simon or the Reston vision, but because it seemed like a nice place to rent for a year until we could get our lives back into some sort of order. That was 19 years ago; I am still here.

Reston was the first community I lived in that reminded me in many ways of the Long Island town I grew up in, Malverne. Back then, there was now internet or PlayStation, and kids played outside. All of the schools and playing fields were located on the borderline of the neighboring black community, Lakeview. Imagine the Toll Road from Hunter Mill exit to Reston Parkway, and all that corridor land being open ball fields and a junior and senior high school. Instead of the Toll Road, we had Ocean Avenue that divided the Lakeview community with Malverne. As the Toll Road divides Reston into North and South, Ocean Avenue divided us the same way.

But in Malverne, kids met at the ball fields at an early age. It is what we did; not play on an iPad. We chose teams and played extremely competitive basketball or touch football games, and the intensity of the play brought out the best and worst in all of us. After all, everyone likes to win. But we laughed, argued, teamed up with, and teamed up against,  each other in a way that ludicrous factors like someone’s skin tone had nothing to do with any of it. You either hugged or fought a person of different race on a daily basis; often the same person on each side of that coin from day-to-day, depending on which team you were chosen to play on that day.

As we all “grew up” (or at least some of us did), most of us had a much different perspective on the news of the day. None of us needed “diversity training”, or to be told how screwed up things were in Selma, Alabama. And the violence of 1968 did not spill over to our communities, although based on population demographics and mood of the times, most outsiders predicted it would. Awareness and action, yes. Blindly categorizing people by race? Not in our communities.

I mention the above because my son was a superior basketball player at age 8. He used to watch Pete Maravich instructional videos from age 3, and we had two hoops set up at our house at a lower height for him to play. The beautiful hardwood floors inside, and the wide portals between rooms, were perfect for Scott to practice his dribbling in the house most of the day. When in Reston, Scott would love me to take him to the Southgate Community Center, where they had exceptional outdoor basketball courts, one set of hoops set at 8 feet to accommodate smaller kids. He played in youth leagues at Southgate, and grew to know many kids who would later be friends and teammates/opponents in basketball games as he grew older. Scott was much different from all the other kids, being small, blond, and always smiling. But kids do not carry the same gremlins in their heads as adults, and Scott was always chosen early to be on the team with kids who looked nothing like him. Kids wanted the best players on their team, and want to win. What that person looked like never matters.

So we had that semi-Malverne factor working for Scott, and the vast bicycle paths and “cool places” to hang out appealed to my daughter. So Reston had things about it other communities simply did not have. Therefore, my one year trial period turned into what is now 19 years and counting.

Thank you for your patience in allowing me to tell you a part of my story.

What inspired you to run for the board?

I used to play golf with my son every weekend. So the thought of Reston National Golf Course being re-zoned (leading to inevitable building later on) just stuck in my craw. I joined the Rescue Reston movement, becoming a Director. The Rescue Reston movement proved to me the power of a dedicated community to force the right thing to be done, despite “odds being so stacked against us”, and all sorts of reasons leading people to give up, or simply compromise away their own rights. Common sense told me it was right for citizens to rally in full harmony behind this, so that was the beginning of my “public service” in some way.

But again, I am not going to join the chorus of those who will tell us about their need to “give back to the community” and all that.

I am reminded of this story: A Greek billionaire is hosting a party on his yachts in the rough Aegian waters…..His beautiful daughter falls overboard….. the man panics and screams, “Any man who saves my daughter will have her hand in marriage, a new yacht, and a mansion on the Sea.”…..just then a man is hurling through the air, splashed into the sea, swims to the daughter, gives her his life jacket, and eventually saves her……A news reporter is on board and decides to interview this ultra-courageous man: “You leaped overboard to an almost certain death to save this woman! What do you have to say?”….. The man gazes at the people all around him and screams, “WHO PUSHED ME???!!”

Why did I run? There was a person who continuously “reminded” me that I needed to run for the Board three years ago. Relentlessly. I had no idea at first what that meant. But persistence paid…..so I was pushed.

Reform and Improve….I will have much on this topic in coming weeks. The current R.A. Board has the potential to institute major changes that are absolutely necessary in how the Board works FUNDAMENTALLY. The incumbents are smart and want things to run right. There are several reform candidates who could join them and really turn this ocean liner around. The idea that we have to continue to function in the same status quo ways, just because “that is how we do things around here” definitely needs to die a quick death. The current Board actually showed some promise in going in this direction. Nobody understands the inner workings of this Board and what needs to happen to get the RA  train on the right tracks and headed in the right direction.

REFORM and IMPROVE.

What are three of the biggest concerns you have for Reston?

Here is a late-breaking news flash: The Reston community is undergoing massive growth and things are going to change. If Amazon chooses this area for its “HQ-2” site, this growth  will be exaggerated.

It is the 21st Century….major change is going to happen. Much more development is going to happen. However, this means we need to not only protect what open spaces we have; we need to expand them. There will be endless clashes; endless skirmishes; possible generation vs. generation viewpoints on what Reston “should” look like in the future.

Will we remain a vibrant and cohesive community, able to shape the growth in ways that make sense to us as a community? Will internal differences of opinion split the community, or will it lead to a different form of harmony and diversity than what people are accustomed to seeing?

Other concerns pale in comparison to these, but I have detailed position papers on many that I will soon release.

What do you hope to accomplish by being on the board?

I have an expectation, not a hope.

An expectation that after spending the last six months in extremely positive environments, communicating with positive and forward-thinking people, that I can take an in-depth knowledge honed by 2 1/2 years of eye-opening recent experiencing on this RA Board, combine it with a refreshed spirit and new ideas, and convert these as follows:

• This Board has made great strides and shown a willingness to improve in directions I have supported and promoted for 2 1/2 years. But in many key areas, they have fallen short, and in those, they have defaulted back to the comfort of “doing what we do.” Now that I am fresh from the previous Board fights, full of knowledge/experience,  and have six months of needed reflection, I need just one year to help instill some common sense changes and bring a 21st century mentality into a system that has grown staid. Just one year.
• Convert “One Reston” from a slogan into a way of life and a community mind set.
• Hold people to the fire, especially myself, to slogans we all love to cite. In other words, don’t just say it, live it. Don’t just talk the talk, but walk the walk. The current five member incumbents on the RA Board all have the intelligence and community dedication to WANT to do this. The candidates running for the other four slots all appear to have this in their DNA as well…….I expect that this new Board can, and will, make major breakthroughs in acting as a Board that is touch with Reston’s people and with 21st century ways of solving problems and promoting positive changes. And the focus is always on the overall Community needs, not the expediency of the Board, the desires of Staff, or pleasing small groups of those who are very active in promoting their needs (not necessarily overall community needs).

How will your personal or professional experience help you in your role with RA?

My personal and professional experience with this institution and how it works (or doesn’t) overshadows other professional experiences. Having said that, the current Board totally ignored my opinion on issues that were “in my wheel house” last year. This should NEVER happen, and the demands on the volunteer Board have reached a point in which there are simply too many issues and too many extraneous things thrown to the Board that should be addressed elsewhere. This has led to valuable individual positions being ignored on MAJOR issues. This is a major point I plan to make in keeping the Board ON POINT with those things that truly require long-term guidance and sound decisions.

I have more degrees than a thermometer. I also am a Chartered Financial Analyst, CFA, which for those who are not aware, is a grueling designation that cannot be earned in less than three years. In my younger days I was employed at HUD, and truth be told, going to school at night became a way to alleviate much of the boredom of my day-to-day job. So now I can claim formal “expertise” in Psychology, History, Business Administration, Public Administration, Financial Markets, School-of-Hard-Knocks, and all sorts of other things I rarely use directly, but nonetheless….they are there.

I have worked in the most stultifying environments known to mankind (HUD in the 1970s and early-1980s), and the most free-wheeling, anything-goes capitalistic environment (Wall Street trading desks). I clearly do not want to see RA run along the lines of either model. However, I warn the community of this: The empire building that is underway and somewhat unchecked at RA is very reminiscent of the internal growth of HUD in the 1970s. Please do not allow that to happen in our Reston Government. It is the 21st century: take cues from the successful 21st century business leaders, and don’t allow endless silo-building within the organization to occur. This is not an easy fight, but a necessary one.

My current business is buying and selling residential real estate in Reston. I am “out and about” on a daily basis, and have a really good idea of the attributes in all of our Reston neighborhoods. It is my job to understand  the people of Reston, from age 20 to 100, whether living on a lake front home or in a 40-year old South Reston condo.

The bottom line is this: I KNOW how to focus on the major issues and how to make sure we fight for that which is important to the people. I did not get this from TCU, George Mason University, American University, or from working in the Federal Government or on Wall Street. I always try to live it. I always try to walk the walk.

Authenticity matters.

Reform and improve.

Click here to view video statements or read candidate statements submitted to RA. 

Photo by Reston Association

Voting in the 2018 Reston Association Board of Directors election will run from March 5 through April 2. This week, we will begin posting profiles on each of the candidates.

Featured here is John Bowman, who is facing three other candidates for the at-large seat for a one-year term. The profiles are in a Q-and-A format. With the exception of minor formatting edits, profiles are published in unedited form. Each candidate had an opportunity to answer the same questions in their own words. 

How long have you lived in Reston? What brought you here?

I moved to Reston in 1985.  Visiting friends who lived in Reston then, I very much appreciated the concept of building infrastructure and community amenities, including open and natural spaces, simultaneously with residential and commercial development.  I believe this concept to be fundamental to the essence of Reston that we must strive to maintain as new and re-development occurs.

What inspired you to run for the board?

I am honored and privileged to have been selected by the board to fill an open seat in September 2017. I submit my selection was predicated on my 12+ years active participation on RA board advisory committees, for which I monitored and engaged with the Reston Planning & Zoning Committee and the Fairfax County Reston Master Plan Special Study Task Force and two previous board election campaigns – Hunters Woods & At-Large.

My community engagement started in 2006 with a group of neighbors when Fairfax County attempted to redevelop the Reston South Park & Ride under the auspices of an unsolicited public-private partnership proposal without sufficient input from the community. This experience taught me that RA members needed more peer input to constructively contribute to land use development and redevelopment actions.  So, I joined the RA Transportation Advisory Committee, of which I was a member, including chair & co-chair roles, until my appointment to the board. I currently serve as the board liaison to the Multimodal Transportation Advisory Committee.

My successful campaign will bring this experience to my continued service on the board.

What are three of the biggest concerns you have for Reston?

Density, Density, Density …

When addressing RA member concerns, it is important to distinguish RA issues from greater Reston issues.  RA has no standing in Reston Town Center and the former Reston Center for Industry & Government (RCIG) – the properties roughly between Sunset Hills Dr. & Sunrise Valley Dr.  – we can “reason, cajol and call out” the county and developers for issues in those areas.

However, without any doubt, the single most important issue facing greater Reston today is the adverse impact of proposed and future land use development and re-development on the quality of life of RA members – particularly infrastructure and parks and open spaces, including golf courses.

Within the RA house, we must insist upon board and staff discipline to attain continual review of how we spend RA member’s assessment dollars.  Based upon the Tetra/Lake House experience, the current board has implemented a considerable number of internal controls to ensure proper due diligence when committing RA funds to projects.  I support continued maturing and application of these internal controls – particularly to demand complete, sufficient, and appropriate business case analysis of all proposed activities requesting RA funds in order to avert another Tetra.

Additionally, we must address those aspects of RA member service experience that detract from our member interaction.  Too often, member dissatisfaction derives from a lack of common sense application of RA guidelines.  It is time for RA to enforce the “spirit of the law” vs. literal reading of our resolutions, etc.  Many of our resolutions are written in a manner to address specific situations, thus rendering them less useful to both staff and members when seeking general guidance. We need to revisit RA documents that are written in a manner that appears to prohibit common sense interpretations.

What do you hope to accomplish by being on the board?

My primary goals are RA fiscal discipline and maintaining the Reston sense of “place” within planned redevelopment. I feel an obligation to RA members to continue the direction that the current board has taken to unabashedly address internal financial discipline; continue our firm stance against negative impacts of excessive density; and require sound decision making by the board on careful study of matters being consider.

A staunch advocate for disciplined stewardship of our assessment dollars. I will support the increased fiscal discipline demonstrated by the current board, as evidenced by 1) implementing the Tetra/Lake House issue remediations delineated by the StoneTurn Group’s report; and 2) focusing on long range fiscal planning. Assessment increases should be enacted only in the most extreme circumstances.

I support this Board’s focus to bring more value to the members. Program funding initiatives must have valid business cases, including member and community benefits to serve a critical mass of RA members. This direction applies common sense and rationality to board actions, especially when determining use of the member’s assessment dollars.  We need to achieve and communicate the value proposition of RA membership to all members, including those who no longer, or do not yet, use RA programs or facilities.

Perhaps the most challenging, I advocate for standing firm with the county to control negative impacts of excessive density by applying pressure to the principals in land use and development issues. Pressing the County (we do have 60K+ residents 😊) to require compliance from property owners & developers with the guidelines in the Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan – as described in Reston Master Plan – will be a positive force to preserve the Reston quality of life and sense of place.

How will your personal or professional experience help you in your role with RA?

I bring to RA 20+ years of progressively responsible corporate management, academic and association experience focused on business operations emphasizing financial and technology metrics to drive positive business outcomes. My relevant experience includes:

• RA Board of Directors (9/2017 – Present)
• Multiple RA Board Advisory Committees since 2006 – including Transportation Advisory Committee & Multimodal Transportation Advisory Committee (Co-Chair/Chair of both)
• 2008 RA Board Candidate (Hunters Woods); 2016 RA Board Candidate (At-Large)
• Past member Reston Citizens Association Board of Directors, founding Reston 2020 member
• West Virginia University (WVU) College of Creative Arts, Board of Visitors (2007-Present)
• WVU Music Alumni Association, Board of Directors (2005-Present)
• PMI Project Management Professional
• Certified Information System Security Professional
• Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) certified
• Doctor of Musical Arts, Catholic University
• Master of Science (Information Systems) (GMU)
• Private Pilot – Instrument Rated

My experience in the US Navy, in commercial consulting, government contracting, and corporate management combined with service on multiple boards and advisory groups for academia and associations positions me well to serve the RA by having learned the absolute need to “ask the next obvious question”, and to keeping asking until the ability to execute an idea that “sounds great” is actually validated or debunked.  

The current challenges to the RA Board from the membership for crisper and forward-looking land use actions are best met with disciplined action and input from the standing advisory committees.  I bring this discipline from my organizational and financial experience managing delivery elements of large business organizations.

Click here to view video statements or read candidate statements submitted to RA. 

Photo by Reston Association

Voting in the 2018 Reston Association Board of Directors election will run from March 5 through April 2. This week, we will continue posting profiles on each of the candidates.

Featured here is David Ballard, who is facing three other candidates for the at-large seat for a one-year term. The profiles are in a Q-and-A format. With the exception of minor formatting edits, profiles are published in unedited form. Each candidate had an opportunity to answer the same questions in their own words. 

How long have you lived in Reston? What brought you here?

My family has lived in Reston since 2001, though we were overseas on diplomatic assignment from 2004-2010.

I am originally from Texas, but went to college in Washington and lived off and on in the DC area the various times I was assigned to Washington as a Foreign Service Officer.

In 2000, my mother moved to Reston from Texas because three of her four kids were living (or based, in our case) in the DC area. She lived in North Point and worked as a teacher at Lake Anne Elementary School. We stayed with her on a visit in 2000 and fell in love with Reston, which I don’t think I’d ever even visited before. When I was assigned to Washington in 2001, we didn’t even look anywhere else and bought a home in the Hunt Club cluster. During those years, our two sons started at Lake Anne and our daughter was born at Reston Hospital Center.

By the time we returned from overseas for another Washington assignment in early 2011, we had three school-aged kids and ended up in a different house–the one we still live in. At that time, we had a child at South Lakes, another at Langston Hughes, and a third at Lake Anne. Since then, two have graduated from South Lakes and the third is currently a student there.

What inspired you to run for the board?

You’ll be pleased to hear that one of the main reasons I was inspired to run for the Board is, in fact, Reston Now. I had not paid any attention to the website until 2015, when someone told me he’d read an article about my son’s SLHS track team on the site. So I signed up for the daily email from Reston Now and began to pay a lot more attention to our community’s issues. That, in turn, led to the notion that I had a voice and, perhaps, a role to play in those issues.

I retired from the Foreign Service in 2015 and have had a much more flexible schedule since then. While I still work part-time, including as an FCPS substitute teacher, I missed the “service” part of my former career, and- to be honest–after decades of supervisory responsibility in my assignments, missed having a leadership role in something I care about. (In this vein, Lord knows my family is tired of my presuming to assume a leadership role at home…) Most important, however, is that I truly enjoy being a part of a team that is working to fix, solve, or improve something, so when I read the call for candidates–on Reston Now, of course–I thought I might be useful to my community’s leadership.

What are three of the biggest concerns you have for Reston?

Like every other candidate, I am concerned about the potential–although I would say “inevitable,” not just “potential”–negative effects of increased population density, and want to avoid or mitigate them. Our back yard is on Wiehle Avenue, for example, so we now live next to two traffic jams per day during morning and evening rush hours. It had never crossed my mind that Reston might suffer such a thing as a rush hour until that happened. Maybe, with better planning, we can spare some of our residents that fate in the future.

Another concern I have is budget-driven cuts to quality of life components of the Reston experience. I was as annoyed as anyone when pool hours were shortened, for example, even though I admittedly didn’t know enough about the cost-to-usage ratio to have clear grounds to object. Still, that was emblematic of the kind of thing that I hate to see happen in Reston, whatever the reason might be.

The third concern I have is more abstract. It is preparing Reston’s future in the county and the entire DC area. We’ve seen the impact of the Silver Line, so what is the future impact of even more Silver Line? If Amazon chooses Northern Virginia for its second headquarters, what will that mean for Reston? In other words, we have to be ready to contend with probable changes to the overall Northern Virginia environment in order to protect and promote Reston’s special–and I believe it is special–status in that region.

What do you hope to accomplish by being on the board?

I’d like to think I’d be a hardworking, thoughtful team member who accurately and honestly represents the concerns of the people of Reston. What is probably most important to me, however, is that I would hope to reflect the aspirations of our community as we move forward. I don’t think the RA Board’s role is just to protect a way of life or to hold back the forces of change. We should also be a channel for projecting and promoting whatever constitutes positive evolution for the Reston way. Reston is not what it was when it was founded, but that doesn’t mean we throw up our hands or mourn our loss when we can choose to identify and work toward an even better Reston.

How will your personal or professional experience help you in your role with RA?

Maybe the best way to answer this is to copy and paste–unedited– the opening summary of the resumé I use in my rather desultory “second career” job search. Your readers–and, ultimately, Reston voters– can decide if these qualifications and experience are compatible with service on the RA Board.

Former U.S. Senior Foreign Service Officer skilled in leading and coordinating interagency teams to define, promote, and execute U.S. policy while simultaneously directly managing US Government operations at diplomatic posts in Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and Washington. Proven morale builder in difficult environments, guiding diverse groups to cooperate in analysis and reporting of relevant context while developing tactics and strategies to advance specific objectives. Outstanding communicator, comfortably works in several languages and in challenging circumstances, including war. Accustomed to supervising multiple sub-units and managing multi-million dollar budgets. Significant experience working with U.S. military and U.S. businesses. Top secret security clearance.

Click here to view video statements or read candidate statements submitted to RA. 

Photo by Reston Association

Voting in the 2018 Reston Association Board of Directors election will run from March 5 through April 2. This week, we will begin posting profiles on each of the candidates.

Featured here is Andy Sigle, who is facing three other candidates for the at-large seat for a one-year term. The profiles are in a Q-and-A format. With the exception of minor formatting edits, profiles are published in unedited form. Each candidate had an opportunity to answer the same questions in their own words. 

How long have you lived in Reston? What brought you here?

My family moved to Reston from England in 2006 after a six year ex-pat assignment. Our four children were in International Baccalaureate (IB) programs in England, so we looked for schools near my MCI/Verizon assignment in Ashburn that had the IB program, including South Lakes High School (SLHS). My wife and I toured Reston and fell in love with it.   We still love it today.  Over the 11 years my children were at South Lakes, I helped with several organizations including the band, chorus, softball team, drama department, etc.  I was also elected as President of the SLHS Parent-Teacher-Student-Association (PTSA) for 2 terms (2015-2017) and helped create the SLHS PTSA Food Pantry which opened in March 2017.

What inspired you to run for the board?

It was a privilege to serve on the RA Board from 2011-2014, the last two years as board vice-president. I am proud of leading many accomplishments during that term including the championing of the effort to install lights on the Brown’s Chapel #1 baseball field, driving the restructuring of RA financial processes into separate Operating and Repair/Replacement budgets to better plan for our financial future, saving RA thousands of dollars by pushing for an audit firm competitive bid re-selection process, etc.  These experiences will allow me to “hit the ground running” from day one of this shortened one-year term. I feel that is it important that we elect someone with board experience into this abbreviated role, as it can easily take a new board member six months to learn the post.   It has also been helpful, for perspective, to have been away from the Board for a few years.  I am confident that as I did in my previous term, I will bring a needed-now-more-than-ever positive, thoughtful and community-first spirit and demeanor to the next board.

What are three of the biggest concerns you have for Reston?

• Development that is not in line with the updated Reston Master Plan, and delays in implementation of infrastructure that will support new development.  Although Fairfax County government has the responsibility and decision-making authority, RA can work to better influence our County government to live by the Reston Master Plan. For example, we need to fight against the County granting exceptions to the Plan for developers, and we must lobby them to ensure that there is adequate funding to support infrastructure upgrades by the time new development is completed.
• Mission-creep for RA. RA must coordinate with local government agencies, non-profits and for-profit businesses rather than trying to do everything itself.  It is perfectly appropriate for RA to spend time and money on areas that affect Restonian’s quality of life where it can add value, but RA must focus on the items that it has direct responsibility over, such as our physical infrastructure of parks, paths, pools, courts, lakes, dams, etc. “Going it alone” unnecessarily can cause our annual dues to rise higher than is needed.
• Loss of knowledge about and use of our Community’s Founding Principles:  Environmental Stewardship, Diverse Housing Opportunities, Recreational Amenities, Accessibility – walk/bike ability, Planning and Design Excellence, and Commitment to the Arts.  These principles that Mr. Simon laid out as the foundation of our “New Town” have stood the test of time and should continue to be used as the lens by which we plan our going-forward agenda and base our decisions.  We must also educate the thousands of new residents who arrive in Reston in the coming years about these principles so that they remain at our core.  We must use them to continually pursue actions and efforts that pull Reston together as One Reston.

What do you hope to accomplish by being on the board?

• Ensure Reston’s Founding Principles remain the basis for RA agenda-setting and decision-making
• Increase and solidify RA’s influence with Fairfax County on land use (re)development activities and infrastructure in our community – saving our golf courses and open spaces!
• Focus RA funding on the Association’s physical infrastructure (e.g., paths, parks, pools, lakes, etc.), avoiding RA “mission-creep,” and, as such, holding down RA annual dues
• Increase RA and Board transparency efforts and Community Engagement activities

How will your personal or professional experience help you in your role with RA?

I bring 28 years as an executive in the telecommunications industry and experience working in many parts of the Reston Community. I am currently applying that experience in many areas including working part-time at Cornerstones and at the Lake Anne Brew House.  Additionally, I volunteer as chair of the Southgate Community Center Advisory Council, sing in The Reston Chorale, serve on the Reston Historic Trust board, led the SLHS PTSA and helped establish the SLHS PTSA Food Pantry.  Each of these roles are part of a powerful base of people and organizations that will help me address the issues facing our community.  My previous efforts and track record of accomplishment on the RA board and Fiscal Committee set the foundation for me to be effective and productive on the next board term from day one.

Click here to view video statements or read candidate statements submitted to RA. 

Photo by Reston Association

Voting in the 2018 Reston Association Board of Directors election will run from March 5 through April 2. This week, we will begin posting profiles on each of the candidates.

Featured here is Tammi Petrine, who is facing one Julie Bitzer for the three-year South Lakes District seat. The profiles are in a Q-and-A format. With the exception of minor formatting edits, profiles are published in unedited form. Each candidate had an opportunity to answer the same questions in their own words. 

How long have you lived in Reston? What brought you here?

In 1976, my family moved here from a beautiful small town in Illinois when my husband took a job with the FDIC.  On previous visits to the DC area, we had discovered Reston and were SOLD immediately on its diversity, beauty and reputation as a planned community.  When we moved here, Lawyers Road to Vienna was part gravel and forded Difficult Run Stream.  South Lakes had not yet been developed, nor had N. Point.  The Dulles tollway did not exist; Rt. #7 and Lawyers were the main access roads to the New Town.  Reston Town Center (RTC) and Metro were but dreams.  We shopped at the cramped Magruder’s grocery in Vienna, an iconic Washington institution with an international clientele – diversity in Technicolor!  Thriving though the years is the activist, pioneering spirit of Reston, where all are welcomed and robust opinions are expected.  But where we once led the way as the premiere planned community in the world, today we are fighting to keep the character of our unique community alive.

What inspired you to run for the board?

During our 42 years in Reston, I have participated in a variety of community organizations, but became intensely interested in RA when the 2013 Lake Anne land swap occurred.  I was alarmed at irregularities that occurred during that process and later became involved in the debate over RA’s purchase of Tetra.  Looking at both Tetra’s run-down condition and the property’s limitations, I knew instantly it was wildly overpriced.  When the referendum to purchase passed by a narrow margin, I vowed to get to the bottom of how RA members were so misled.  Curious others, also concerned with the radical transformation of our planned community, conducted successful campaigns to be elected to the board.  When two directors resigned this year, two very active community volunteers were appointed.  This allowed a strong new board majority to closely examine RA internal processes.  When the recent independent Callaghan/Gallagher exposé on Tetra was presented, I knew we could not afford to backslide into a situation where special interests could manipulate RA decisions over the well-being of all.  An aging community has many challenges, but our financial and ethical integrity is paramount to serving our membership well over the long term.

What are three of the biggest concerns you have for Reston?

1. Urbanization: Bob Simon’s precious 7 founding principles  are disappearing as development springs up in the corridor and RTC.  The vast majority of Restonians object to recent densification without accompanying infrastructure in these areas. Livability in Reston is endangered, but Fairfax Co. officials are tone deaf to community frustration. A functioning, inclusive suburban planned community is our overwhelming preference.  Every day we worry ‘What is next?’
2. Communication: Understanding who controls what in Reston is frustrating!  Decoding the functions of organizations is tricky, as many overlap or sound similar. Even worse, in a rapidly changing Reston, public lack of awareness advantages developer interests.  While RA and its community partners desperately seek to facilitate understanding, no way exists to communicate efficiently, if members do not sign up for newsletters or critical announcements.  People can empower themselves by providing email addresses to organizations who care and are working hard to serve.
3. Aging Community Assets:  RA must be disciplined in allocating limited resources for upkeep of and accessibility to our commonly owned amenities: pools, courts, fields and trails, etc.  RA’s covenants must be applied consistently to protect the value of all members’ property.

What do you hope to accomplish by being on the board?

Prime goals are:

• Promote RA as the representative of 22,000+ households, each of which has a stake in influencing future development in Reston.  Collectively, members represent a significant political force that is routinely ignored by Fairfax Co., as it seeks to capitalize on Reston’s fine reputation.  However, unrestrained densification without limits and supporting infrastructure threaten our community’s flavor and functioning.  We want to remain a welcoming, caring, diverse planned community!  OUR taxes pay county bills; we want OUR judgments to determine OUR future.
• Continue the complete assessment of all RA departments, processes, programs, projects and internal controls.  One assumes, as a 52 year old organization, RA has sophisticated management systems in place.  Surprisingly, StoneTurn’s 2017 review proved otherwise.  The current new board led by President Hebert & new treasurer Ganesan have accomplished much in a short time; I support the completion of this huge, critical job.
• Promote sound fiscal management of RA.  Although RA cannot be all things to all people, we can chart a holistic analysis of Reston’s many working parts.  We should identify what other entities can fill some of the voids impossible for RA to undertake.  We can and should coordinate with other resources to best serve our members.

How will your personal or professional experience help you in your role with RA?

Reston is a complex puzzle and our history is not always pretty.  For the past 10 years, I have attended 100’s of meetings.  As a Reston Citizens Association (not RA!) board member and Co-Chair of Reston 20/20, I have learned about Fairfax County’s Small Tax District #5 (aka Reston Community Center) and RA.  At the county level, I have interacted with planners or chiefs in most departments.  I have been an outspoken advocate for the rights of Restonians in many issues:

• The Make Reston a Town movement (2007)
• Reston Master Planning including subsequent, continuous rapid-fire zoning amendments that change the density/character of Reston (2009 – present)
• The fight to save Reston National Golf Course (2012)
• Library system degradation (2012 – present)
• Lake Anne land swap (2013)
• Indoor Rec center at Baron Cameron Park (2013)
• Lake Anne Fellowship House redevelopment (2013)
• Tetra/Lake House (2015 – 2018)
• Tall Oaks Shopping Center (2016)
• St. John’s Wood (2016)
• Reston Town Center paid parking (2017)
• Kensington Assisted Living outside of Transit Station Area boundaries (2017 – present)
• Hidden Creek Golf Course preservation pursuant to developer purchase (2017 – present)
• Metro and gridlock (sigh…)

I have been privileged to serve as a member of Reston’s diverse, committed volunteer army and hope to use my knowledge and love of Reston to carry on in service to the residents of RA’s South Lakes District.

Click here to view video statements or read candidate statements submitted to RA. 

Photo by Reston Association

Voting in the 2018 Reston Association Board of Directors election will run from March 5 through April 2. This week, we will begin posting profiles on each of the candidates.

Featured here is Julie Bitzer, who is facing one other candidate for the three-year South Lakes District seat. The profiles are in a Q-and-A format. With the exception of minor formatting edits, profiles are published in unedited form. Each candidate had an opportunity to answer the same questions in their own words. 

How long have you lived in Reston? What brought you here?

January 1980, 38 years ago – Reston just felt right, my “magical Reston” the term I use with family, friends, and co-workers.  And it was close to work in Tysons. A Hunters Woods Deepwood townhome was affordable as a starter home.  Fourteen years later, I moved to my current home of 24 years off the 14th hole of Reston National Golf Course.  

What inspired you to run for the board?

Reston had everything I wanted in a forever home. I had embraced the Bob Simon vision actualized through “Live, Work, Play” and the diversity of Restonians in age, culture, values and economics. I had open natural space and lakes, protected and accessible. I had village centers populated by small businesses within walking and biking distance. And I had a golf course threatened by developers where letting one open space slip away would open the door to more onslaughts and increased population density without promised infrastructure.

So, I put my own skin in the game as South Lakes District Director. Three years later, with still more to be done –  I run to continue working for “us”.

Having active involvement as board liaison on three RA committees –  Design Review Board, Covenants, and Parks & Recreation Advisory, I know where and how we can improve our member service. I’ve supported members navigating the RA process for covenants and design review, clusters’ property & trail access, boat & lake policy, and even commercial redevelopment. One “fight” as director was to ensure the County was held accountable for stream restoration off South Lakes – a long-neglected erosion and safety issue.  Enduring the loss of Tall Oaks Village Center to residential development, I will fight to preserve our South Lakes Village Center, proactively working with RA’s Land Use Development team.

What are three of the biggest concerns you have for Reston?

We stand to lose our sense of community, the very spirit and essence of the Reston vision as we face external forces of growth and fiscal assessment pressure. How can we effectively reach both old and new members, and unite?

RA must deliver a tangible return on our assessment dollars, reflective of our needs and wants. We must continue to seek more efficient and optimal methods to deliver value; yet RA expenditure decisions must not be reduced to a purely monetary business case scenario. Facilities and programs supporting our community and shared experiences could be significantly impacted or eliminated depending on the election outcome – such as our neighborhood walkable pools, our camps, Walker Nature Center, and ad hoc programming by which to enjoy Reston’s amenities.  We’re a non-profit, established to provide services that support a fiscally responsible best quality way of life.

I want all voices in our community to be heard and reflected on our RA board.  A board made up of independent and individual thinkers, contributing to open transparent dialog.

What do you hope to accomplish by being on the board?

In our greater community, there are many opportunities to volunteer and serve.  As an elected RA district director, my direct focus has been and will be on RA’s mission as a homeowner’s association, delivering valued, responsive and continually improving service cost-effectively. My priorities are –

#1 – Giving members what they value. From my conversations, it’s often about member service, making it easier to interact with RA – think Covenants, Design Review, pool & tennis passes. It’s about making sure we maintain and improve facilities – think pools/tennis/fields/trails/pavilions. To date, we have addressed facilities on an individual basis – think Hook Road or Pony Barn. We should evaluate our facilities long term future collectively against RA’s changing demographics.  Tackling this comprehensive analysis in phases, we should start with all pools in 2018 as we are faced with decisions on Thoreau pool’s future beyond the 2018 swim season (to repair, replace, some want to close?)

#2 – Continuing partnerships with grass-roots, citizen-led initiatives, lending support and voice where our RA and community interests align and are impacted by County and external forces. This includes organizations like Rescue Reston for open space, Reston Citizens Association and the Coalition for a Planned Reston (CPR) with its focus on population density and infrastructure support.

#3 – Ensuring RA matures its business processes and operations controls to a standard, best practices level that is comparable to an equally-sized commercial business.  

How will your personal or professional experience help you in your role with RA?

I bring four decades of corporate experience in delivering quality solutions, programs and services to the Federal Government. My sales and marketing background provide strategic and tactical skills in identifying and meeting customer requirements.  My professional and graduate education provide expertise in best practices for business operations and controls. My Masters in Landscape Design supports my work with RA’s Design Review Board. Personally, I thrive in and have demonstrable skill in consensus-building, finding the win-win for all parties involved.

Find more information at facebook.com/Julie4RA.

Click here to view video statements or read candidate statements submitted to RA. 

Photo by Reston Association

After weeks of deferrals, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved a plan to bring a 91-unit assisted living facility to 11501 Sunrise Valley Drive yesterday.

The plan by Kensington Senior Development drew vehement opposition from neighboring residents who argued the building was being shoehorned onto a small site. The facility will bring an end to Good Beginnings School, a childcare program currently on the site.

Cathy Hudgins, the supervisor for the Hunter Mill District, said county officials worked with residents and the developer to reach an amicable solution in response to residents’ concerns. She said stakeholder meetings brought about “agreeable solutions” in response to concerns about the height of the building and screening between the facility and the surrounding residential community.

“I appreciate the cooperation of the community as well as the applicant,” Hudgins said.

Rendering via handout

Since our launch in 2013, Reston Now has been focused on serving our readers and bringing you the local news you need to know about your community.

Last week, we took another step forward by adding a new morning newsletter to our email subscription options.

Supplementing our Afternoon Update, which links to stories published within the past 24 hours, Reston Now AM (example) is a hand-crafted, concise wrap-up of everything you need to know about what’s going on in Reston to start your day.

Designed with busy people in mind, Reston Now AM gets you briefed on your local news, traffic, weather, business openings and events in Reston — plus some other fun things in between — in just a couple of minutes.

At a time when you’re less and less likely to get a complete picture of local happenings from social media, our email subscription ensures that you don’t miss a local headline.

Sign up for free below, or use this link if you’re having difficulty using the form. If you only want to receive one email per day, you can opt out of the morning or afternoon emails.

As Girl Scout cookie season kicks off, there are plenty of places in Reston to satisfy your sweet tooth beginning tomorrow.

Cookies are sold by Girl Scouts of the USA to help fund its local scout units. The fundraising campaign has in effect since 1971.

Here’s a breakdown of local cookie booths in Reston and a Herndon:

• Flippin’ Pizza (11130 South Lakes Drive)
• Ledo Pizza (2254 Hunters Woods Plaza)
• Safeway (11120 South Lakes Drive)
• Potbelly Sandwich Shop (12150 Sunset Hills Road)
• Reston Metro Station (1862 Wiehle Avenue)
• Modell’s (11680 Plaza America Drive)
• Reston Town Center (11900 Market Street)
• Giant Food (1450 North Point Village Center)
• Lucia’s (2531 John Milton Drive)
• Launch Trampoline Park (13348 Franklin Farm Road)
• Giant Food (13330 Franklin Farm Road)
• Worldgate Center (Worldgate Drive)
• Mellow Mushroom (1030 Elden Street)
• Safeway (413 Elden Street)

A complete list, which includes exact opening dates, is online. Orders can also be placed online.

Photo via Girl Scouts USA

This is an op/ed submitted by Terry Maynard, co-chair of the Reston 20/20 committee. It does not reflect the opinions of Reston Now. It was updated on Sept. 27 with an editorial comment about the validity of the claims therein: 

UPDATE:  Mr. Maynard has acknowledged making a serious error in comparing the planned density of Reston’s TSAs to the density of Manhattan.  Specifically, Manhattan’s density is not 26,000 people per square mile, it’s 72,000 people per square mile. Thus, Reston’s TSAs are not planned to become as dense as Manhattan, but could be as dense or denser than all the other New York boroughs.  For more information, see Mr. Maynard’s detailed correction and apology in the comments section of this op-ed.

In a February 5, 2018 letter to Supervisor Cathy Hudgins, the Coalition for a Planned Reston (CPR)–a partnership of the Reston Citizens Association, Reclaim Reston, and Reston 20/20–called on the Supervisor to consider a variety of amendments to the Reston plan and to defer the Board of Supervisors’ plan to officially authorize advertisement of the proposed zoning amendment on March 6.

Given county claims that it needs to move forward with the increased density proposed in the Reston PRC zoning ordinance from 13 to 16 persons per acre because the Reston plan calls for it, the CPR letter and its recommendations focus on managing Reston’s growth in a way that would eliminate the need to increase zoning density.

Among other features, CPR’s recommendations for managing growth call for:

• A maximum population cap in all of Reston of 120,000 four decades from now at a time when its current population is about 62,000. This contrasts with the current plan’s language that would allow 160,000-180,000 people to live in Reston.
• Limiting density throughout Reston–including the Metro station areas–to 60 dwelling units per acre (DU/A) and limiting redevelopment in the Village Centers to the mixed-use areas only at a “neighborhood-serving” 30 DU/A.
• The elimination of special interest language permitting the massive–and inappropriate–redevelopment of the Saint Johns Wood apartment complex.
• The removal of the road that appears on two Reston plan maps across the Hidden Creek Country Club, opening it to development and endangering its future as a major Reston open space.

A second key theme in CPR’s recommendations is to build in assurances that the supporting infrastructure–road and parks especially–keeps pace with development. This is particularly true of the county’s need to acquire space for parks, schools, and other key infrastructure elements. The failure of Reston’s infrastructure to keep pace with recent development so far, including the extremely long lead times for major capital projects, has been a great concern of many Restonians. Part of this includes assurances that proffers generated by development are used in Reston.

The CPR recommendations also focus on assuring that new development is accompanied by a strong commitment to affordable housing, generally calling for developers to provide an onsite allocation of 20 percent affordable housing for each new project.

As these proposals suggest, CPR is anxious to see Reston grow, but to do so in a manner consistent with its creation as a planned community with a grand vision and vibrant planning principles. We believe that Reston’s future ought to continue to be planned and managed, not merely left open to effectively unconstrained commercial development as the current plan allows.

We hope Supervisor Hudgins sees that our proposals are consistent with that legacy and, following up on a meeting of RA and CPR leaders this week, will defer official county action on the PRC zoning amendment proposal. Then we can work with her and county staff to enable Reston to remain one of the world’s great planned communities.

Terry Maynard
Co-Chair Reston 20/20 Committee Member
Coalition for a Planned Reston

Virginia Tech’s soccer team inked a deal with a South Lakes High School senior this week.

Kahlil Dover signed a national letter of intent on Wednesday to play in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

His love for soccer jumped from a family backyard to local clubs where he refined his skills under coaches Ken Duffy, Ben Mork and Kevin McKenna.

For the last two years, he played with Braddock Road Youth Club (BRYC) in Springfield. Under the guidance of coaches Chris Jennings and Brian Welsh, Kahlil said he was pushed to “rise to the next level.”

Dover earned All-Conference Honorable Mention honors last year. With Braddock Road Elite 99, he won a U.S. Youth Soccer National League National Championship, scoring the game’s final goal. He also helped a BRYC team advance to the finals of the 2017 Virginia State Cup.

He said he was especially thankful for his family, friends and coaches. His younger brother and sister “essentially lived on the soccer field since the first weeks they were born,” he said.

During high school, I’ve enjoyed kicking for South Lakes football under Coach Trey Taylor, swinging a golf club under Coach Carol Molesky and playing soccer under Coach Marty Pfister and Coach Fred Kyle. Coach John Pinkman and Steve Baldwin were very helpful to my family and me in navigating college sports recruiting.

When he’s off the soccer field, Kahlil plans to study business and criminal justice.

SLHS rescheduled an official signing for other students this week. A new date has not been announced.

Photo via Margaret Perry

Reston’s African American History Explored — “Rev. LaVerne Gill’s book profiles individuals who went through the struggles of early Reston and still love it and believe in it.” [The Connection]