This is an opinion column by Del. Ken Plum (D), who represents Reston in Virginia’s House of Delegates. It does not reflect the opinion of Reston Now.

The year 2020 has been filled with major ups and downs, but nowhere has the good news been clearer than in the Virginia legislature. The General Assembly session in the opening months of the year and more recently the Special Session have been transformative in making the Commonwealth a truly progressive state. The voting system has been made easier and more accessible than ever before. Discrimination in all forms has been outlawed and hate crime laws have been strengthened. ERA was ratified. Laws to end gun violence are now on the books. Minimum wage has been increased and predatory lending heavily regulated. Details on criminal justice reform are still being resolved in the Special Session, but major steps in criminal justice and public safety reform will be taken before the session adjourns.

A major step forward in making Virginia a truly progressive state is up to the voters on November 3. Two successive sessions of the General Assembly have passed a Constitutional amendment to rid the state of gerrymandering, but the amendment needs to be approved by voters before becoming part of the Constitution. The amendment is question #1 on the ballot. I hope you will vote yes.

The subtitle of Virginia historian Brent Tarter’s book Gerrymanders: How Redistricting Has Protected Slavery, White Supremacy, and Partisan Minorities in Virginia (University of Virginia Press, 2019) summarizes the unfortunate consequences of a state that has been a victim of extreme gerrymandering throughout its history. Little wonder that Tarter supports the Constitutional amendment as being long overdue.

The language of the amendment provides protection against racial abuses of the past, saying “Every electoral district shall be drawn in accordance with the requirements of federal and state laws that address racial and ethnic fairness, including the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended, and judicial decisions interpreting such laws. Districts shall provide, where practicable, opportunities for racial and ethnic communities to elect candidates of their choice.”

The director of Princeton University’s Princeton Gerrymandering Project, Dr. Samuel Wang, and colleagues recently wrote that “we are proud to endorse Amendment 1 because never before has the Commonwealth seen such an open and transparent redistricting process. Such citizen involvement will help protect communities that have been split up in the past.”

Political scientists and law professors from Virginia’s leading universities collaborated on an article that appeared in the Richmond Times Dispatch earlier this year in which they wrote, “as scholars of elections and redistricting, we believe this amendment represents an unprecedented opportunity to strengthen Virginia’s democracy–one that we cannot afford to miss.”

David Daley, senior fellow with the elections think-tank Fair Vote and an author of books on the subject wrote in the Washington Post that “politicians usually do a lousy job of regulating themselves. But if this (Amendment # 1) moves forward it would be the strongest set of redistricting reforms to ever emerge from a state legislature in American history.

Amendment # 1 is a big deal for democracy in Virginia. It is controversial for those who see themselves as losing power, but it is time to put gerrymandering on the trash heap along with Jim Crow laws and granite monuments. The decision is in the public’s hands. Please vote yes!

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Before we head off into another weekend with COVID-19 abound, let’s take a look back at the biggest stories on Reston Now in recent days.

1. BREAKING: Woman Shot and Killed in Reston
2. EYA Breaks Ground on Reston Midline Project
3. Fairfax County Board to Consider Proposal to Ban Firearms in County Areas
4. Cigar Town to Open New Location in Herndon Next Week
5. Best Buy in Reston to Close Next Month

If you have ideas on stories we should cover, email us at [email protected] or submit an anonymous tip.

Feel free to discuss these topics, your social distancing plans or anything else that’s happening locally in the comments below.

Image via Google Maps

Eight candidates are running for six seats on the Herndon Town Council for the 2021-2022 term. This week, Reston Now will publish candidate statements, which are edited for typos and formatting only. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Featured here is Stevan Porter. 

This is an opinion column by Del. Ken Plum (D), who represents Reston in Virginia’s House of Delegates. It does not reflect the opinion of Reston Now.

The House of Delegates is probably half-way through its virtual Special Session. At least the House has debated all the bills introduced by its members with the exception of the budget that is always last to be considered. Those bills have been sent to the Senate and await their consideration while the House will now begin deliberations on the bills the Senate has passed.

As I have indicated in recent columns this Special Session has been a busy one as Special Sessions go. Even more unusual, it has been conducted for the first time ever in a virtual environment. The House has passed 37 bills, all of which are of considerable importance and consequence. These bills will fund safe and secure alternatives for Virginia voters to return absentee ballots during the upcoming 2020 general election, implement housing protections for Virginia families negatively impacted by COVID-19, ban the use of no-knock warrants and neck restraints, require law enforcement officers to intervene or report when they see wrongdoing from colleagues, and streamline the process for localities to remove, relocate, or alter Confederate statues and other war monuments on public property.

To understand fully what some of the bills, described here in generalities, will do, go to https://lis.virginia.gov to review the specific language and provisions. To make voting easier during the pandemic, HB5103 permits localities to establish ballot drop-off locations, supports pre-paid postage for absentee ballots, and makes it safer and easier to vote absentee. HB5116 requires large employers to provide limited paid quarantine leave for Virginia workers. HB5028 establishes a presumption of worker compensation eligibility for first responders, teachers, and other high-risk essential workers who die or become disabled due to COVID-19. HB5047 combats price gouging for personal protective equipment. There were other COVID-related bills.

Some of the bills passed in the House in the area of police and criminal justice reform are far reaching. HB5013 eliminates qualified immunity for law enforcement officers. HB5043 created a statewide Marcus Alert system for those in a mental health crisis. HB5045 bans sexual relations between officers and arrestees. HB5058 eliminates certain pretextual police stops. HB5049 demilitarizes police departments by prohibiting the acquisition and use of certain weapons by police departments. HB5090 expands disclosure of law enforcement criminal incidence information files for closed or cold cases under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. HB5148 increases earned sentence credits for incarcerated persons. HB5099 prohibits the use of no-knock warrants. HB5146 reforms state law related to expungement of police and court records. HB5069 bans the use of neck restraints by law enforcement. HB5098 expands the definition of hate crimes to include false 911 calls. HB5109 standardizes and enhances training by criminal justice academies and establishes required in-service training standards for law enforcement officers.

These are some of the bills that have passed the House at half-time. All have been subject to compromises of the legislative process and require a careful review of the current text to understand their implications. They are still subject to the scrutiny of the State Senate, possible conference committee action, and signature of the Governor.

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Eight candidates are running for six seats on the Herndon Town Council for the 2021-2022 term. This week, Reston Now will publish candidate statements, which are edited for typos and formatting only. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Featured here is Pradip Dhakal. The remaining candidates did not respond to a request for submissions.

What would your top three priorities be as a council member? 

My top priorities are:

1. Housing options: including bringing affordable and workforce housing in the town

2. Transparency: making the processes and decisions transparent to the public.

3. Diversity and Inclusion: making the town government, boards and commissions more diverse by community outreach.

What is the top challenge the town faces currently and how do you aim to address it? 

With the Silver Line Metro coming, the developments including the Herndon Transit-Oriented Core (HTOC) and Transit Related Growth (TRG) area serve both the biggest opportunities as well as the biggest challenges. How we define and inspire growth in this area translates into long term fiscal viability/sustainability. By attracting businesses and employers, by providing diverse housing options to people and thus by collecting more revenues for the town, we can, in turn, invest in the neighborhood by enriching quality of life through various services we can offer.

What legislative matters or proposals do you hope to bring forward on the council? 

There are many guidelines, ordinances and regulations in the town which are less relevant than when they were initially adopted. It’s time to conduct independent studies as well as surveys to find out how these guidelines and ordinances can be updated or amended to better serve the current needs. This includes zoning ordinances, HPRB guidelines and many others.

How does your background uniquely position you for this position?

I am already serving my first term as a councilman. This tenure has enabled me to learn the processes, the challenges and the opportunities. My constant outreach and engagement with the constituents for the past two years have given me great knowledge on what people need/want. I have served in leadership positions in various organizations which has given me a strong passion to listen, to learn, to serve, to implement changes and to inspire the transformations.

The Town of Herndon is poised for transformation as Metro and the redevelopment of downtown Herndon is underway. What is your current assessment of progress made so far? How do you hope to continue ensuring the development occurs in a timely and productive manner? 

As I mentioned above, the metro and downtown redevelopment offers great opportunities for us to attract diverse people, unique businesses and employers in town. I think we are little behind in terms of making the infrastructure ready, attracting investments and making ourselves ready for the change/opportunities. The downtown development is already underway. There is not much we can do now. But I will make sure we break the ground soon.

Photo via Pradip Dhakal

Eight candidates are running for six seats on the Herndon Town Council for the 2021-2022 term. This week, Reston Now will publish candidate statements, which are edited for typos and formatting only. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Featured here is Signe Friedrichs. 

What would your top three priorities be as a council member? 

• Economic Recovery from Coronavirus
• Redevelopment of Downtown and Arts Center
• Transportation (public, multi-modal)

What is the top challenge the town faces currently and how do you aim to address it?

Top Challenge: Financial security–providing basic services while tax revenues plummet because of residents and businesses distress.

Solutions: Prioritizing spending, maintaining reserves and deploying county resources when possible to maintain status quo without layoffs or decreasing services.  

How does your background uniquely position you for this position?

I have served the town in many capacities. I have lived in Herndon since 1996. I have been an academic, a military spouse, a small business employee, a membership relations manager for the local chamber of commerce, and the executive director of a nonprofit. I know business owners, and Herndon residents and can represent them well. I love Herndon’s small town feel and community cohesion.

Metro Development Progress

We understand that the new metro station will be opening in Herndon this winter. Projects already funded, mainly by the State and County, will mean that building bus bays, bike lanes, sidewalks, and traffic abatement systems are underway. In addition, several attractive redevelopment projects for the 1970s and 80s style office buildings on Herndon Parkway are proposed by the developers who own them. Herndon is seen as the next part of the County to “take off”, and we want to make sure we have the infrastructure to support redevelopment on that side of the town. Rest assured, though, the neighborhoods and downtown should remain small, intimate and communal in keeping with Herndon’s personality.

Photo via Signe Friedrichs

Eight candidates are running for six seats on the Herndon Town Council for the 2021-2022 term. This week, Reston Now will publish candidate statements, which are edited for typos and formatting only. Statements are published in the order in which they are received. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Featured here is Cesar del Aguila.

What would your top three priorities be as a council member? 

My top priorities are: full council decision transparency, new housing options, budget, and new town branding.

What is the top challenge the town faces currently and how do you aim to address it? 

Prioritizing the budget for the next ten years will be paramount. What we save and cut will impact services delivered and future initiatives. This will be the most important issue the new council will face. We must find areas to save taxpayer dollars and find new sources of long-term revenue.

What legislative matters or proposals do you hope to bring forward on the council? 

Major changes to the HPRB are desperately needed. Too many residents are being impacted and the ordinances need to be updated. We are creating a district where only wealthy individuals can afford to maintain their homes to a standard that is outdated. I would like to see the HPRB modified with input from the actual residents that live in the district.

I want to create an environment where new development provides a wider range of housing product options to include; workforce, studios, senior living and affordable units. We have several projects in the future and can address these needs if we value and commit to providing homes for everyone who wants to call Herndon home.

How does your background uniquely position you for this position?

I spent years in various positions with large businesses in executive roles. I understand leadership, at times, requires telling people what they need to hear, versus what they want to hear. I come from communities that invested in public schools and affordable housing. I have heard from many residents and what they desire for Herdon’s future. Change is happening and our growth depends on how well we leverage our resources to capture new businesses, residents, and investors. I welcome all views, listen to new ideas, and value the contrarian view.

The Town of Herndon is poised for transformation as Metro and the redevelopment of downtown Herndon is underway. What is your current assessment of progress made so far? How do you hope to continue ensuring the development occurs in a timely and productive manner? 

I think we are behind in terms of what we could have had. It appears previous councils decided not to look into long-term investments and leverage our town resources. It seems previous councils were waiting for projects to come to Herndon. I would have invested in large projects over the past twenty years. I would have created line items in the budget and partially funded large projects through special revenue allocations versus bonding all costs. Pay a little as we go. I understand bonding projects benefit residents in the future that can utilize new infrastructure, however, I believe we have an obligation to pay a little now, so we don’t fully burden future residents with all the project costs. I believe sharing benefits and costs.

Photo via Cesar del Aguila

Eight candidates are running for six seats on the Herndon Town Council for the 2021-2022 term. This week, Reston Now will publish candidate statements, which are edited for typos and formatting only. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3.

My name is Clark Hedrick and I’m running for the Herndon Town Council. I’m asking for your vote on November 3rd because I want to bring Herndon together; to build on our strengths and to fix what needs fixing. We’re living through one of the most challenging moments in our community’s history–local government has never been more important.

I am well-qualified for the task which will be entrusted to the next Council. As a member of Herndon’s Board of Zoning Appeals, I’ve worked with residents and Town officials to resolve zoning matters. I also have extensive experience working with local governments including issues of tax, business licensing, communications infrastructure, and civil disputes. I’ve devoted my career to improving government transparency, oversight, effectiveness, and responsiveness. If elected, I will bring those values to the Council. As an active member of the community, I’m committed to seeing our Town emerge stronger from this crisis.

Like many local governments, the next Herndon Town Council term will be dominated by responding to the economic and financial impact of COVID. Until the full scope is understood, the Council must exercise extreme fiscal restraint to preserve essential services and protect Town employees. The Council must also review its land use and business licensing code to reduce regulatory burdens and costs. If the budget permits, I would like to lead the Council in declaring a Meals Tax holiday to help our small business owners and patrons, and to jump start the local economy.

More broadly, Herndon is at a crossroads. As Fairfax County (and Loudoun) develops around us, the Town must work to preserve its historic and small-town feel. Likewise, Herndon will be more connected than ever before with the opening of the Herndon Metro Station–our challenge is to make sure that the Town remains an affordable and accessible place for families, retirees, and individuals at every stage of life. We benefit from being one of the most diverse communities in the region–we need to ensure that we will continue to enjoy that benefit for decades to come.

We are an epicenter of opportunity, with countless small businesses and Fortune 500 employers right here in town. We are home to Virginia’s most engaged and hard-working citizens. But more importantly, if the last few months have proven anything, it’s that we look out for each other in times of need–I am proud to be your neighbor.

You can learn a little bit more about me, my family, and my commitment to bringing Herndon together by visiting www.ClarkHedrick.com. And I want to hear from you so please connect with me on social media either at Facebook (@herndontogether) or Twitter (@clarkhedrick). I’d be honored if you voted for me, Clark Hedrick for Town Council on November 3rd.

Photo via Clark Hedrick

Before we head off into another weekend with COVID-19 abound, let’s take a look back at the biggest stories on Reston Now in recent days.

1. Best Buy in Reston to Close Next Month
2. Fairfax County Sees Over 400 New COVID-19 Cases Per Week in Mid-August
3. Facing Lawsuit, Balducci’s to Close Reston Town Center Location
4. Two Alternatives On the Table for Soapstone Connector
5. Fairfax County Board to Consider Proposal to Ban Firearms in County Areas

If you have ideas on stories we should cover, email us at [email protected] or submit an anonymous tip.

Feel free to discuss these topics, your social distancing plans or anything else that’s happening locally in the comments below.

Image via Google Maps

This is an opinion column by Del. Ken Plum (D), who represents Reston in Virginia’s House of Delegates. It does not reflect the opinion of Reston Now.

The most important election of my lifetime is coming up on November 3, and I am not even on the ballot! It is likely the most important election in your lifetime as well. Yet, if past practices hold true, we will in the United States have one of the lowest voter participation rates in the world. We simply cannot have people deciding to stay home when the future of our basic form of government may be at stake. (No, I am not overstating the seriousness of what we are facing this election day!)

There are no good excuses for not voting. As an editorial last week in the Washington Post stated, “Virginia has gone from laggard to leader in making it easy to vote.” You can vote on Election Day November 3 at your usual polling place following the rules of the pandemic of wearing a face mask and keeping social distance. Alternatively, you can vote early at designated locations and times, or you can cast an absentee ballot with no excuse needed by postage-paid mail or dropped in designated ballot drop boxes. All this begins on September 18. Details are available at https://www.elections. virginia.gov/casting-a-ballot.

Historically Virginia has been a laggard in making it easy and convenient to vote. In fact, most voting laws in the past had the intention of making it difficult for most and impossible for some to vote. After the Civil War and Reconstruction, white supremacists who took control of the government passed laws with the publicly announced purpose of keeping Black people from voting. Some poor whites met the same fate. Virginia had the lowest rate of voter registration and participation in the country and the world with these laws that were part of the Jim Crow movement.

The first challenge in voting in Virginia in the past was getting yourself registered, if you could find the voter registrar who was part of the governing machine and not readily accessible. Registration was by a blank sheet process whereby you were required to supply on a blank sheet seven specific pieces of information exactly in the order they were required in the state constitution. Stories abound about college-educated Black or progressive persons who could not pass the literacy test to vote because of the ways the requirements were manipulated.

Once registered to vote in the Virginia of the past you were required to pay a poll tax to cast your ballot. The $1.50 was a problem for some, but the greater problem was remembering and meeting the requirement of paying the tax at least three years in a row six months before the election. Only the party faithful received a reminder.

See why I say there is no excuse for not voting this year?! It could not be easier. Make sure that you, your friends and neighbors are registered, in person or on-line, by the deadline of October 13. Make a plan to vote that you will keep: vote early in-person or by absentee ballot or on election day. No excuses!

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School is starting again for kids in the Tysons area, leading parents and educators to not just focus on possible health risks from COVID-19, but also from students who haven’t gotten their required vaccines.

Even though it’s starting the new school year off virtually, Fairfax County Public Schools is requiring all of its students to be up-to-date on required immunizations.

Earlier this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found indications that fewer kids are getting immunizations — possibly due to parents’ worries that their kids will catch COVID-19 at the doctor’s office.

In addition to COVID-19 concerns, some parents are now worried if vaccine-preventable diseases pose a new threat from unvaccinated kids, National Geographic reported.

The CDC said in July that health care providers seem to have the capacity to give kids their routine vaccinations.

Fairfax County officials are urging parents to get their kids vaccinated. This summer, the county expanded its number of community childhood vaccination clinics and the hours for the clinics offering the school-required Tdap vaccine.

Let us know in the poll and comments below if your kids have all their required vaccinations for the new school year.

Photo by Charles Deluvio on Unsplash

This is an opinion column by Del. Ken Plum (D), who represents Reston in Virginia’s House of Delegates. It does not reflect the opinion of Reston Now.

Today, August 26, is Women’s Equality Day commemorating the 1920 adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution which prohibits the federal and state governments from denying the right to vote to citizens of the United States on the basis of sex. August 26, 1920–just 100 years ago–was the day when Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby signed the proclamation that the required number of 36 states had ratified the amendment.

From the 1776 idea that “all men are created equal” to allowing women to vote was a long time coming with the real push for women’s suffrage coming about fifty years before it happened. The first women’s rights convention in the history of the United States was held in 1848 in Seneca Falls, New York, but it took many marches, petitions, and protests outside the White House, imprisonments and hunger strikes before the amendment passed Congress and was ratified just as the country emerged from another pandemic. The dedication of the Turning Point Suffragist Memorial at the location of the former Occoquan Workhouse in Northern Virginia where 120 women protesters were imprisoned was to have been dedicated this month but has been delayed with the pandemic. (https://suffragistmemorial.org/)

Virginia turned down an opportunity to be part of ratifying the Nineteenth Amendment by the General Assembly voting against it on February 12, 1920 but did get around to ratifying it on February 21, 1952. The Virginia Association Opposed to Woman’s Suffrage actively worked against the amendment using a familiar argument–“Woman Suffrage: The Vanguard of Socialism.” A 1910 broadside of the organization now in the collection of the Virginia State Library used the argument that “If you hold your marriage, your family life, your home, your religion, as sacred, dear and inviolate, to be preserved for yourself, and for your children, for all time, then work with all your might against Socialism’s vanguard–Woman’s Suffrage.” In another publication by the same organization the argument was made that “Women cannot have the franchise without going into politics, and the political woman will be a menace to society, to the home and to the state.”

Virginia was late also in ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment whose provisions include a guarantee that “equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” Congress approved the amendment in 1972 with a deadline for ratification by 1979, later extended to 1982. Numerous attempts by me and others to get Virginia to ratify the ERA failed until the outcome of the elections in 2019 resulted in enough new members elected to make Virginia the 38th and last state needed to make ratification a part of the Constitution, but the issue of the deadline remains to be resolved.

Virginia has been too slow in responding to issues of human rights in the past, but I look forward to reporting to you in coming weeks on the progress being made in erasing racial inequalities in the Special Session of the General Assembly now underway.

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After delays due to the coronavirus pandemic, several new films are hitting the screens at newly-reopened movie theaters.

“Tenet,” “Wonder Woman 1984” and “Bill & Ted Face The Music” are some of the films poised to hit theaters soon.

AMC Worldgate 9 in Herndon is set to reopen Thursday (Aug. 27).

Gov. Ralph Northam forced movie theaters to close in the spring, but under Phase Three, which started July 1, movie theaters can open at 50% capacity.

Let us know in the poll and comments below if you are comfortable heading to movie theaters.

Photo by Corina Rainer/Unsplash

Before we head off into another weekend with a stay-at-home order in effect, let’s take a look back at the biggest stories on Reston Now in recent days.

1. Cloud Company Relocates West Coast HQ to Reston
2. COVID-19 Cases Holding Steady in Fairfax County
3. Presentation on ‘Reston Town Center 2.0’ Set for September
4. Playa Bowls to Open in Reston Town Center in 2021
5. Route 7 Widening On Track to Finish By Summer 2024

If you have ideas on stories we should cover, email us at [email protected] or submit an anonymous tip.

Feel free to discuss these topics, your social distancing plans or anything else that’s happening locally in the comments below.

Photo via Playa Bowls

Since 2013, Reston Now has been reporting news about the Reston and Herndon areas. Recently, we started providing additional coverage of Great Falls.

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