People who could benefit from an expansion of Medicaid that closes the coverage gap by insuring more of the working poor are found throughout the Commonwealth.

The highest percentages of such persons tend to be in the southside and southwest regions of the state. Impose a map of regions represented by Republicans and Democrats over a map reflecting the highest percentages of the working poor and the two maps are close to identical.

Yet, Republicans who represent areas of great need oppose the expansion of Medicaid, and Democrats who have large numbers of persons but a smaller percentage of those who would benefit from the expansion support it. The historic interest of the two parties explains in part this contradiction, but there are other explanations as well.

Last week, the Fairfax County Park Authority staff held a public meeting at which they laid out the draft Baron Cameron Master Plan, a plan that will guide development of the park for the next decade. It was followed by people, some representing local special interest groups, standing and saying what they wanted (or didn’t want) in the plan. The presentation opened a 30-day public comment period on the draft plan.

But there was no discussion about the plan, no collaborative thinking or problem solving on how Restonians as a community would propose to improve the plan.

Monday evening, all Restonians will have that opportunity at an interactive forum sponsored by RCA’s Reston 2020 Committee. The forum will be held at Buzz Aldrin Elementary School from 7 to 9 p.m.

Reston 2020 will begin by summarizing key aspects of the draft Baron Cameron Park plan. His presentation will focus on the most controversial aspects of the plan:  the off-leash dog park, the option to build a recreation center there, the reduction in rectangular playing fields, and the implications for traffic congestion on Wiehle. 

The forum will then break up into small groups to brainstorm community thinking about the plan, focusing on its strengths, weaknesses, what’s missing, and what the risks are in the plan.  After each group briefly presents its ideas to the re-convened group, everyone will have a chance to help prioritize them. Then, in an open conversation, we will try to arrive at a consensus as to the most important points to make about the plan.

Reston 2020 will follow up by compiling the results and sharing them with the Park Authority as a consolidated community perspective, including listing all the ideas that came out of the small groups, before the end of the 30-day comment period.

The forum aims to provide an abundant opportunity to discuss all the key issues, not just advocate a single-issue position, and reach some community solutions to controversial aspects of the park plan.

This is the community’s last opportunity to provide a Reston perspective on the draft plan. Everyone is encouraged to come to the forum and participate in making Reston’s only district park the best it can be.

Terry Maynard
Co-Chair, Reston 2020

There’s just something about this time of year.  As the days get longer and temperatures start to creep upward from the winter (an unusually long and cold one this year), my mind and body both feel the urge to wander. I don’t know if it’s the shoots of green and flashes of floral color, or if it’s the arrival of baseball’s Opening Day, but I always feel drawn to head outside and celebrate spring at this time of year.

I wrote about the glories of spring at this time last year, and I’ve always enjoyed this season of renewal and rebirth. Last year, I mentioned that RCA was undergoing a rebirth of its own, branching out into new areas and winning community praise for our analysis and advocacy. I’m happy to say that the past year has been a very busy and productive one for us.

We’ve been active on issues from the Master Plan to the proposed RCC rec center to our libraries and more.  We’ve done a great job getting involved in the community conversation on key issues.  We’ve strengthened our relationships with other organizations.

I’m happy to report that RCA is poised for another renewal as we head into this spring.  Our recently-seated new Board members have brought fresh perspectives and new energy to RCA.  We’ve rolled out our Reston 411 series to help our citizens get up to speed on key issues (the first installment is now up on our website). We’re preparing for Reston 2020’s upcoming “ResTown Hall Meeting” on the Baron Cameron Park master plan (happening on Monday, April 7^th at 7 PM at Aldrin Elementary). And we’ve had some recent developments on the Reston-Nyeri Sister City project that I hope to share with you soon.

In short, it’s an exciting time to be involved in RCA, and I’m proud of all the great work we’re doing. The fact that we’re making progress on so many fronts gives me confidence that RCA will remain strong with or without me. Read More

In Virginia, a governor can serve two terms, but the terms cannot be successive. All newly elected governors of Virginia take office at the beginning of a biennial budget cycle where the outgoing governor has proposed a budget for that cycle. Since the General Assembly is considering the budget when the new governor comes into office, the new governor can attempt to influence the legislature’s consideration of the budget.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe took office in early January when the General Assembly was already meeting and was already considering the budget for the next two years as proposed by outgoing Gov. Bob McDonnell. The Republican-controlled House of Delegates refused to consider any budget amendments proposed by Democrat McAuliffe. As it turns out, however, the House and the Senate could not agree on a budget. The General Assembly adjourned without passing a two-year budget to take effect on July 1, 2014.

Gov. McAuliffe immediately called a special session of the legislature to continue work on the budget, and he used the opportunity to propose a budget of his own. The major difference between the budget Governor McAuliffe introduced and the one Gov. McDonnell had proposed that was passed by the House was that McAuliffe included closing the coverage gap through the expansion of Medicaid. It was the proper action for  McAuliffe to take and demonstrated clearly the positive impact that Medicaid expansion would have on the entire state budget.

As Gov. McAuliffe’s budget clearly shows, Medicaid expansion frees up a net of $225 million of current dollars that can be used to give a long-overdue two percent increase for state employees, K-12 teachers and support personnel, and college and university faculty; $17 million for the line of duty act for families of first responders; an additional nearly $9 million for mental health; more than $7 million for pre-K funding and a like amount for land conservation; over $5 million restored to Northern Virginia schools; and other benefits to Virginians.

Most significantly, the Governor’s budget provides medical insurance coverage for up to 400,000 working poor Virginians and brings back to the state $5 million a day in federal taxes paid by Virginians.

Last week in a fraternity-like stunt, the Republican leadership of the House marched across the Capitol with the House passed budget to the Senate Chamber that they knew would be empty as the Senate had adjourned in order to hold public hearings on the Governor’s proposed budget.

The rush down the hall to the Senate was symbolic of the House Republicans’ insistence on passing a bill quickly and without a discussion of a program that absorbs more than 20 percent of the budget. Clearly, they are in a panic about what will happen when the general public becomes aware of the positive implications to the entire budget with an expansion of the Medicaid program.

When compared with the Governor’s budget, the budget pushed through by the House majority is woefully deficient. Though not their intent, it was fitting that the House Republican leaders delivered their budget to an empty Senate Chamber.

Del Ken Plum represents Reston in Virginia’s House of Representatives. He writes weekly on Reston Now.

If you read this column on a regular basis, chances are you like to keep up with Reston community issues. You’re probably better versed on what’s going on than most Restonians. And that’s great; the more citizens that we have who pay attention to what’s happening, the better off we are.

But for a lot of folks, especially in today’s time-pressed and overscheduled society, keeping up with community issues can be a challenge. Between jobs and families and household chores and other duties, something has to give.  Even those who do make an effort to keep up with local issues can’t follow it all. It’s hard to find the time to attend community board meetings, read official documents, and form informed opinions.

This led us at RCA to ask: How can we help?  What can we do to keep our citizens informed in a way that’s quick and easy to follow for time-pressed people?  We produce a lot of information about issues that matter to our community, but not everyone has the time or inclination to read Terry Maynard’s latest 100-page analytical report, or do a deep dive on our website to learn the history of an issue.

That’s why we’re rolling out a new series of white papers entitled “Reston 411.” These papers will contain key facts and figures to help you make informed and educated decisions about local issues that affect Reston’s quality of life or relate to our founding principles. They’re designed as public service announcements in paper form.  It’s an easy way to get up to speed about what’s happening now in our community.

Each paper will focus on a key issue.  Some issues might be dealt with in a single paper; more complicated issues (the Silver Line, for instance) will rate a series of several papers, each one dealing with a particular aspect of the issue.  We plan to tie the series to issues that are active right now in the community, so that you’re learning facts and information you can use right away. Read More

On the 14th of each month, the anniversary of the Sandy Hook tragedy, I join dozens of others at a vigil at the National Rifle Association headquarters in Fairfax to remind everyone of the need for sensible gun safety measures.

After the most recent vigil, I got an email from Erin Nikitchyuk, which I share with her permission to remind us of how we all need to be concerned about this issue.

“I lived in Reston from the age of two and returned after college, settling in Herndon. We landed in New England after graduate school and eventually in the Sandy Hook section of Newtown, Connecticut. It’s a place that reminds us very much of Reston in so many ways. In fact, I know of six other Restonians who ended up here, too. Sandy Hook is very much like a New England version of the Hunters Woods or Lake Anne communities where we have our own “town center” inside the bigger town of Newtown.

I remember your name in the news all the time–it always caught my eye even though I was never very engaged in following politics, especially at a young age. (My maiden name is Pflaum, which is German for Plum, and I always thought how much simpler it would be to just be Plum, too!).

I was the same age as my son is now when you were elected to office. My son, “Bear” as he’s known to just about everyone, was a third-grader last year at Sandy Hook School. On that morning of 12/14, he should have been safe at the back of the school with the rest of the older kids, but he and his classmate had the much-coveted helper assignments of office and cafeteria messengers. He had just dropped off the attendance forms in the office and was turning to head back to class with his classmate when the window a few yards behind them shattered from gunfire. They were shot at and ran down the hall where a teacher broke lock-down to reach out and pull them to safety.  

Today on my Facebook feed, someone had shared the photo of you at this month’s protest on 3/14 in front of the National Rifle Association. I wanted to reach out and thank you personally for being there. It is a brave thing for politicians to take such definitive and public actions on issues, especially divisive ones like guns and especially in a state with a healthy and thriving gun culture.

Our town here still reels from the losses. From my house to just about anywhere I drive, I pass seven homes that should have happy second graders in them and one cemetery with a small stone that should not be there. Many days the mental list of names I unintentionally recite as I pass each house still brings me to tears. No town should be like this. There is not a 14th of the month that goes unnoticed now. We realize it is a rare town that has a tragedy like this, but for many of us it drives home the fact that communities suffer these losses daily, just like a slow-motion mass murder, and they grieve and reel as we do.  

 There are so many common sense things that we can embrace to keep guns only in responsible hands. Thank you so much for standing up with us and doing so publicly, especially standing in front of the organization that works so hard to keep us from common sense change.”

Thank you, Erin, for writing. The issue can affect any of us at any moment.

 Ken Plum represents Reston in the Virginia House of Delegates. He writes weekly on Reston Now.

By Terry Maynard

Things were looking promising last summer for opening the Silver Line. We might actually have Metrorail service in Reston by the end of 2013 as promised repeatedly since the project began.

Then the project timeline derailed, so to speak.

The start of Silver Line operations is now three months overdue and no one involved with the line’s construction is willing even to speculate when service will begin. Press reports say that start-up has been delayed “indefinitely.”  Supervisor Hudgins has said she would be “very disappointed” if operations were not begun by the end of summer. Yet, there is the distinct possibility that the Silver Line won’t open to Reston until 2015—more than a year late. How many millions of dollars over budget and who will pay those sums remain huge unknowns despite contract terms putting cost overruns on the contractor and the project manager, MWAA.

We first got a hint of significant construction schedule issues to come when two test trains knocked handrails and emergency shutoff switches, reportedly installed in the wrong place, off the wall of the rail tunnel in late 2012.  How does a competent contractor on a multi-billion dollar project put handrails and switches in the wrong place? Nonetheless, assurances were given that there was nothing wrong with the tunnel even though an inch of settling in the tunnel floor had been reported a year before these incidents.

And press reports kept dribbling out last spring that there were problems with the line’s Automatic Train Control (ATC) system, including unauthorized changes in the design by its builder, Alstom Signaling. The ATC system controls train movement and ensures proper spacing between trains. The failure of the ATC system on Metro’s Red Line killed nine people and injured dozens more in 2009 when one Red Line train plowed into another.    Neither MWAA nor the contractor would confirm the ATC problems. Read More

According to the Chinese zodiac, 2014 is the “Year of the Horse.”  But in Reston, it seems like it’s shaping up to be the “Year of the Master Plan.”

In February, the Board of Supervisors approved changes to Reston’s Master Plan to allow for mixed-use development around the Silver Line Metro stations.  And now, the County Park Authority is preparing a Master Plan for Baron Cameron Park.

RCA and our Reston 2020 Committee is very interested in what happens at Baron Cameron, particularly in light of the projected athletic field shortage in Reston when the aforementioned mixed-use development is built. But more importantly, we’re interested in hearing what the community has to say.

That’s why Reston 2020 is holding a “ResTown Hall Meeting” on the Baron Cameron plan on April 7. This is your chance to speak out about the proposed changes to Baron Cameron: what you like, what you don’t like, what you think should be added, and what unanswered questions you have.

Read More

At a time when quality reviews and accountability measures result in more activities being given a letter grade, it is appropriate that legislative sessions receive the same treatment.

At the risk of seeming to cop-out, I give the session an “I” for incomplete because we have not yet completed the basic requirement of passing a biennium budget in the even-numbered years. We are back in Richmond in special session now to meet that requirement.

When RCA revived the Citizen of the Year award in 2008, we intended to spotlight the terrific work done by community volunteers who too often go unrecognized. This year’s selection, Kathy Kaplan, definitely falls in that tradition.

I was pleasantly surprised by the number of people who complimented me on our choice. I told them that Kathy deserves the credit —  she’s the one who’s been working for the community for decades. But nonetheless, I was glad to give Kathy some well-deserved accolades at our ceremony Monday night.

Kathy reminds me of our 2011 Citizen of the Year, Nick Brown. Both are modest folks who prefer to work behind the scenes, avoiding the spotlight. I was glad we turned the spotlight on Nick then, just as I’m glad we gave Kathy recognition this time around.

In my opening remarks, I noted that Kathy shows what individual citizens can accomplish through hard work and a dedication to the community’s best interests. If it hadn’t been for her love of libraries and her willingness to pore through long and complicated government documents, we might never have heard of the Beta Plan, the book culling, or the budget cuts to our County library system. It’s easy to believe that individuals are powerless against big institutions; Kathy showed that it’s not true. Read More

In a speech on the floor of the House of Delegates recently, I spoke of experiences I had in my first years as a member when others in the House smoked during the daily floor sessions.

One member was notorious for lighting up a long cigar. A cloud of smoke hung over the House chamber. I explained that I was reminded of that cloud of smoke when in recent weeks I have listened to a series of speeches by members of the majority party explaining why they do not support expansion of Medicaid. You can listen to my speech at http://youtu.be/Vl6Bky8zjWE.

It is Reston Association Board of Directors election season — do you know who your candidates are and where they stand on Reston’s issues?

While several open seats are uncontested, there are five candidates —  incumbent Andy Sigle, Jeff Thomas, Colin Mills, Mason Miller and Michael Mackert — running for a three-year At-large spot, upping the campaign stakes. For the first time in recent memory, candidates have purchased ad space — and one candidate even hired a robocall company to call on his behalf.

Board members are volunteers who generally have fulltime jobs. They represent the members of Reston Association and work together to set policy, craft a budget and serve as a neighborhood liaison, among other things. They must be willing to sit through hundreds of hours of meetings, pay attention to small details of the community and sometimes receive derisive feedback from members.

Past RA election results show that turnout to elect those people is slim. Whether these public awareness methods will work remains to be seen.

Last year’s board elections were all uncontested seats, so that is not a worthy barometer of turnout.

In 2012, five candidates ran for two open At-large terms. Of about 25,000 eligible households, there were 3,798 ballots returned.

When Sigle was elected in 2011, there were five candidates in the race for the At-large seat. He won with 2,527 votes on 3,709 ballots returned, a 14 percent turnout.

Turnout for the neighborhood board seats such as Lake Anne/Tall Oaks or North Point is generally smaller since only the people in that territory are permitted to vote. For instance,  the last time there was a contested neighborhood seat was 2011, where Cheryl Beamer (Hunters Woods/Dogwood) was elected with 845 votes.

Reston Now has been running candidate profiles last week and this week, and there will be a candidates forum Saturday at 10 a.m. at Reston Association Headquarters. Voters were also mailed an RA Voters Guide last week.

Voting is by mail-in ballot or online through the end of March. Winners will be announced on April 8.

Will you vote in the RA election? Do you learn about the candidates beforehand?

Spring and the Silver Line opening both feel a long way away right now. When you’re digging out from the latest snowstorm and reading about MWAA’s declaration that the line isn’t ready for turnover to Metro, it’s hard to convince yourself otherwise.

But believe it or not, we are getting closer to both. In the case of spring, the vernal equinox is on March 20, just a couple weeks away. (The real beginning of spring, baseball’s Opening Day, is a week and a half later.) With the Silver Line, unfortunately, we don’t yet have a firm opening date. But each day that passes brings us closer to both long-awaited events. For now, all we can do is wait.

In the meantime, we can pass the time by preparing for the impacts that the Metro will bring to Reston. The most notable of these is traffic. As RCA has stated repeatedly, new crossings of the Dulles Toll Road are key to easing congestion around the Silver Line stations. And of the proposed new crossings, the Soapstone Connector is the furthest along.

Last month, the County Department of Transportation presented the latest on the Soapstone project to the Hunter Mill Transportation Advisory Committee. RCA Vice President John Hanley attended the meeting, and he gave the Board an update last week. The good news is that the county understands the importance of the project and is moving it along; however, there are a couple of major questions that must be resolved before this important link in Reston’s transportation network can be built.

The last time I wrote about the Soapstone Connector, back in May, the County was evaluating several proposed alignments for the connector. They alignment has now been selected; it’s a hybrid of a couple of the previous options. And on the whole, it looks pretty good.

On the south side, the connector links up with Soapstone Drive, which is a definite plus.  You might have assumed this was a given, since the project is called the “Soapstone Connector,” but several of the alternatives would not have connected to Soapstone.)  The alignment passes through the existing National Association of Secondary School Principals building and generally follows the western side of Association Drive before crossing the Toll Road.

Read More

As one who has worked on human rights issues for many decades, I am excited about the positive changes that are occurring at such a rapid pace in laws and in peoples’ attitudes about sexual orientation, especially same-sex marriage.

Most of the people I talk to under age 30 don’t understand why this is even an issue. Unfortunately, because of some of my colleagues in the legislature, action by federal courts will be necessary to bring about changes in the law. As time passes, there will continue to be residual harsh and discriminatory feelings on the part of a minority who cling to the past as there has been with every advance in civil rights, but most will look back in bewilderment over what people were thinking in refusing to grant the same rights to all people.

Remember a few weeks ago, when I mentioned that RCA planned to fill open seats on the Board? I am happy to report that we received applications from some highly qualified and impressive candidates. At Monday’s Board meeting, we reviewed the applications we received, and interviewed the candidates that applied.

I came away with the same feeling I have when I’m reviewing nominations for Citizen of the Year: I’m really proud of the dedicated and hard-working citizens we have in Reston. I wish we had enough open slots to seat everyone who applied; each candidate has a lot to offer Reston and RCA. But we had only three seats available, and as with Citizen of the Year, we had to make a difficult decision.

But we did make a decision, and we welcomed three new members — Nick Georgas, Yavuz Inanli, and Annmarie Swope — to the Board. I’d like to introduce them here, so you can get to know the people who will be working on your behalf at RCA.

Nick Georgas first learned about Reston when he studied it in college. He was fascinated by what he learned, and he wanted to be part of it himself.  When he found the opportunity to live here, he gladly took it.  I’ve heard some version of this story from many folks who decided to live in Reston. When you combine that with the number of Reston natives (like me) who choose to stay, it’s a testament to the strength of Bob Simon’s vision and what a fascinating and well-planned community we have built together.

Nick is a landscape architect and planner, and he has observed the Fairfax County planning and development process up close.  He followed the discussion over the revised Comprehensive Plan with interest. Like us at RCA, he thought that several parts of the plan could be better from a citizen perspective, most notably the open space that will be provided in the station areas.

RCA has been very involved in land use and planning discussions over the last several years, and Nick allows us to strengthen a strength. We have brilliant analysts like Terry Maynard and Dick Rogers, and plenty of experience on the citizen’s side of the planning process. What we have lacked is engineering expertise and an insider’s view of the process, and Nick helps us out in both areas. I’m really excited to have Nick on board. Read More