Here we are at the 4th of July. Things slow down this time of year, sort of in tune with the hot, muggy air. Sitting in lawn chairs across the street from Reston’s Zoofari watching splendid Lake Fairfax fireworks or watching a Nats’ baseball game on the tube seems to be about the right pace of activity for the season. On a more active day, we might perch along the shore of Lake Anne with a fishing line in the water and occasionally pull in a model largemouth bass or crappie.
The hottest Reston topic at this point in summer is Supervisor Hudgins’ urgent proposal to up the zoning density in Reston, from 13 to 16 persons per acre, and much higher in the transit station areas. In fact, rezoning has replaced App-charged parking in Reston Town Center as our number one irritation.
Meanwhile, there is a noticeable stirring at the Reston Association under a new Board of Directors. After all RA’s recent difficulties, I am hesitant to make predictions beyond moving my hope meter up a notch to “cautiously optimistic.” The Board’s June 28 community outreach meeting and President Sherri Hebert’s June district meeting with Lake Anne constituents featured more openness, frankness, and focus than I’ve seen for a long while. Glimmers.
More important, however, are the topics and issues we are hearing discussed by the new Board. A leading example is analysis of the huge amounts spent on lawyers — over $600,000 per year in the last two years — with little to show for it. One proposal includes replacing the current bloated legal services with a competent in-house staff lawyer, an arrangement which in the past served the Association well. There is also talk of tightening the annual budget development process and oversight by the Fiscal Committee. Some basic assumptions, such as the additive nature of requests by every staff component and very generous employee benefit packages are being re-examined. These reforms are overdue and, if carried out, will enable this Board to slow surging assessment increases.
To do so, they will have to stop the bleeding of the Tetra fiasco. That includes putting a stop to further improvements and keeping it open for longer hours to generate needed revenue. Personally, I think talk of selling it is a waste of time. It was on the market for many years and there were no buyers because of its location on a dam in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. We’re stuck with it. However, it is time to close the books on the wrangling over what led to the purchase and subsequent massive cost overruns. The Board should conclude its investigation and any corrective actions indicated as soon as possible. Put this matter behind us and focus on the basics of running the Association.
One of the basics is to make Board management and operations a lot more efficient. Monthly Board meetings are a travesty. They last far too long and seem designed to divert attention from essential policy and management direction. Board meeting packets of 100 - 200 pages are typical. Half consists of multi-page applications for every community volunteer, for example, and more applications if someone wants to be elevated to a committee chair or even vice chair. Ludicrous.
Lastly, the Board is addressing internal ethical lapses. And, I understand it, they intend to complete the long-delayed re-write of ethics policy, and assure that the Board members fully complete conflict of interest statements and that the attorney actually reviews them. Let’s hope the new leadership stays the course.