Reston Association Having a Bad Year--B.E.G. for Change

The View From Over Here

With a few exceptions, this has not been a good year for the Reston Association. From the great Bocce Court debacle to Ethics issues to questionable Governance proposals, one has to wonder what RA leadership is thinking.

Bocce Court Botched. The RA Board managed to make the addition of a modest, potentially fun amenity—a bocce ball court in the South Lakes area--into quite a divisive issue among neighbors. According to some in what grew to be a hornet’s nest of cluster residents, an RA Board member and open spaces staff failed to notify many affected parties in a timely manner and failed to communicate consistent and accurate information to residents. After appearing to back away from the bungled Bocce plan, RA then decided to approve it. The first Bocce match will pit South Lakes RA Board Rep Richard Chew and the RA open spaces staff against a team of residents from Cabots Point and South Bay Clusters.

Ethics—In a year when ethics questions arose, RA Board members even had difficulty completing the requisite and minimal Conflict of Interest (COI) forms. Some Board members filed unsigned and/or incomplete forms. The oversights and/or errors were not detected since apparently no one bothers to review the COI forms, according to the Reston 2020 Committee which is concerned about ethics issues and decided to look into conflict of interest policy and practice at RA. A Reston 2020 member duly requested copies of the current Board members’ COI forms, then found the apparent oversights. These forms are now available to the community online at www.Reston2020.blogspot.com . CEO Cate Fulkerson wins first place for most complete COI form. Jeff Thomas and a couple of others got honorable mention for mastering the simple, one-page forum. Several members failed to complete the required information.

The CEO promised the forms would be corrected months ago. To date, they have not been. Board President Ken Knueven set Nov. 20 as the deadline for correcting the COI forms. Let’s hope so. Complete, accurate COI forms be required, and it is clear that some independent Ethics oversight is needed at RA.

Governance—A few months ago, someone in the leadership put forth a proposal for the incumbent Board to hand pick slates of candidates for the annual Board elections, provide them RA orientation, and then back them for election. This would amount to a gross stacking of future Boards by the Board. When several residents protested this anti-democratic move, it was quickly withdrawn. However, Board is proceeding to create a “Governance Committee” consisting of President, VP, Treasurer and CEO –leaving out district representation, and concentrating power in a very small group. The revised Board committee plan involves the Board in minutia and micro-management that seems to waste Board time, and would be scorned if it appeared in a public sector work plan.

Don’t even get me started on RA’s handling of the secret land swap deal and favored treatment of the Lake Anne air conditioning monopoly. Plenty of grist for future editions…

HARRIS TEETER is not only anti-union, but also welcomes shoppers packing guns. Thankfully we have stores in Reston which offer better working conditions and a safer shopping environment. No more shopping for us in Harris Teeter.

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