tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412900754136064810.post2364086015394661156..comments2024-02-29T14:00:40.184-05:00Comments on Restonian: News blog from Reston, Virginia, the mauve-colored New Town (tm): Another Week, Another Non-Partisan Partisan RA Board EndorsementRestonianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15519884797760354007noreply@blogger.comBlogger118125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412900754136064810.post-56864815257612413502010-03-15T12:23:28.323-04:002010-03-15T12:23:28.323-04:00Cathy Hudgins is a lovely, law abiding citizen who...Cathy Hudgins is a lovely, law abiding citizen who cares for her community. She'a also a very gracious lady!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412900754136064810.post-58722098967137312442010-03-11T22:20:25.910-05:002010-03-11T22:20:25.910-05:00HCKD - Anon 12:17 is NOT Cathy Hudgins. Just a hum...HCKD - Anon 12:17 is NOT Cathy Hudgins. Just a humble Restonian. Don't blame Ms. Hudgins for what Anon 12:17 wrote. She probably doesn't agree with all of it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412900754136064810.post-75985489570819954042010-03-11T14:16:29.188-05:002010-03-11T14:16:29.188-05:00Wow,
Your ears must have been burning.
Kudos for...Wow,<br /><br />Your ears must have been burning.<br /><br />Kudos for dropping into the filthy web-log.HCKDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412900754136064810.post-54326938132802344072010-03-11T12:17:43.130-05:002010-03-11T12:17:43.130-05:00Anon 9:40, 9:41 & 10:11 - the paranoid style o...Anon 9:40, 9:41 & 10:11 - the paranoid style of hoa politics on full display.<br /><br />It is not RA's job to enable your real estate speculation. That may be what some other hoas view as their primary purpose but you live in RESTON: founded in the middle of Virginia's "massive resistance" crisis, its originating principal being that people of multiple ethnicities, socio-economic levels and ages can live, work and play in one community. Advancing those principals is RA's job not maximizing the price on your resale. You want that other approach move to South Riding or Broadlands. <br /><br />Doing its job requires RA to engage in the decisions that government officials make about Reston, like what will the redevelopment around the Metro stations look like.<br /><br />If redevelopment around the Metro stations doesn't include workforce housing, then even more of the people who work in the to be built office buildings and retail shops will be commuting from Harrisburg, Martinsburg and Winchester as many in the existing offices buildings along the Toll Road do already. That would mean even more cars on the too few roads Reston has.<br /><br />Every other hoa in Nova gets involved in land use and other politics. With Hunter Mill containing over 110,000 people, there is no way each of us could communicate our preferences directly to the Supervisor. No matter who it was. So all supervisors in Fairfax, Loudoun and PWC reach out to the hoas to determine the community's preferences.<br /><br />For more than 50 year FFX has pursued a land use policy of exclusion, except in Reston which had a very different ethos. That's why the average density in the County at large is only 2,500 people per square mile while Reston which has 6,500 which is closer to to the density of Arlington at 7,300 and Alexandria at 8,400. Since FFX is mostly built out, the land use patterns we see today aren't going to change on a county wide basis. Thus, no low and moderate income housing in Great Falls, Oakton, Mason Neck or Clifton. For that we can thank, Jean Packard and Audrey More among many others. <br /><br />BTW it's Cathy Hudgins.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412900754136064810.post-59252700095542330132010-03-11T10:11:20.720-05:002010-03-11T10:11:20.720-05:00RA is a homeowners assoc. They are charged with m...RA is a homeowners assoc. They are charged with maintaining and enhancing our home values. They have completely lost focus. Richard Chew who is the democratic party precinct captain for his district is turning the RA into a sock puppet for Kathy Hudgins. Richard is trying to elect a slate of candidates who will support him in his bid to be RA President. We should be outraged. The RA is a homeowners assoc. The money we pay is dues, not tax. They are not a government. They need to stay out of government and politics.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412900754136064810.post-77987790424575146492010-03-11T09:41:47.578-05:002010-03-11T09:41:47.578-05:00Oh and I forgot to mention our illustrious RA Boar...Oh and I forgot to mention our illustrious RA Board is writing a letter to the county begging them to add more low-cost housing in RCIG. Now as a home owners association, who are supposed to be protecting our home values, why would they do that?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412900754136064810.post-12763420545191949652010-03-11T09:40:02.032-05:002010-03-11T09:40:02.032-05:00Speaking of Kathy Hudgins she wants to make sure t...Speaking of Kathy Hudgins she wants to make sure that they put more low cost housing in RCIG because she wants to ensure that the dems will control the area. I vote mostly democratic, however as a resident of Reston I think we have more than our share of low-cost housing. You don't see them trying to put more low cost housing in Great Falls, because the residents wouldn't stand for it, because they want their homes to retain their property value.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412900754136064810.post-86352391964121914782010-03-11T09:00:54.294-05:002010-03-11T09:00:54.294-05:00Rod, I liked your last two posts. When you stay o...Rod, I liked your last two posts. When you stay on topic, as opposed to your drifting off in a stream of consciousnes style, you can make good points.<br /><br />Just think, at the new meeting there will be more coffee, cake, cookies, Sharpies, and name stickers. It reminds me of when I worked in the federal government. Very few people gave a damn about being cost-conscious and using money wisely, because it wasn't directly their money with which they were playing.<br /><br />I'm now waiting to see if we all get a postcard from the RA reminding us to vote, a mailing that will cost a couple of thosunad dollars in postage alone.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412900754136064810.post-21876169460176879012010-03-11T08:58:02.047-05:002010-03-11T08:58:02.047-05:00The only beneficiaries of Hudgins are Section 8 te...The only beneficiaries of Hudgins are Section 8 tenants. We are getting more and more of them all the time. Don't forget that the county bought the Crescent complex (not exactly world class architecture) and is attempting to "preserve" it for the Section 8 masses flocking to Fairfax County's gold-plated benefits.<br /><br />Meanwhile. Lake Anne continues to fester and decay after years (almost a decade now) of "charettes" (yes, just another stupid government word for meeting).<br /><br />there's no shopping nearby, the buses will be cancelled and we we will be stuck with marooned section 8 tenants at Lake Anne---<br /><br />Lovely Reston!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412900754136064810.post-52293795689737725602010-03-11T08:11:02.548-05:002010-03-11T08:11:02.548-05:00Let me tell you something about these people. They...Let me tell you something about these people. They announce with great excitement that there is going to be yet another MEETING! A new Meeting to produce NEW jargon about the master plan as if producing jargon about the master plan is going to be somehow useful. And that's basically the point of vies especially the RA/Chew three, David Robinson, Kevin Danaher, and Mike Collins.<br /><br />And let me tell you another thing. Every thing from Cathy Hudgins has a never done any good....for Reston! Cathy Hudgins nixed the town plan. That's why we are in all of this mess. And it's going to be bad.<br /><br /> We have a subway coming here with no way to get to it. There will not be sufficient places to park and the buses are being canceled.<br /><br />Cathy Hudgins supervised the "renovation" of Lake Ann and it's going to hell. We are all going to hell in a hand cart and Cathy Hudgins is pushing us there!Rod's Sharpening Service or Sharpening in Restonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01869788632442156971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412900754136064810.post-34993672849902225192010-03-11T06:00:52.036-05:002010-03-11T06:00:52.036-05:00Let me say this. I am a fan of lowering the the an...Let me say this. I am a fan of lowering the the annual assessment. Go through the budget and eliminate things that cost money to citizens. At the meeting last night large urns of coffee were produced along with cake and cookies. A staff person appeared and set up a large camera to record Paul's rambling talk about the master plan. A new case of Sharpies and new box of name stickers were put out. Someone went out to Office Depot to get them. This was at some expense. Would the citizens of Reston be willing to not have this expense and have lower annual fees? I think most people would.-Rod KoozminRod's Sharpening Service or Sharpening in Restonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01869788632442156971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412900754136064810.post-37848458712918335132010-03-11T00:19:48.755-05:002010-03-11T00:19:48.755-05:00I heard about that condo lawsuit against the RA an...I heard about that condo lawsuit against the RA and smyers. It will sure be interesting.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412900754136064810.post-51726918467513514682010-03-10T21:29:52.889-05:002010-03-10T21:29:52.889-05:00Anonymous said...
There is a meeting tonight at 7...Anonymous said... <br />There is a meeting tonight at 7 pm at the Walker Nature Center about what the master plan revision means to you and your neighborhood. Hosted by Paul Thomas of RA Board. Open mike. Community meeting. Better to go late than not go at all.<br />_______<br /><br />I did go but would be hard put to explain exactly what was said.<br /><br />Remember the Washington Post on New Years day?<br /><br />In: with concise communication<br />Out: with endless meetings and jargon<br /><br />I meet earlier in the week one resident of Heron House walking his dog. He lamented that even though he went to numerous meetings regarding the Lake Ann revitalization including a County $100,000 study on the matter. Yet in the end nothing seemed to help and now he can think of nothing to help Lake Ann. He feared the same fate would come of the current talk about the Master plan. -Rod KoozminRod's Sharpening Service or Sharpening in Restonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01869788632442156971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412900754136064810.post-31432367475812425962010-03-10T20:13:46.971-05:002010-03-10T20:13:46.971-05:00richard chew is a two-bit fool --- he can eat his ...richard chew is a two-bit fool --- he can eat his own dog food all he wants, but no one with any intelligence will believe his abominable attempt to re-write history. <br /><br />smyers thinks that he will be the next ra president --- but his own words will surely doom him.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412900754136064810.post-79977172260745752112010-03-10T20:01:09.801-05:002010-03-10T20:01:09.801-05:00Hmmm, Richard Chew comes up for re-election next y...Hmmm, Richard Chew comes up for re-election next year. Let's see how his arrogance works for him then.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412900754136064810.post-91905355082739457272010-03-10T19:27:24.642-05:002010-03-10T19:27:24.642-05:00In Richard Chew's latest letter to the editor ...In Richard Chew's latest letter to the editor he states:<br /><br />Beyer asserts the RA Board “promoted construction of the $100 million Brown’s Chapel recreational facility.” Since he knows there was never any RA Board action in support of the conceptual facility, I can only assume Beyer knows his statement to be false.<br /><br />I think we need to remind Richard of the facts. The facts are the Ra board paid for a $100,000 consultants report produced for the purpose of justifying construction of a rec center. They also authorized engineers to develop site plans for a rec center at Browns Chapel Park. They participated in a joint task force with RCC that made many decisions about the rec center before anyone in Reston knew anything about it.<br /><br />Like any public figure involved in such a fiasco Richard is now attempting to rewrite history and he is arrogant enough to think he can get away with it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412900754136064810.post-89536242240796903942010-03-10T19:20:35.930-05:002010-03-10T19:20:35.930-05:00I heard that a Reston condo is putting together a ...I heard that a Reston condo is putting together a lawsuit against the RA and Symers. <br /><br />The condo apparently have hired one of the best attorneys in town and will be filing the suit around the time of the RA annual meeting and before Smyers steps down -- or maybe the day after she steps down so she will not be defended by the RA and will have to pay for her own attorney. <br /><br />Anyone heard anything about this?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412900754136064810.post-44463132906175719762010-03-10T19:10:32.171-05:002010-03-10T19:10:32.171-05:00Darn it --- I wanted to be 100, but oh well, there...Darn it --- I wanted to be 100, but oh well, there was a 101st dalmatian, so that shall be me.<br /><br />In any case, we are not done --- we have to tar and feather Smyers before she leaves Reston -- hopefully we can keep her out for good and add her name to the <br /><br />Reston hall of shame.<br /><br />Why is it that in Reston we have tree limbs and stups lining our "parkways," but in Columbia, they have flowers and well-maintained, attractive signs everywhere?<br /><br />Guess that's why Columbia dumped milty matthews during the interview process --- he would drive his Lexus through the slum he fails to maintain.<br /><br />That or they could not afford his quarter-million compensation package.<br /><br />What do we have here? Poorly maintained, has-been, falling apart and faded marketing signs from 1980's developers!<br /><br />SHAME ON SMYERS for ruining Reston.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412900754136064810.post-83012493649988767072010-03-10T18:51:49.654-05:002010-03-10T18:51:49.654-05:00There is a meeting tonight at 7 pm at the Walker N...There is a meeting tonight at 7 pm at the Walker Nature Center about what the master plan revision means to you and your neighborhood. Hosted by Paul Thomas of RA Board. Open mike. Community meeting. Better to go late than not go at all.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412900754136064810.post-50627288119318041022010-03-10T18:35:13.782-05:002010-03-10T18:35:13.782-05:00Okay so the board members are volunteers. Does th...Okay so the board members are volunteers. Does this give them license to do whatever they want and not listen to their constituents. Smyers got herself into this position because of her arrogant attitude. She knows what's best for the community -- no need to actually listen to the community.<br /><br />Now Smyers and Chew are trying to rewrite history. We never intended to build a rec center at Browns Chapel Park. We just wanted to hear what the community thought about indoor recreation.<br /><br />Months before any public input meetings took place there were private meetings behind closed doors at which decisions were made. Decisions that no one in the community were aware of. Luckily for us there are rules requiring minutes to be taken at all RA and RCC board meetings. <br /><br />We have meeting minutes that document everything. Way back in March of 2009 a decision was made to locate a rec center at Browns Chapel Park. A decision was made to eliminate all baseball fields. A decision was made to name the facility the Robert E Simon Center. A decision was made to move all exercise classes from the RCC Hunters Woods facility to Browns Chapel. Decisions were made about what exercise classes to offer. A decision was made to move all swimming classes from RCC Hunters Woods to Browns Chapel. A decision was made to seek building permits. I could go on and on. It is all documented in meeting notes that fortunately we have.<br /><br />So yes, Smyers and co are volunteers -- does that give them license to do whatever they want. I think not.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412900754136064810.post-75929888268277285622010-03-10T16:29:34.012-05:002010-03-10T16:29:34.012-05:00100 ... not celebrating, sorry Restonian.100 ... not celebrating, sorry Restonian.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412900754136064810.post-50586840438434303832010-03-10T16:27:55.170-05:002010-03-10T16:27:55.170-05:00Why these people volunteer for this is beyond me.....Why these people volunteer for this is beyond me... it is said public service is the best thing you can do for yourself and the community...<br />...<br />...<br />...<br />...<br />...<br />...<br />...<br />...<br />...<br />...<br />...<br />Except in Reston...<br />Sad...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412900754136064810.post-57312803047802925362010-03-10T16:12:21.086-05:002010-03-10T16:12:21.086-05:0097 comments! (now 98) Holy crap!
My favorites ar...97 comments! (now 98) Holy crap!<br /><br />My favorites are from the Danaher supporter (sock puppet) going back and forth with himself to make it seem as though there is actually some supporters of Danaher besides Danaher himself (and Smyers.)<br /><br />One thing is for sure: this election has generated more interest than any other in my lifetime here in Reston.<br /><br />Interesting times indeed.HCKDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412900754136064810.post-9546221864249096182010-03-10T14:17:52.135-05:002010-03-10T14:17:52.135-05:00sooo ... we done now...???sooo ... we done now...???Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6412900754136064810.post-23111928599662447492010-03-10T11:32:01.374-05:002010-03-10T11:32:01.374-05:00Robin Smyers, great letter. You make insulting pe...Robin Smyers, great letter. You make insulting people seem so effortless. I fondly remember your letter last year to Restonian when you called him "not an experienced journalist". We're going to miss you.A Loyal Restoniannoreply@blogger.com