Comments on Restonian: News blog from Reston, Virginia, the mauve-colored New Town (tm): Brown's Chapel Rec Center: Motions and Commotions

The most successful campaigns start with grass roo...

2009-06-30T22:28:16.254-04:00

The most successful campaigns start with grass root initiatives...

"What will it take for us to stop them?"...

2009-06-30T19:08:29.235-04:00

"What will it take for us to stop them?"

Let's see, recall Robin Smyers, Cheryl Beamer and Kathleen Driscoll-McKee. Signatures from 10% of the homeowners from each of their districts is enough to trigger on a recall election. That's what it will take. Or wait for a reform movement to get their act together and put up a slate of candidates. By the time that happens, we might have been saddled with the cost of a new headquarters AND a $100 million dollar indoor rec center and who knows what else? I mean, really, what next from this RA Board who thinks the homeowners have bottomless pockets? Collect some signatures. Is it so much work?

What will it take for us to stop them? Do we chain...

2009-06-30T18:13:32.908-04:00

What will it take for us to stop them? Do we chain ourselves to bulldozers? Did we set this lease plan in motion by saying "NO" to a purchase? I'm wondering what cap there is on their authority?

I don't think these "Special Committee...

2009-06-30T14:00:44.658-04:00
I don't think these "Special Committee" meetings are televised. When our elected representatives are not allowed to participate, I would not expect a TV camera in the room either. In fact I'm having a hard time finding the minutes.

I can't even find where to watch videos of the...

2009-06-30T13:30:31.848-04:00
I can't even find where to watch videos of the Board of Directors meetings. I'd LOVE to watch them but I can't get Comcast service at my home (ironic). And I've searched online but I've only found old videos from 2007 when Jennifer Blackwell was President. Does anyone know where videos of the more recent meetings are posted?

We could all see the regular Board Meetings at hom...

2009-06-30T13:21:45.857-04:00
We could all see the regular Board Meetings at home on our TV for both RCC and RA IF Comcast would televise them in proper format. You cannot hear the voices at all. The color is muted and blurred. I am sure they use the same tape that they used in 1975. And do not tell me to use my computer. I am not going to sit uncomfortably at my computer to watch it.

Great detective work, "Anonymous 6/29/209 11:...

2009-06-30T11:21:15.674-04:00
Great detective work, "Anonymous 6/29/209 11:02pm"! At least this prospective location is in the Less Sought After South Reston, closer to the gang activity!

Looking at the "RA Space Plan Prototype,"...

2009-06-29T23:02:44.268-04:00
Looking at the "RA Space Plan Prototype," tell me this isn't what they are looking at...

12005 Sunrise Valley Drive:
http://www.loopnet.com/property/16261206/12005-Sunrise-Valley-Drive/

On the map location, click the Birds Eye view once you zoom in ... look at the profile of the building, vs. the proposed plan.

Milton and crew need to wake up and smell the c...

2009-06-29T22:37:26.332-04:00
Milton and crew need to wake up and smell the coffee...

I've lived in Reston for almost three decades ...

2009-06-29T22:35:33.507-04:00
I've lived in Reston for almost three decades and I thought I saw it all...

I remember when, in the late 80's we had to literally raise a ruckus over a pending RA decision to cover certain tennis courts, while RA paths were crumbling...

I remember when our Cluster president requested to raise our cluster dues, as RA was no longer able to afford the maintenance of their own common areas, such as entrances to neighborhoods...

I remember when RA wanted nothing to do with Lake Anne Plaza, while the new "Bethesda" look-alike Town Center broke ground on Reston Parkway...

I remember when RA wanted nothing to do with the "green," energy saving, RELAC air conditioning complex... they'd rather let it just go literally down the drain...

I remember when RA basically lost to a golf course owner over precious water in Lake Anne...

In an era where Fairfax County is facing deficits, the Reston infrastructure is showing its age, gang tags are showing up in our neighborhoods... can we afford to let this continue...???

The Membership has an opportunity to speak out and say no more... this is now an era of Transparency... we demand to be heard, and properly represented...speak out...!!!

This area, this community, has so much going for it...we can work with the state and county to potentially divert some of those Stimulus dollars to create jobs through: properly laid out re-development projects like Lake Anne Plaza, take over and revamp the greenest of green utilities... RELAC, showcasing it to the country... cleaning and upgrading our common grounds and paths... incorporating more natural attractions for visitors... bring this community back to what the original plans called for...

Our at-large representatives, Joe Leighton and Ric...

2009-06-29T21:45:12.918-04:00
Our at-large representatives, Joe Leighton and Richard Chew, were not allowed to attend the executive session. They were asked to leave so the other board members could "review submitted facility proposals" for the new headquarters building. Our elected representatives were not allowed to attend the executive session. I guess I can say it again, OUR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES were not allowed to attend. Cheryl Beamer, acting as chair, sent them from the room. OUR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES. Folks, this is our homeowner's association, not dirty politics in Chicago in the 1930s. Or, I might be wrong.

Oops, hit 'send' too quickly. As I was ab...

2009-06-29T19:58:19.615-04:00
Oops, hit 'send' too quickly. As I was about to add, if anyone has spent any time in the Pentagon, they know that there, where they have a REAL need for REAL war rooms, the cubicles we as tax payers ask our military professionals to work in are tiny broom closets without doors compared to what RA thinks we want to pay for. Shame on you RA for not being good stewards of what we have entrusted you with!

Did anyone notice that they have space allocated f...

2009-06-29T19:55:14.404-04:00
Did anyone notice that they have space allocated for a 'war room?'

If you go to the RA Website, and go to Inside RA, ...

2009-06-29T16:41:45.883-04:00
If you go to the RA Website, and go to Inside RA, then hit the Governance Tab you will see the HQ Relocation link.

The proposed buildout -- "RA Space Plan Prototype" is quite thorough and extensive for a conceptual view. A lot of individual offices and very few cubes... they should come to my company's spaces and see how few offices there are versus cubicals... and we are an S&P company

I feel they have this one locked already, in fact it won't be hard to match the floor plan with office spaces for lease/sale...

So much for an HQ building at Lake Anne...

35,000 sq ft? That's almost large enough for ...

2009-06-29T15:59:48.766-04:00
35,000 sq ft? That's almost large enough for my roller rink.

Bring Roller Derby to Reston.

Yes -- I was looking at office planning sites as w...

2009-06-29T14:08:36.967-04:00
Yes -- I was looking at office planning sites as well -- even with the necessary meeting spaces RA is way out of line -- even over three years...!!!

If I ever proposed this much space for my company's needs, I would be called on the red carpet with my Board.

The RA leadership is either conniving, or just plain adolescent... They need a big Membership wakeup call...

To RA Leadership, and you specifically Milton: Focus on the needs of the mebership -- not the club you've created...

The 35,000 square foot figure actually seems to su...

2009-06-29T13:49:22.943-04:00
The 35,000 square foot figure actually seems to suggest the RA is eschewing the newfangled "filing cabinet" approach in favor of spreading paper documents horizontally across the ample floor space.

Going by the figures in this thread and the guidelines for this office-planning web site:
http://www.officefinder.com/how.html

They're allocating the equivalent of two extra-large "Chairman of the Board" sized offices for each employee!

ooops -- you are right -- was 9:30 this morning......

2009-06-29T12:12:04.709-04:00
ooops -- you are right -- was 9:30 this morning...

wow

Don't forget the filing cabinets! Reston ARCH...

2009-06-29T12:08:42.264-04:00
Don't forget the filing cabinets!

Reston ARCH has already weighed in on this very subject. They're pretty much in favor of putting priority on Lake Anne for the headquarters, even though the RA seems to be lukewarm at best, about that option.

I do believe the Special Committee meeting, which ...

2009-06-29T12:07:24.008-04:00
I do believe the Special Committee meeting, which was not posted on RA's online calendar, was held at 9:30 am this morning in closed executive session. That means that information is being withheld from most of our elected representatives to the RA Board by members of the executive committee.

My god -- I just went to the RA Website -- go to ...

2009-06-29T11:49:45.580-04:00
My god -- I just went to the RA Website -- go to the Headquarters Relocation Link... they are pushing for 35,000 square feet. that's a lot of space (even taking into account meeting spaces...)

http://www.reston.org/InsideRA/Governance/HQRelocationCommittee/Default.aspx?qenc=HzT9ACzZbNs%3d&fqenc=avUQtlqyR%2b9T6HnBgxcIaw%3d%3d

It's apparent RA wants to be a part of the art...

2009-06-29T11:05:39.398-04:00
It's apparent RA wants to be a part of the artificial Town Center , someone really wants to be above Mortons or the Passion Fish...

I'd much rather see RA focus it's new HQ at Lake Anne Plaza -- they could be the cornerstone on a beautiful renovation -- where it all started -- the original Reston Town Center -- Lake Anne...

This is pitiful...

Well... while the Rec Center debate moves along -...

2009-06-29T10:37:36.995-04:00
Well... while the Rec Center debate moves along -- I hear the RA Headquarters Building proposal has reared its haead again...

The latest meeting materials for tonite's 9:30 RA Special Committee meeting include the original request for 35,000 Sguare feet... for 43 people... absolutely amazing -- another Taj Mahal...