RA Elections 2011: We Watch The RA Videos So You Don't Have To

It was with a heavy heart that we clicked the play button on this, the first fancy Reston Association video of the post-Andy Sigle era, his dulcet tones conspicuously absent from the opening. Instead, we have "Melissa Kneuven filling in this week for Andy Sigle," who, it is not said, is running for one of the Reston Association Board seats. Then we get a bunch of exciting zooming visual effects of ballots flipping around and pages turning that made us a little dizzy, but maybe that was because we were still a bit emotionally fragile.

And then it's off to exciting sound bites from all seven candidates!

For the Hunters Wood/Dogwood seat, incumbent Cheryl Beamer said this: "With Metro coming, we don't want to be sitting on hold waiting for the help desk when it comes to solutions." Don't worry -- this won't be the last IT metaphor you'll hear.

Her challenger, Victor Van Rees, has a simple message: He'll vote against any measure that raises assessments, plus "negotiate with Home Depot" and other businesses for special resident discounts. "I'll hold the line on what it costs to live here," he said.

Then it's off to the five candidate free-for-all for the at-large seat. First up is the aforementioned Andy Sigle. He touts his experience doing these fancy YouTube videos, then talks about the challenges ahead.

Next up is Jason Carlo, who thanks us for watching the video, then tells us to check him out on Facebook. Sweet! We've been looking for some new BFFs there.

Sridhar Ganesan touts his experience working with boards and being a CFO, saying he's "driven by doing the right thing and getting it right."

John E. George promises to be "fiscally responsible without overreaching," plus cut red tape and support RA's recruitment of new members in the shiny concrete gulches to be built along the Toll Road.

Finally, Donovan D'Souza pledges fealty to the original seven goals for Reston, and ends where we began -- with another IT reference. "We have the vision. Like a computer, RA needs an update," he said. "I'm the new update."

So there you have it -- democracy in action in a mere 5 minutes and 12 seconds. We should seriously be happy we have so many people willing to run for a largely thankless job -- if we didn't, we might be in the same boat as this homeowners association, the end.