Indecision 2017: RA Board Elections All Contested, For A Change

So what does it take to get Restonians involved, beyond installing an arbitrary and cumbersome parking system at their favorite amalgamation of midscale chain dining and retail? Well, for starters, maybe the inevitable budget overruns from the purchase of the Lake Leak House, the refusal to let a group review the process -- for free! -- and the recriminations from said events spilling over into current deliberations and basically bringing action to a halt, even as much more important issues with far greater longer-term implications are looming, maybe?

But we digress. For the first time in recent memory, all four seats up for election this spring on the Reston Association Board of Directors are contested, and no incumbents are seeking reelection. We've had to dispose of our usual Soviet art depicting these elections and go with something a bit more reflective of representative democracy these days:

Give us some good election blockquote, BFFs at Reston Now:

Up for vote for three-year terms are an at-large seat currently held by Jeff Thomas; the Hunters Woods/Dogwood District seat, currently held by Lucinda Shannon; and the apartment owners’ seat, currently held by board president Ellen Graves.

Graves has reached her two-term limit. Neither Thomas nor Shannon, who are each coming to the end of their first term, applied for re-election.

The North Point District seat currently held by Danielle LaRosa will also be up for vote. LaRosa was elected in 2016 but will resign at the end of her first year. The person elected to fill the seat will serve the remaining two years on the existing term.

Candidates for the seats on the nine-person board are as follows:

At-Large Director (3-year term)
Roberto Anguizola
Eric Carr
Mike Collins
Charles Dorfeuille
Ven Iyer
HeidiAnne Werner

Hunters Woods/Dogwood District Director (3-year term)
Syazana Durrani
Victoria White

North Point District Director (2-year term)
Arlene Krieger
John Mooney
Don Wright

Apartment Owners’ Representative (3-year term)
David Bobzien
Hank Schonzeit
Kevin Witt

Being on the RA Board is (seriously) a thankless job, so we're (seriously) happy to see so many people willing to serve. You can read detailed statements from each candidate on the RA website. Voting begins on March 6, and who knows? Maybe all the recent angst will lead to a voting turnout greater than the usual low two digits, the end.