Lake Anne Airs Its Dirty Laundry As Totally Normal HOA Fun And Games Continue

Wow, we knew Lake Anne Plaza is officially historic, with its fancy marker and whatnot, but who knew residents were trying to recapture that old-timey flavor by recreating the colorful turn-of-the-century tenement practice of hanging their laundry outside? Wait, let's take a closer look...

Well, seems like things continue to be totally normal in our totally normal historic village center. Just because one building (allegedly) doesn't have heat for some tenants and another hasn't had hot water for three months doesn't mean that our totally normal HOA shenanigans, which now include what has (unfortunately) become totally normalized allegations of rigged elections, aren't totally normal! 

It's also crazy to suggest that more broadly beyond Lake Anne, the HOA governance structure may not exactly be up to the task of managing aging infrastructure beyond its useful life even when monthly condo fees creep into the four-digit range, and that efforts to make said politicized governance structure work can wind up mired in years of litigation that could ultimately go to the highest court in the state. That's just crazy talk!

This is only the latest in a long series of issues at Lake Anne -- for some background go here. Or, if you have the attention span of a filthy "web logger," watch the Action McNews segment embedded below, which includes some fun facts about how you can maintain personal hygiene over a prolonged period of time with no hot water (spoiler alert: it involves boiling water on the stove and pouring it on yourself with.... measuring cups?) 

There's also a Reston Strong-sponsored GoFundMe to help the affected residents get legal assistance if you're so inclined; as of today it's raised nearly $3,500 towards its $25,000 goal. In the meantime, you'll be relieved to know that affected tenants have been told that if they tire of pouring boiling water all over themselves, they can always take hot showers in the Reston Community Center across the plaza. Totally normal and fun, kind of like a campout! That is, if a campout involved thousands of dollars in condo association fees and property taxes, the end.