The last year saw a tragic drama play out in Reston. The Reston Citizens Association, a small band of community volunteers, attempted to engage both Reston residents and county as well as state elected officials who represent residents, on the question of self government. RCA was founded in 1967 to defend Reston’s founding principles from the then corporate developer and to be the community’s advocate before county and state government. In 2007, they found themselves advocating for self government, as originally intended by Founder Robert Simon, at a time when the Reston identity and founding principles were threatened.
RCA succeeded as never before with the people of Reston — nearly 4,000 Restonians signed petitions for a referendum on the question of becoming a town. Regrettably, thus far they have failed to engage the politicos, who themselves were strong self-government advocates before they became entrenched elected officials. Now, they forcefully oppose community-level government in this state where power is very much centralized. In fact, Del. Ken Plum quietly had the town charter (that Mr. Simon acquired along with the land for Reston) annulled in the Virginia legislature a few years back when no one in Reston was looking. He did so without holding any hearings or giving public notice of his intentions. Thus, for Plum, the resurgence of a proposed referendum could be embarassing.
But now, despite efforts by Plum and state Sen. Janet Howell in late 2007 to stir up opposition to a referendum among other Reston organizations whose positions might be perceived as diminished by a new town, the embers of hope for self-government still burn. Thousands of residents still want officeholders to stop blocking a referendum, a referendum endorsed by all three Reston newspapers.
Enter the Fairfax County Federation of Civic Associations, the venerable coalition representing homeowners and communities throughout Fairfax County. Annually, the FCFCA makes recommendations to the County Board of Supervisors and the state legislators from Fairfax County for inclusion in the legislative package for the General Assembly to consider for adoption as law in the Commonwealth. Their proposals carry considerable weight with the electeds. In December, the representatives of FCFCA’s member associations voted overwhelmingly (22 to 4) to adopt the following proposal to address the future governance of Reston:
"The Fairfax County Federation of Civic Associations recommends that a task force be convened within the current legislative term [2008-9]
comprised of interests including: state legislature; county government, and key referendum stakeholders (citizens, businesses and key organizations) and [it should be] co-chaired by a representative of each of the following: Reston Citizens Association; County of Fairfax; and State legislature [in order] to address the mechanical issues of how the self governance of Reston should be implemented, identify and analyze the options, and make recommendations as to the governance of the proposed Town of Reston." Note how the FCFCA puts the citizens front and center in the process — government of and by the people perhaps?
The proposal made by FCFCA to the legislators and county supervisors just prior to the 2008 General Assembly has not received a response from Delegate Plum and Senator Howell. As the legislative session draws to a close, the question is: will our elected officials continue to stiff the community on the vital issue of how we are governed — or, will they do as FCFCA suggests and sit down to work out the issues with the citizens and towards self governance to fulfill the Founder’s dream and to shape our own future.