Supervisor Hudgins and Mr. Bouie…please consider your roles in RCC/RA Rec Center project
Supervisor Hudgins and Mr. Bouie:
So much has been said; so much has been documented/witnessed as to the ineffective leadership embedded in RCC & RA Boards and senior staff; and sadly now so many are beginning to see the Hudgins/Bouie connection to this obscene proposal. I spent 35 years in County government and it truly dismays and saddens me to see those leaders I worked for, trusted, and supported now turning away from the very foundations of protecting the interests of the many and not just a self agenda driven few. I know both Mr. Bouie and Ms. Hudgins….been in front of the Park Authority Board and the BoS many times… as I write this I looked over to see the BoS resolution presented to me in August 2008.. “…Board of Supervisors, on behalf of all residents of Fairfax County, does thank and congratulate Michael R for 35 years of knowledgeable and notable service…” I spent a career life protecting the County’s natural and cultural resources and providing needed programs and parks (including open space) and could only have done so with the support of the Park Authority and the Board of Supervisors…Bill and Cathy…how did you lose your way? What went so wrong that you now cater to special interest groups to the detriment of your constituents in Reston? To allow the jeopardizing of the financial sustainability of STD5? To stand on the sidelines while misguided personal agendas from RCC & RA senior staff and the RA Board Chairman to be pushed regardless of the many voices objecting to the ill conceived rec center and associated costs? Where is your voice to represent us..we need your vocal support not standard PC replies to emails. Supervisor Hudgins…this IS your district and YOU do control what goes on in this district (remember, I come from County government…I know from experience how things work…I guess I can be called an ‘insider’)
Help us protect our open space/natural resources (Brown’s Chapel Park and it IS shown on the Reston [overall] master plan as OPEN SPACE); help us end this insane, poorly handled, out-of-control mega rec center…get back with the people you need to support. Join us…there can be no bystanders..
Michael R
This is an email sent to Supervisor Hudgins (and shared with me) from a long time Reston resident and lives in the Tall Oaks area of Reston:
Like many Restonians, I just learned of the RA/RCC feasibility study, the expenditure of $92,000, and the astounding proposal to construct a super-sized recreation facility in Browns Chapel Park.
The site being considered for such large scale development violates all good land use principles and
natural resource management standards. There seems to be some irony here since Reston has always prided itself on holding to such principles in development projects and still advertises itself as an entity that honors natural resource stewardship. For those of us, like you and your family, who have lived here for decades, this proposal is a travesty. To name the facility Robert Simon Rec Center just completes the irony.
Beyond the location is the proposed method of financing and supporting the center. To use Special Tax District 5 as the financial base for a countywide facility is incredibly blatant. Theories abound: since the county (read Park Authority) is not in a position to construct another rec center at this time, the individuals driving the project plan to use STD5 as the vehicle for the construction bonds and further, for supporting, along with RA, the already recognized deficit operations. At some point, perhaps, as the continuing deficit drains RA to the extreme, the Park Authority will be approached to take over the rec center. In short: this is a concerted effort to bypass the county bond program protocol and achieve a county facility at the expense of a single community, i.e., Reston. Of course this puts Bill Bouie in an awkward position because he wears both the RCC vice chair and the Park Authority Board chair hats simultaneously. The perception is that the county, beyond the RCC, is
involved in this, in one way or another; and that RA is the broker. Beyond what is possibly hyperbole, the misuse of STD5 for a countywide facility, where Reston residents will make up only about 22% of the users, while perhaps not technically illegal, is certainly unethical. I think of those neighboring communities that demanded and received severance from STD5. This seems to be turning that situation up-side-down in some way.
To compound the situation, residents trying to learn the truth are now being told that developers are pushing the Browns Chapel Rec Center project, contributing funds in its support; that lawyers are offering their services pro bono in an effort to find a way to proceed with the project and the issuance of bonds without the need for a STD5 referendum.
I know you have written in your e-newsletter that you are not involved in this effort. At the May 18th meeting at Lake Anne RCC, a member of RCC also declared that you were not a part of the plan. However, while I certainly accept and appreciate your position, I do think it important that you know there are a variety of views and perceptions throughout the community that challenge your neutrality. You and your staff are probably aware of the situation, but I felt the need to share some of the mindsets – hence this e-mail.