Reston commentator John Lovaas reports on how Reston's civic groups have been "outgunned," but not outworked, on the Reston Task Force. Here is how he begins:
It never looked like a fair
fight. In the fall of 2009, when Hunter Mill Supervisor Cathy Hudgins
assembled her Task Force of 25 or so to prepare a Comprehensive (Master)
Plan for the Dulles rail corridor, it was clear the community was at a
disadvantage. A handful of Reston volunteers faced a phalanx of hired
gun slingers, men (100 percent men!) representing commercial developers
and their lawyers. The gunslingers were pros doing their jobs, unified
in a clear sense of purpose — to maximize profit. Most had worked
“community” task force gigs before and knew the county staff advising
the Task Force. None lived in Reston.
The civilians, volunteers
representing community organizations including the Reston Citizens
Association (RCA) and Reston Association (RA), had only a vague sense of
mission — to plan development consistent with their Reston values. They
would do the right thing for their community, but they were new to the
game. The Task Force was to complete the Plan in one year. It took four
years. It was approved by the County Planning Commission just last week.
It goes to the Board of
Supervisors for a likely rubber stamp public review on Jan. 28. The
product bears the gunslingers’ heavy imprint, but is not as terrible as I
expected. . . .
Click here to read the rest of his commentary.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Your comments are welcome and encouraged as long as they are relevant, constructive, and decent.