Citing concerns that Reston Association’s governing documents review referendum might not have the support needed to pass in a November vote, RA officials said Monday that all or part of the referendum could be delayed until next spring.
For the past two years, RA has combed through its Bylaws, Deed and Articles of Incorporation to modernize outdated language and alter provisions to give the organization more financial flexibility. The documents review is the first comprehensive revision of RA’s rules and regulations in 20 years.
Until this week, RA officials have said that members would vote on the proposed changes approved by the Board of Directors in a Nov. 1 referendum, with ballots mailed out in early September.
FOR THE PAST two months, RA’s Board of Directors has been holding frequent public hearings and work sessions to fine-tune the proposed amendments, but it is becoming increasingly apparent that more information is needed before the referendum should take place, said Rick Beyer, president of RA’s board.
"It’s really important that we get this referendum right," Beyer said. "We have to think in terms of a yes-able referendum to preserve the community’s future."
Beyer said he wants an impartial audit of RA’s capital reserves and a study about whether RA should buy or lease a headquarters. Both of those issues are currently included in the documents and lack enough information to be acted upon at this point, he said.
The results of the two studies probably will not be available until late summer, pushing close to when the referendum was scheduled to be held.
Such a short window may not give RA adequate time to convince the public the proposed changes are in the best interests of the community, said RA Board Member Robin Smyers (Lake Anne/Tall Oaks).
"If we’re really going to get to the point where the community is really going to buy into this, we’ve got a lot more work to do," she said.
The RA board may vote on the possible delay at its regular meeting on Thursday, May 27, Beyer said.
THE LAST TIME an RA referendum was mailed out to members was to build the Southgate Recreational Center, a project which would not be funded through RA member dues.
That referendum was passed with 96 percent approval, and just more than 40 percent of RA’s membership participated.
The last RA Board of Directors election saw a less than 20 percent voter turnout.
For the governing documents referendum to pass, at least 40 percent of RA members must vote and two-thirds of the membership must vote yes.
That’s a high hurdle to clear, Beyer said, especially for an issue as complicated as the governing documents review.
By delaying the referendum for several months, RA would have more time to sell the proposed changes to the membership and might better the chances that the changes would be approved, Beyer said.
Marcia McDevitt, an RA member who spoke at a documents work session Monday, said that in order to sell the governing document review to members, the organization needs to better explain how it will benefit the community and how much it will cost members in the long run.
"The cost/benefit analysis is what sold Southgate," she said.
SOME RA OFFICIALS are also concerned that the governing documents review would be drowned out by the U.S. presidential election this fall.
Moving the referendum to the spring would allow RA members to focus more on the issue and would also give the RA board more time to hammer out any overly controversial initiatives that would could hinder approval.
"It would be a good idea to move the referendum to the spring," said RA Director Joe Leighton (South Lakes). "I think we’d have a lot more community input."