Civic and homeowners association leaders participated in a show-and-tell session Tuesday at a workshop organized by Supervisor Sharon Bulova (D-Braddock).
Under the guidance of the Braddock District Council, a group of citizens who support the county staff in the Braddock District office, Bulova hosted a Community Association Workshop at the Kings Park Library and Braddock District Offices.
"If we’re going to do anything with this Braddock District Council, it’s something that people want," said Janyce Hedetniemi, chair of the Council. "I thought it was important to create some method by which community associations in Braddock District could come together and talk about common problems."
To that end, the workshop featured two rounds of "break-out sessions," each of which focused on topics pertinent to leadership of civic, community and homeowners associations in the Braddock District. Nearly 75 leaders attended, as did representatives from the Fairfax County Planning and Zoning, Public Affairs, and other departments.
"Boy, do I wish back when I was a civic association president and feeling overwhelmed, I would have loved to have had this type of opportunity," said Bulova, who served as president of her Kings Park West community prior to assuming her duties as supervisor in 1988.
The goal of the workshop, said Bulova, was to strengthen lines of communication, both among fellow community associations in her district and between these associations and her office.
"I consider it essential that I work in partnership with you," said Bulova to the attendees. "If I don’t have community associations, then I don’t have the value of that communication."
Gerry Connolly (D), chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, offered the keynote remarks for the evening, using his experiences as the head of the Mantua Community Association to offer encouragement to those in attendance. Each of the four workshops focused on a different aspect of community association problems, with topics such as "Community Association Liabilities and Insurance Needs," led by Fairfax lawyer Laurie Dotson; "Neighborhood Watch and CERT," led by Robert Mizer and Rex Pagerie of Fairfax County Fire and Rescue and the Fairfax County Police Department; "Enforcing Zoning Regulations and Covenants," led by Michael Congleton of the county zoning staff, and "Community Association Newsletters, Web sites, Directories, and Listserves," led by Merni Fitzgerald of the county’s public affairs department.
The four topics were chosen by the District Council after Hedetniemi made community association relationships a priority when she took office in the fall.
"I don’t think the Council has a role except to provide some means by which communities can work together and address issues of mutual importance and concern," she said. "It just kind of caught a spark of interest from the small group that was coming to the Braddock District Council when I took office. Now that group has expanded. … We’re talking about using this forum as setting the agenda for our future meetings."
Florence Naeve, chief of staff for the Braddock District, said the possibilities from Tuesday’s workshop were endless.
"This is a phenomenal showing from the various civic and homeowners associations for getting involved and getting more information, because there really is a need out there to do more communication, and this is a great vehicle to do it," she said.