The second half of our 2024-2025 operating year began with an excellent presentation given by Daniel Schwartz and Heather Colter of the Northern Virginia Soil & Water Conservation District on the subject of “Landowner Conservation Programs.” They explained grants available to homeowners or associations to rectify flooding, water pooling, or erosion problems. Details can be found in the Council’s January minutes posted on our website as well as on the Conservation District’s website, the link to which is also on the BDC website.

At the January meeting, I provided an update on the constantly changing status of the Corporate Transparency Act reporting requirement. This has been a rapidly-changing on-again/off-again affair with a number of court decision either requiring or enjoining submitting Beneficial Owner Information (BOI). As of 24 January, the requirement, as announced by FinCEN, is that corporations (including community associations) are not required to report BOI and will not be penalized for not reporting pending resolution of Smith v. U.S. Department of the Treasury. This link provides further information: https://advocacy.caionline.org/cta-breaking-news-fincen-announces-beneficial-ownership-reporting-requirements-remain-paused. The best advice is to remain alert for any change in the requirement and be prepared to submit BOI quickly should the reporting requirement be reinstated.

Looking ahead to the second half of our 2024-2025 operating year, regular meetings are scheduled for 19 March (Rachna Sizemore Heizer, elected Braddock District member of the FCPS School Board), and 18 June (election of officers). The popular annual Legislative Review will take place at a date to be determined in conjunction with the supervisor’s office, probably in April. Please circle these dates on your calendar.

An important characteristic of a healthy, high-performing organization is to have a ‘succession plan’ in place to ensure that leadership of the organization will continue smoothly even if one or more key people depart. This means identifying and developing people to be able to assume leadership roles. This is as true for the Council as it is for your association. BDC officers are elected yearly. Four years is the maximum for anyone to hold the same position. At the end of the 2024-2025 operating year in June, I will have served as president for three years, and Vice-chair Marie Norman, Treasurer Barbara Smith, and Secretary Susan DiMaina for two years each. As an organization, we don’t want to “fall off the cliff” when we reach the point where one or more Council officers reach the term limit at the same time. This is not to say that the incumbent BDC officers are not willing to stay on for another term. Rather,  it is to say that now is a very good time to ask if any member is interested in serving as an officer for 2025-2026.  Per Article VII of the Bylaws, nominations (of oneself or another) can be made to the Secretary at any time prior to 1 May. The Secretary will prepare a slate of candidates to present to the Executive Committee for approval. The President must send official notification of the election (date/time/place and the slate of candidates) no later than one month prior to the June election (18 June this year). Therefore, you are interested in appearing on the slate of candidates or would like to nominate someone (with their permission, of course), please send Secretary Susan DiMaina an email at bdcfxsecretary@gmail.com to include the office sought, a short biography that covers your civic involvement (education and professional accomplishments are optional, but desired), and a brief statement of why you are interested in serving as a Council officer.

In closing, I would like to thank all our 37 member associations and the hard-working Council leadership team for making 2024 a successful year for the Braddock District Council. I believe we have built a strong foundation upon which future Council leaders can build in 2025 and beyond. 

Bob Cosgriff

President, BDC

p.s.—Please plan to attend the 4 February Aging in Place “Braddock Storytellers” event in the Kings Park Library at 2 p.m. The speaker is Jim Bever of Hickory Farms, a retired Career Minister whose served for 35 years with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Please see the Council website for more details, including the link for virtual attendance.