From the President (April 2025)

The second half of the BDC operating year is rapidly coming to a close. We have already had two meetings with excellent presentations. Here is a quick recap: in January, speakers from the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District provided information on grant programs designed to assist associations in dealing with erosion, flooding, poor soil quality, and other issues. In March, our elected Braddock District School Board representative, Rachna Sizemore Heizer, gave an excellent, in-depth look at numerous issues facing the county school system, including budgetary challenges, curricular updates in mathematics and literacy, the ongoing boundary change study, facility repair/renovation/new construction outlook,  cellphone use policy, to cite the main items discussed. In terms of budget, FCPS is facing a $150 million dollar shortfall this year. Seventy percent of funding comes from Fairfax County via residential and commercial real estate tax revenue. Ten percent comes from the Federal government (for the free and reduced-price breakfast and lunch programs) with the remainder coming from the Commonwealth of Virginia. In this regard, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission’s latest report shows that Fairfax County is underfunded by a significant amount by the state. This is something that our Richmond delegation is working on to rectify. But the bottom line is that funding is going to continue to be a problem area for FCPS. Rachna provided a number of links to information that expands on the issues she discussed. These are posted on our website. Speaking of our Richmond delegation, the supervisor’s office is working on scheduling the popular annual Legislative Review event, which the Council co-sponsors. The date has not been determined yet, but hopefully it will be in April or early May. Stay tuned for more information.

The next business meeting is 18 June. We have scheduled a presentation by Go Electric DMV, a non-profit organization that has trained personnel to assist associations and private citizens on how to use ‘green’ technology to conserve energy, e.g., solar panels, electric vehicles, and home audits to identify energy-saving devices (appliances, windows, insulation, etc.). This presentation is a logical follow-up to the one we had a year ago in April, 2024, by John Morrill, Division Manager, Fairfax County Office of Environmental and Energy Coordination (OEEC), which covered programs and incentives available to help homeowners and HOA communities make energy improvements to their properties.

Also at the June meeting, we will hold elections for BDC Board officers for the upcoming 2025-2026 operating year. Current BDC Secretary, Susan DiMaina, announced at the March meeting that she will step down after two years of service, meaning that we need to fill this position. Also, having been the president for three years, I have decided that now is a good time for me to pass the baton. I believe it is preferable to turn over BDC leadership incrementally as opposed to reaching a point where all the officers leave at once (due either to term limits or personal circumstances). Per our Bylaws, nominations should be sent to the Secretary (bdcfxsecretary@gmail.com) so that I can send out the slate of officers to the membership one month prior to the elections. Nominations can also be made from the floor. We already have one candidate for president so the critical need is to fill the secretary position. If you are interested, please send your name, a short outline of your community service, education, your reason(s) for seeking the office, and anything else deemed pertinent to Susan at the email provided above.

Bob Cosgriff

President, BDC