From The President (July 2025)

With the election of a new board to lead the BDC during the 2025-2026 operating year, it is appropriate to summarize the past three years since the Council was rebooted after the Covid pandemic. The best way to do that is to acknowledge the people who made it happen, starting with Sarah Lennon (KPWCA) and Kevin Morse (Woodwalk) who served as the first vice-president and treasurer, respectively. Sarah doubled up as secretary until Susan DiMaina (Canterbury Woods) stepped up in year two to assume the duties of that office. Sarah and Kevin, each with years of experience in association leadership, got things organized in short order. Sarah also brought Charlotte Hannagan (Kings Park) onboard as the webmaster to ensure that we could communicate effectively with our members.  In 2023-2024, Marie Norman (N. Springfield) stepped up to serve as vice-president and Barbara Smith (Woodbury Woods) relieved Kevin as Treasurer. In short order, Marie recruited Paul Hartwell to take over the Aging in Place program from founder, Bruce Wallachy (KPWCA) who started this unique effort and ran it so well for 12 years.

If one word could be used to describe all these BDC board officers and non-elected, but key, individuals, it would be “initiative.” Each person instinctively understood what needed to be done in a given situation and just went ahead and did it. This strong ‘can-do’ spirit arose from a common passion for serving in not only their immediate associations but in contributing to the betterment of the greater Braddock District community as well. Since this is my final “From the President” article before turning over the reins to Todd Murphy, I am taking this opportunity to publicly express my sincere personal thanks to each and every one who has served on the Executive Committee for all they have done for the Braddock District Council. I would be remiss if I did not thank Supervisor Walkinshaw for his unwavering support of the Braddock District Council. He and his staff, particularly Sally Kidalov, have ensured that we always had what we needed to make our efforts successful.

A short list of the many things that the Braddock District has done since 2022 includes:

• Putting our finances on a solid basis through proper bookkeeping, annual audits, and development of Standard Operating Procedures for financial processes

• Continuing and expanding the Braddock District “Aging in Place” program

• Building a strong “Senior Outreach” program at the Council level and extending to nearly 20 associations that have started their own neighborhood outreach program

• Growing our membership from 24 to 37 associations on the way to reaching our goal of 40

• Revising the Council’s Bylaws to better reflect how we actually operate

• Refiling paperwork to regain our tax-exempt status as a 501(c)(4) ‘social benefit’ entity

• Dealing with the Corporate Transparency Act reporting requirement, to include working with the late Congressman Connolly’s office to try to repeal this burdensome law

• Playing a key role in the “Best of Braddock” awards program by selecting winners, paying for the plaques, and co-hosting the annual presentation

• Inviting numerous speakers to explain County operations and rules and regulations in such areas as code compliance and environmental issues

• Continuing the popular annual “Legislative Affairs” update by our delegates and senators with an additional session with our elected FCPS Board member

• Being a forum to discuss issues such as trash collection, the Lake Accotink dredging project, data centers, and the Braddock Road Improvement project

In closing, it has been my privilege and pleasure to have served as president of the Braddock District Council since 2022. I am confident that the new board, with its mix of old and new members, will continue to build on the foundation that has been built over the last three years to keep the Council moving forward in service to Braddock District next year and the years beyond.

Sincerely,

Bob Cosgriff

President, BDC