From the President (May 2025)

I’m pleased to announce that the ever-popular Annual Legislative Review event, which the Council co-sponsors has been scheduled for Monday, 19 May at 7 p.m. in the Kings Park Library meeting room adjacent to Supervisor Walkinshaw’s office. Delegates Bulova, Watt, Cohen, Tran, and Senator Foy are confirmed; the supervisor is waiting to hear back from the other invitees. Considering all the bills that did (and did not) get approved in this year’s General Assembly, plus the impact of government reductions-in-force in Federal agencies, this meeting should be full of valuable information for you and your communities. So please circle the date and plan on attending. There will be no business conducted at this event, which is co-sponsored by the Council. We want to give all the time to the legislators to speak to us and answer your questions.

The next regular business meeting is 18 June (7 p.m., Braddock Hall). 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. 

Following the presentation, we will hold elections for BDC Board officers for the upcoming 2025-2026 operating year. Both the current BDC Secretary, Susan Di Maina and I are stepping down. We do have one candidate for president already, but still need a candidate for secretary. Per our Bylaws, nominations should be sent to the Secretary (bdcfxsecretary@gmail.com) by 1 May. Nominations can also be made from the floor at the meeting. Nominations sent in advance should include the office sought, a short outline of the nominee’s community service, education, reason(s) for seeking the office, and anything else deemed pertinent. I will be sending out the proposed slate of officers on 18 May, per our Bylaws.

In closing, please mark your calendars for the next Aging in Place “Braddock Storytellers” event: "People Said it Couldn't be Done!—Bob and Kathy’s Excellent Adventure to all the National Parks in the Lower-48 States in an Electric Vehicle" presented by Robert Soule, Retired Director, DoD Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA), and Co-Founder of Go Electric DMV. This event is scheduled for Tuesday May 13th, 2025 at 2:00 PM in the Meeting Room in King’s Park Library (adjacent to the supervisor’s office). You can also watch it via Zoom (link will be sent separately by Paul Hartwell, AIP coordinator). I have attended all three of the Braddock Storytellers presentations so far and can confirm that they have been very interesting and educational as well. Paul has done a great job in finding speakers who live in the Braddock District who have  interesting stories to share.

Bob Cosgriff

President, BDC