BVSCA Newsletter May 2002

• May 28 Meeting Agenda
• On the Run
• New Avenue
• Miscellaneous News Items
• Editor's Prerogative
• Membership Information

May 28 Meeting Agenda

Please refer to the newsletter for a summary of agenda items.

7:00 pm Executive Committee Meeting
7:30 pm Full Membership Meeting

• BVSCA Nominating Committee Report
• BVSCA Elections
• Wilson Boulevard Planning Session
• General Discussion

BVSCA dues paying members may participate as observers in meetings of the BVSCA Executive Committee. On May 28, BVSCA will be meeting at Washington-Lee High School. Enter the school through the cafeteria door located at the N. Stafford St. entrance. Walk through cafeteria, exiting to the hall opposite the entrance. We will be meeting in the library on right across from the school office. There will be a staff person to guide us, as well as signs. Parking is available in the N. Stafford St. lot.

BVSCA Membership Meetings are held on the last Tuesday of alternate months from 7:30 pm to 9:00 pm. Our next membership meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 30 at 7:30 pm. The BVSCA newsletter is published six times per year in advance of the monthly meeting.

On the Run

In accordance with the BVSCA by-laws, the BVSCA Nominating Committee has nominated the following slate of candidates for the '02-'03 BVSCA membership year.

President: Ben Axleroad
Ben and his wife Mary moved to Arlington in 1992, living for eight years in Ballston before moving to Tower Villas at Virginia Square in 2000. Ben has been a member of Ballston Partnership (8 years), serving on the Urban Environment Committee. He was a founding member of the Pedestrian Advisory Committee (5 years) and has volunteered at Arlington Central Library (3 years), the Ellipse Art Gallery (3 years), and the Smithsonian (12 years). He is also a volunteer priest at St. George's Church, having retired from 22 years of active ministry as chaplain of Episcopal Hospital in Philadelphia. At St. George's Church, he served on the Interfaith Council as delegate (2 years) and newsletter editor (1 year). He has also volunteered evenings at the Arlington Winter Shelter. Ben has been president of BVSCA ('01-'02), a member of the Virginia Square Sector Plan Review Committee (3 years), and a BVSCA member since 1997.

Vice President: Kate Wilson
Kate has lived in Arlington for four years, both in Ballston (1 year) and in Virginia Square (3 years). Prior to Arlington, she lived in Manhattan, NY and Charlottesville, VA. She participates in the Virginia Square Section Plan Review Committee, focusing on commercial and retail development. She served as At Large BVSCA Executive Committee Member ('01-'02) and has represented BVSCA in a number of site plan reviews. Kate seeks to foster a semi-urban environment with vibrant, safe, clean and green living area in Ballston-Virginia Square, particularly advocating shared residential and functional commercial areas, enhanced bike lanes and pedestrian walkways, including the 9th Street Greenway, and owner-occupied residential projects. She supports non-vehicular commuting practices and frequently uses Quincy Park. Kate has experience as a product implementation manager and currently works as a meeting planner for an Arlington scientific association.

Secretary: David Ryan
David came to Arlington in 1993 and lives in the Altavista Condominiums in Ballston. He has been a member of BVSCA since 1994 and on Executive Committee since 1996. David has served as BVSCA Recording Secretary since 1997. In addition, he is a delegate to the Arlington County Civic Federation and has served for the past three years on their legislative committee. He is a member of the Capital PC Users Group and the Washington Opera Camerata, and he has built and is maintaining his own supercomputer. David works as a computer specialist for the Center for Economic Studies at the Census Bureau.

Treasurer: Pat Horoshak
Pat and her husband Ted have lived in the Tower Villa Condominiums since 1999. Pat has experience keeping the books for several non-profit organizations, and she has been regularly attending BVSCA meetings and Virginia Square Sector Plan Review Subcommittee. Pat has been a BVSCA member for 2 years.

NCAC Representative: Ed Park
Ed and his wife Denise have been Ballston residents since 1994, first renting an apartment and later purchasing a home in 1995 on N. Utah Street. Ed has been a member of BVSCA since 1999. He and his wife coached an Arlington Babe Ruth Baseball team (2 years). Ed has worked with neighbors and the county on a number of local issues including regulatory enforcement against county zoning violations, traffic enforcement and calming along N. Utah Street, improper use of neighborhood streets by tour buses and the upgrading of the park at 13th and N. Vermont St. From 1998-01, Ed worked as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia. He since rejoined the offices of Hogan & Hartson in D.C. and works on large commercial disputes. He also works as an adjunct professor at Marymount University's Ballston Campus teaching criminal law. Formulating strategies to use the county's regulations for our collective advantage and community safety are Ed's priorities.

Alt. NCAC Representative: Theresa Smith
Theresa and her husband Mark Perry have lived in Virginia Square since July 1994, and she has been a BVSCA member since that time. Theresa has served as a representative to NCAC (3 years) and an alternative representative (1 year). She also served on Arlington's Neighborhood Traffic Calming Committee (1 year), and she is chairing the committee to improve Hayes Park. Theresa has worked for Department of Transportation for 12 years, the last 3 1/2 of which have been on a part time basis. She is currently working on DOT's Value Pricing grant program, which is an effort to test peak or variable pricing strategies to reduce traffic congestion.

At Large Exec. Committee: Dennis Burr
Dennis and his wife have retired and live in Ballston Park Condominiums, where he is an active member of the condo association. He served as Vice President of BVSCA ('01-'02) and as At Large BVSCA Executive Committee Member ('00-'01). Dennis is representing BVSCA on the Virginia Square Sector Plan Review Subcommittee and has made space available at Ballston Park for BVSCA membership meetings.

At Large Exec. Committee: James Webster
Jim and Marilyn Webster moved from South Dakota to Ashton Heights in 1970 and then to Lexington Square in 2000 after 12 years in Rosslyn. They own and publish The Webster Agricultural Letter, a newsletter on the politics of food and agriculture. Jim was assistant secretary of agriculture during the Carter Administration, chief clerk of the Senate Agriculture Committee, press secretary for Senator George McGovern, and director of public relations for the American Public Power Association. Jim served on the board of Rosslyn Renaissance (2 years) and was a member of the board and treasurer of the Arlington Street People's Assistance Network (4 years). He is a member of BVSCA, Ballston Partnership, Clarendon Alliance and the Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization. He is a member of the board of Call to Action of Northern Virginia and has served as a former member of the finance committee for his church.

At Large Exec. Committee: Mike Ford
Mike and his wife Cindy moved to N. Utah St. in Ballston in May 1999, and Mike retired from the Army as Colonel shortly thereafter. Since retirement, home remodeling has been a full time occupation. Mike has volunteered as an Election Official at the Clarendon Precinct in Arlington for the last three years. He is a new member of BVSCA and is interested in contributing to the well being of the neighborhood.

The following four individuals are being nominated as BVSCA delegates to the Arlington Civic Federation: Ernie Ragland, David Ryan, Dennis Burr, and Rohan Samaraweera .

New Avenue

Staff of Arlington County's Department of Public Works are exploring options for the design of Wilson Boulevard from N. Lincoln Street to N. Randolph Street. They are considering a variety of ideas, including on-street parking, medians, landscaping, additional crosswalks and signals, nubs, improved sidewalks, bike lanes, and turn lanes. Tara Lake from DPW presented an overview of the entire Wilson Boulevard effort at our March meeting and will return May 28 to hold a short brainstorming session regarding these options. If you cannot attend the meeting, you may email Tara at tlake@co.arlington.va.us or contact her by phone at 703-228-4803.

Miscellaneous News Items

A Monumental Affair. The CrisisLink Gala and Silent Auction will be held on Friday, June 7 at the Sheraton Crystal City Hotel to honor volunteers and to raise funds to continue CrisisLink's work of preventing tragedies and providing immediate support for life crises, distress, and suicide. For more information, call 703-527-6603 or visit www.crisislink.org .

It's Only Money. Virginia Cooperative Extension is presenting a free seminar entitled Financial Seminar Series: 8 Rules for Part-Time Investors on June 10th, 7-8 p.m. at Arlington Central Library in the 2nd floor meeting room. Learn tips for making the most of your investments to help reach your financial goals. Call (703) 228-6402 to register or for more information, Jennifer Abel at (703) 228-6417.

Put It In Park. An initial meeting was held on April 30 to discuss plans for the use of $70,000 in Neighborhood Conservation (NC) Funds allocated to improve Hayes Park, located on Lincoln St. across from Science Focus School. Participants in this meeting agreed to form a neighborhood committee that will meet approximately 4 to 6 times to follow the park improvement process to completion. If you are interested in serving on the Hayes Park committee, contact Theresa Smith at 703-243-3695 or 703-243-6449 or via email at SmithPerry@juno.com . You may also contact the Project Manager from the County Parks Department, Aura Grego at 703-228-3335 or via email at agrego@co.arlington.va.us .

Listserv. BVSCA members are invited to subscribe to the BVSCA listserv to receive periodic updates on issues of neighborhood interest, as well as the monthly newsletter. How? Send an email message to bvsca@hotmail.com advising that you would like to join. Include your name and post office address in your message along with the email address(es) from which you will be sending messages. When you are added to the list, you will receive a "Welcome" message with details regarding how to use the listserv. Remember that a message sent by a BVSCA listserv member to BVSCA-L@rootsweb.com will be relayed automatically to all listserv members. To prevent senders of unsolicited commercial email from using our list for unauthorized purposes, only listserv members may send messages to the mailing list from a subscribed address.

Editor's Prerogative

Isn't it interesting to learn more about the neighbors who live in our community? The person down the hall or two houses up the street may look ordinary enough, but it's only when we get to know them as individuals that we get to know their talents and skills. In editing the bios of the current slate of BVSCA candidates, I was truly impressed with the community activism and accomplishments of each candidate. Please come on May 28 to show your support for these volunteers who represent our civic association and its members - and invite a new neighbor to come along! On a side note, Taste of Arlington returned to Ballston in April after a lengthy hiatus and included good food and good PR for Ballston.

DeAndra Beck
Newsletter Editor

Ballston-Virginia Square Civic Association 2001-2002 Executive Committee

Ben Axleroad, President
3800 North Fairfax Dr., #205, Arlington, VA 22203
703-525-3083
Dennis Burr, Vice President
David Ryan, Secretary
DeAndra Beck, Treasurer
1301 N. Taylor St., Arlington, VA 22201
Theresa Smith, NCAC Representative
Ken Hughes
Jeffrey Green
Kate Wilson

How to Join the Ballston-Virginia Square Civic Association or Renew Your Membership

All individual persons who are residents of the Ballston-Virginia Square Civic Association's area or who in their individual capacity own residential property located therein, shall be eligible for membership in the Ballston-Virginia Square Civic Association. For the purposes of this organization, the boundaries of the Ballston-Virginia Square Civic Association are Kirkwood Road on the east, Glebe Road on the west, Wilson Boulevard on the south, and the I-66 right of way on the north.

If interested in joining the Ballston-Virginia Square Civic Association, please complete the BVSCA Membership Application Form below and send your application and dues to DeAndra Beck, Treasurer, Ballston-Virginia Square Civic Association, at the address below.

Dues are payable when first joining and are renewable each year on or before the annual anniversary of that date. New members and members who have not paid their dues within the three preceding Association years must pay their dues 30 days before they receive voting privileges. Former members who have been members in good standing within any of the three immediately preceding Association years may be reinstated as voting members by paying their dues for that year.

All members of the Association are volunteers. Dues are used to help fund the Association's activities and sponsored events. Please join the Association today, or renew your dues paid membership. Visit us at (http://www.bvsca.org)

Please make checks payable to BVSCA.