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This year most positions for the Board of Directors have two candidates. Come and vote for the candidates of your choice. Here is a list of the candidates.
Elections will be held Thursday May 15. Vote will be by Secret Ballot. No proxies are permitted. The two candidates for president Lou and John have wiki pages. All candidates and are invited to use the wiki.
On May 17th, Fairfax County will send large trucks to the parking lot of Kings Park park at Kings Park Drive and Trafalgar Court. They will be accepting large household items between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. (only). The Kings Park Civic Association has rented three U-Haul trucks so that you may bring large items such as old sheds, couches, large appliances, and other things that do not get picked up by your trash company. If you are not sure whether your trash company will pick up an item leave it with your trash a week before May 17th. Generally if an item fits into a trash can it will be removed by your trash company. Things which will not be accepted on May 17th include old firewood; large quantities of debris left from renovation of your home (which you have already paid your contractor to remove anyway); glass such as mirrors or storm doors (bad because of the risk of broken glass on the parking lot); drywall (because it breaks up and leaves plaster powder all over the driveway); garbage; and other items not accepted by the county. We want an old appliances or sofa or chairs particularly if in your basement. If your lifting days are history ask a neighbor to help but know that those who have volunteered have been wonderful in helping. During the 27 years I have lived in Kings Park I have witnessed the awesome teamwork of neighbor helping neighbor. Young adults have given of their strength and energy. Last Nov. the group who cleaned up the corner of K.P. Drive and Braddock Rd. was awesome. The spirit of clean up day is that people with things they can’t get rid of by themselves help others with the same problem. I still need two drivers for 14ft U-Hauls, automatic transmissions. It is necessary to back into the parking lot at the basketball court. Let me apologize up front, I may miss you. It’s just because there may be so many calls and some people wait to the last minute. If you can get something to the park yourself please do so. It ends at 11:30 a.m. Anything left after the county leaves is in violation of littering laws. Please phone me, Roy Warner, at 703-250-5328, or E-mail: roy.c.warner@verizon.net.
KPCA membership works on a calendar year basis. So, please, pay your $20 dues and be a member again. You can apply online or print out a membership form and send it in. The January/February Gazette also has a membership form on page 5.
There is an additional reason to join this year – the right to vote. In May we have our Board elections. Only members may vote. We want you all to vote. Sign up today!!
The 2008 Membership form has been posted. You can sign up for 2008 now! As always, the membership form is available on the Gazette Page.
The KPCA wiki has a page for the candidates for the Board of Directors. The two candidates for president Lou and John have wiki pages. Other candidates may have wiki pages by the time you read this. Let the candidates be heard!
Much activity at KPCA! At a long and well-attended KPCA meeting April 17, the draft Expectations Statement was discussed for over an hour and, with the hour drawing late, was tabled, meaning that it was set aside for further review. Shortly after the meeting, several people came forward to register as candidates for the KPCA Board of Directors, setting up the first contested board elections in memory. Elections will be held as part of the May 15 Annual Meeting.
The Expectations Statement was proposed by the Executive Group as a community vision statement. Three alternative statements were proposed by community members as part of the public review process. Approximately sixty-six people came out for the April 17 meeting, and they carried another forty or so proxies. During the vigorous debate, the three alternative statements were rejected by close votes. As the hour was approaching 10:00 p.m., and many attendees had expressed the desire to consider further amendments to the Expectations Statement, the motion to table was approved by a near unanimous vote. Work continues on looking for common ground between the different ideas that were expressed at the meeting. The hope of the current board is to refine the language and create a Statement that has broad support; while the slate of alternate candidates would like to see an alternative statement. Here is the wiki page containing the Expectations Statement that caused the turmoil.
Nominations for the Board will remain open until the May 15 meeting. A list of candidates appears inside this issue. In accordance with the KPCA Bylaws, voting will be by secret ballot and proxy votes will not be permitted.
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This issue marks our annual year in review. Our KPCA year ends and begins again at our Annual Meeting, which this year is May 15. In this issue, we review the year with articles and committee reports. And what a year it has been.
A year ago we were passing our membership goal of 500. This year we are approaching our current goal of 600. Last year our block captain program was starting to get its legs. This year, we have most (but not all) of our blocks covered. A year ago, we were lucky to get twenty-five people at a membership meeting. This year’s lowest attendance was 38, and we’ve gone as high as 125! Thirty-six community members attended a Neighborhood College and learned leadership and community building skills that will serve the community for years to come. A year ago if someone had suggested that a dozen people would work on several weekends to clean up our entrance signs, we would have said, “good luck,” with a laugh. This year it happened. A year ago if someone had suggested that we get twenty volunteers to put on a community potluck and 500 people will attend, we would have said, “you’re crazy.” This year, it happened. We have a new and improved website. Our Youth Community Services Committee reached an all-time high of sixteen members. We have a new Infrastructure and Beautification Committee of eleven members. We are working toward solutions to zoning violations. And the list goes on. Kings Park is certainly on the move.
How did this happen? It was because of you. We fanned the dormant spark of community spirit within each of you with our Revitalization Program, and that spark became a flame. You came forward like never before to serve our community, and it showed. And it wasn’t just the same ‘ol faces. We reached out and new people by the dozens became active in the community. We made a real effort to reach the full diversity of our changing neighborhood, and it bore results. There is more work to do, but we are on the way.
Some people in particular rose well above the call of duty. We salute Donna Stecker, who “retires” this year as our Secretary. Donna has been invaluable not only in keeping meeting minutes and other papers, but has been the energy and organizer behind our block captain program. On a personal note, Donna has been there for me and the organization when we needed support, advice, and counsel. Donna, hats off for a job well done.
Beth Owens stepped forward to do an amazing job running the potluck dinner. Karen Vahouny and Debbie Hawks closed out their several years of service chairing the Youth Community Services Committee with record membership and a long list of service projects. Ken Kraus and Reid Voss powered our membership drive, and Susan Metcalf kept us financially afloat, and informed, by putting together the Gazette and Directory.
And the list goes on. Addressing community challenges means first energizing the spirit of the community, and then letting that spirit run free. Those sparks of spirit within us became flames, and then joined together to become a wildfire, and with that anything is possible. Keep the spirit, Kings Park!
John Cook
Last updated: May 11, 2008