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ARCH Issues Committee
Contact: issues-committee@restonarch.org 
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Committee Members: 
Robert Goudie - Richard Chew - George Kain - Dan Kelley - Matt Egan - Jan Bradshaw

Reston is a mature, mixed-use community facing continued challenges of traffic and transportation, scarce land resources for residential, recreational and commercial pursuits, and increasing population density. On behalf of our collective membership, ARCH will be faced with, and shall consider how to deal with, important community issues, proposals and policy decisions that may affect the residents and leadership of ALL Reston homeowner associations, if not the entire Reston community.

The ARCH Issues Committee (IC) appointed by, and accountable to the Board, will assess relevant community issues and recommend to the Board how ARCH should treat these issues. The goal and policy of the IC is to consider whether particular community and/or policy issues are relevant to ARCH members and make recommendations as to how, if at all, ARCH should participate in the community dialogue on those issues. Examples are, alerting Members to the recent State legislation that would have added significant reporting requirements for homeowner associations, and helping promote the important community dialogue on the proposed changes to Reston Association’s governing documents.

The Policy of ARCH, with the ARCH Issues Committee coordinating our measured and informed response, will be to look at issues in a non-partisan manner, serving solely the interests of Reston’s homeowner associations in considering ARCH’s possible involvement.

The IC will consist of a "core" team of members that will coordinate and organize ARCH activities designed to represent the interests and concerns of our collective Membership when there are important community issues, proposals and policy decisions that may affect the residents and leadership of all Reston homeowner associations, if not the entire Reston community. One ARCH Board member will serve on this committee. This core group will manage the Phase I - Issue Identification and Evaluation milestone in the IC process. To support the resource intensive Issue Assessment and Recommendation phases, the IC will rely on a network of volunteers with relevant skills and experience, to serve from time to time, on teams formed for selected issues.

Issues Currently Under Evaluation 
Reston Association (RA) Governing Documents changes     
Lake Anne Revitalization 
RA build vs. lease option for office building - see Bulletin 2004-1
Proposed county takeover of trash collection
RA Design Review Board/Covenants enforcement
State legislation changing HOA reporting requirements

ARCH Issues Archives (This information is restricted to ARCH Members and contains ARCH Issues Committee Work Product) 

Volunteers are needed to:

A. The AIC may add to the team of core members that meets on an ongoing basis, based on their experience with the number and complexity of Community Issues they shall address;

B. The AIC needs Member volunteers to serve on an occasional as needed basis to provide in depth experience during the Issue Assessment and Recommendation Phases. The AIC anticipates needs in specialized disciplines such as mass transit and other alternatives; noise and traffic management; County and State Planning and Zoning; architectural standards, and HOA and County Governance processes.

See Resource Links for more helpful information.

ARCH Issues Committee Charter
(September 2004)

A. Composition and Purpose

1. Creation: The ARCH Board shall create within ARCH a standing Issues Committee (the IC) and appoint its members.

2. Purpose: To assess relevant community and policy issues and recommend to the ARCH Board how, if at all, ARCH should treat those issues.

3. Members

a. Eligibility: The IC shall include at least one ARCH Board member and as many other members as the ARCH Board shall determine, with the total number of voting members being an odd number. Membership shall be open to any General Member Representative or Associate Member.

b. Qualifications: In appointing members of the IC, the ARCH Board shall endeavor to ensure the IC is reasonably representative of the community and is capable of addressing issues in a politically nonpartisan, fair-minded, and balanced manner.

c. Voting Rights: Each IC member shall have one vote.

d. Term: IC members shall serve for one-year terms unless removed for cause by the ARCH Board. There shall be no limitation on reappointment.

4. Officers: The IC shall annually elect a Chair and Vice Chair from among its members (no limitation on reappointment). The principal duties of the Chair (or, in his/her absence, the Vice Chair) shall be to call and run IC meetings; draft meeting agendas; solicit input from and assign tasks to IC members and collaborators; and represent the IC with the ARCH Board and external organizations and persons.

B. Dealing With Issues

Overview. The IC shall be responsible for assessing relevant community and policy issues at the direction of the ARCH Board, for recommending to the Board how, if at all, ARCH should treat those issues, and for crafting any written products or other deliverables resulting from this process that the Board requests. The IC shall address issues in four phases. During the first phase, Identification, the Board, on its on initiative or in response to an IC proposal, shall determine if an issue is both relevant to ARCH’s role and mandate and worthy of its attention and resources. If so, the Board shall direct the IC to proceed to the second phase, Assessment. During this phase, the IC shall conduct sufficient research and analysis to determine how it believes the Board should deal with the issue. In the third phase, Recommendation, the IC shall recommend to the ARCH Board what if any course of action it believes ARCH should undertake with respect to the issue. The Board may then adopt, modify, or reject the recommendation. If the Board determines that further action is warranted, it will direct the IC to proceed to the fourth and final phase: Action. In this phase, the IC shall perform or arrange or facilitate whatever actions the Board directs with regard to the issue.

1. Phase I: Identification. The Identification phase serves as a preliminary determination of relevance and importance of an issue to ARCH and its General Members. As this determination is often easy to reach, and as there may be a need for timely action, the Identification phase may be conducted by email or telephone or other means, without a formal meeting.

a. An issue will be deemed appropriate for the Assessment phase only if it meets all of the following criteria:

(1) The issue should be essentially local in nature and have some direct impact on or relevance to Reston and some or all of its residents.

(2) The issue should be of general concern or interest to ARCH’s General Members.

(3) Devoting ARCH’s attention and resources to the issue is likely to benefit its General Members.

b. Any ARCH Member may propose issues for ARCH to address. If the issue is proposed to the ARCH Board, the Board may on its own determine that the issue meets the criteria for ARCH involvement and direct the IC to proceed to the Assessment phase, or it may forward the proposal to the IC for this judgment. If the issue is proposed to the IC (or one of its members), or handed off to the IC by the ARCH Board, the IC shall evaluate whether it appears to meet the criteria for ARCH involvement, and, if a majority of the IC members judges that it does, shall so inform the ARCH Board.

c. The Board may or may not direct the IC to proceed to the Assessment phase. The IC shall not proceed to the Assessment phase unless the Board has so directed.

2. Phase II: Assessment. Once directed to do so, the IC shall study the issue thoroughly, performing such research and soliciting such internal or outside guidance as may be appropriate, with the goal of recommending to the ARCH Board how, if at all, ARCH should deal with that issue.

a The IC shall seek in good faith to identify all of the material and relevant viewpoints associated with that issue.

b. IC members shall strive at all times to remain objective concerning the issue under study. IC members, at their discretion, may recuse themselves on any issue.

c. At any time during the process, the IC may seek guidance from the ARCH Board.

3. Phase III: Recommendation. Once the IC has developed sufficient understanding of an issue, it shall recommend to the ARCH Board what, if any, action it believes ARCH should take with respect to that issue.

a. The IC decision-making process shall be objective, transparent, and accountable.

b. IC decisions shall be reached through a formal vote. If there is a consensus, there shall be a single recommendation. Absent a consensus, minority views will be presented, along with the majority or plurality view.

c. The IC shall present recommendations to the Board in summary form, outlining the issue, the key viewpoints concerning it, and the reasons why the IC recommends a particular course of action. Supporting facts and reasoning will be documented. If any follow-up steps would be needed to implement the recommendations, an outline of those steps shall be presented along with the recommendation.

d. The Board shall then adopt, modify, or reject the proposed recommendation, or return it to the IC for refinement.

4. Phase IV: Action. The ARCH Board may direct the IC to take follow-up steps to implement a recommendation it has adopted.

a. Following are examples of actions the Board might decide to undertake in response to a recommendation by the IC:

(1) No action at all.

(2) That ARCH serve solely as a neutral educational resource for its Members on a particular issue, providing Members with a description of the issue and of the various viewpoints concerning it, with each viewpoint supported by the essential arguments of its adherents.

(3) That ARCH sponsor a "town meeting" or alternative public forum to facilitate the presentation to ARCH Members of the various or competing viewpoints on the issue.

(4) That the ARCH Board adopt and publicize a certain position with respect to a particular issue.

b. Depending on the action decided upon by the ARCH Board, the role of the IC might be negligible, tangential, or central. If a written product or other deliverable is required, the IC would be responsible for drafting and producing it, subject to the guidance and approval of the ARCH Board.

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