A guide to candidates for Reston Association’s board election, now underway

Voting for Reston Association’s Board of Directors’ election closes on March 31.

This year, 10 candidates are vying for five seats on the nine-member board. The results of the election will be announced at the annual members’ meeting in April.

The month-long voting period kicked off on March 1 at 5 p.m.

RA organized two virtual candidate forums in late February.

Margaret Perry is seeking an at-large candidate seat for three years. A Reston resident and RA member for more than 12 years, Perry says she hopes to boost active engagement of RA members, work towards an improved website, work with staff to improvve organizational functionally and procedures and find “fiscally responsible ways to maintain, improve and add additional facilities,” according to her candidate statement.

She is running against John Farrell, who has lived in Reston for nearly 40 years and currently serves on the board.

If elected, Farrell — who is also running for state delegate — says he would “demand all new residential development join Reston Association” in an effect to reduce annual assessments and demand recreational money from residential developers to pay for pools, tennis courts and other amenities.

Gene Zapfel, who recently retired from a career in consulting and technology management, hopes to maintain Reston’s “small-town cluster feel” while improving the community experience for current and future residents. He also hopes to balance the “explosive” growth in Reston’s Transit Station Areas with the “human-scale lifestyle” of surrounding areas.

Mike Collins, who has served on the board for the last three years, is seeking a three-year term as the apartment owners’ candidate.

“My main goal on the board will be to continue to make sure that RA maintains its focus on enhancing property values for members,” Collins wrote in a candidate statement.

He added that the board should not “let internal challenges and political issues distract us from this mission.”

Jalal Mapar, who has lived in Reston for more than 30 years, is vying for a two-year at-large seat. He hopes to establish a strategic plan to maintain Reston’s infrastructure and ensure the efficient use of resources to meet member needs.

Trevor Grywatch, the director of a global consulting firm, is vying for the same position. He hopes to maintain open and green space in the community and explore possibilities for a “more data-drive approach to, and, presentation of, RA’s current business practices.”

For the one-year at-large candidate seat, Michael Brandland, a Reston resident since 2014, hopes to “get all activities in Reston the proper distribution of funds and amenities equal to the number of participants,” according to his candidate statement.

Bob Petrine — a board member for the last three years — is also vying for that position. He hopes to focus on fiscal stewardship, active engagement of membership and advocacy for the community.

Although the seat for Hunters Woods/Dogwood director is not contested, a quorum of 19% of eligible voters is required to officiate the results. Travis Johnson, a Reston resident for more than 14 years, is running for that seat.

He hopes to work with staff to “improve the Association processes that serve Restonians, to use the technology available to us in the 21st Century to more effectively communicate with Restonians and to make all Restonians feel included in the community,” he wrote.