This past Sunday, I had a truly special treat: the opportunity to attend a ceremony honoring one of RCA's Board members.  Our own Terry Maynard received a Citation of Merit from the Fairfax County Federation of Citizens Associations (FCFCA) for his tireless and impressive work as co-chair of RCA's Reston 2020 Committee.  It was great to see Terry receive a well-deserved award for his work, but it was also a pleasure to see that RCA's efforts are receiving attention on a wider stage.

The FCFCA has been around since 1940, and it is composed of representatives from Fairfax County's civic and community organizations.  The FCFCA is dedicated to working on issues that impact Fairfax County residents, and they work closely with the Board of Supervisors and Fairfax County staff on those issues.

It's an organization with significant political pull, which was evidenced by some of the luminaries in attendance at the banquet, including Congressmen Gerry Connolly and Jim Moran, Board of Supervisors Chairman Sharon Bulova, several other Supervisors, several state Delegates and Senators, and former Board of Supervisors Chairman and Secretary of the Commonwealth Kate Hanley.  The fact that an organization like the FCFCA recognized Terry and Reston 2020 is a testament to how much impact our work has had in the community.

The ceremony itself was terrific.  RCA's Tammi Petrine, Terry's fellow 2020 co-chair, stepped up and gave a heartfelt introduction, which she delivered at the spur of the moment.  She gave the audience a capsule history of Reston 2020 and its work, and paid tribute to the many impressive qualities Terry has brought to the effort. 

And then Terry stepped up and gave a typically classy speech, in which he dedicated his award to his fellow RCA and Reston 2020 members, proclaiming that he could not have achieved what he has without the efforts of his colleagues.  While Terry was right that RCA's and 2020's accomplishments are team efforts, he was (as usual) too modest about his own role.

RCA is an organization of limited resources.  We are an all-volunteer group, and we do not collect taxes or assessments to fund our efforts.  We are not flush in cash and we have no paid staff.  But there's one area in which we are flush, and that's human capital.  Terry is a prime example of the dedicated and capable folks we have working with us.

Every RCA and 2020 member has some special skills that they bring to the party.  Terry's strong suits are intelligence and analytical ability.  He is unquestionably the brains of the outfit.  You may well be familiar with the research and analysis he's done for RCA on the Silver Line.  But you may not be aware that he's been the principal author of 16 RCA/2020 reports on development and transportation issues.

If you've ever read one of Terry's reports, you know that it's no small undertaking.  His reports often involve complex and sophisticated statistical analysis, and can run as long as 100 pages.  Terry spent decades as a government analyst, so he knows what he's doing.  His reports contain charts and summaries that make his work easy for a layman to follow, while his analysis is rigorous and sophisticated enough to stand up to scrutiny by experts in the field.

Terry's reports have been a key reason why Reston 2020 has such credibility with local decision-makers.  His reports have gotten the attention of everyone from the Board of Supervisors to MWAA to the Fairfax County planning staff to the US Department of Transportation to newspaper and magazine reporters.  His reports are comprehensive, credible, and thorough.  When 2020 gets attention and results, it's usually because of Terry's analysis and reports.

If all Terry did for RCA was those reports, he'd be a highly valuable member of the team.  But that's not all that he does.  He's also a key planner of Reston 2020's advocacy efforts, distributing letters to the editor and fact sheets on issues of importance.  He is also the sole administrator of the 2020 blog, a resource that is used widely by citizens and officials alike.  He is also RCA's representative to the Reston Master Plan Task Force.  All this and he still finds time to sleep, or so he claims.  I trust most of Terry's claims, but I think I'd need to see photographic evidence before I bought that one.

I'd like to thank Fred Costello, an FCFCA officer, for nominating Terry for the award.  Fred has worked with Terry on the Task Force, and he's seen Terry's impressive work firsthand.  I'd also like to thank former RCA President Marion Stillson, who wrote a strong letter supporting Terry's nomination.

I also congratulate Reston's own Walter Alcorn, who was named FCFCA's 2011 Citizen of the Year at the same banquet.  Walter is a Fairfax County Planning Commissioner, and he spearheaded the planning efforts around the redevelopment of Tysons Corner to accommodate the Silver Line.  By all accounts, Walter is a positive and congenial guy, and he's well-known for ensuring that everyone's voice has been heard in the discussions about Tysons.  Walter is just as deserving of his award as Terry is of his, and I thank him for his service to the community.

Terry Maynard is a shining example of the service we at RCA are providing to the community.  His intelligence, integrity, and analytical capability are helping to ensure that the planning for the Silver Line, and the new Resotn Master Plan, are done right.  Terry's dedicated himself to preserving and improving Reston's quality of life.  Here's hoping that this award will cause more people to take notice.