Good evening. My name is Ed Abbott. I live at 2218 Wakerobin Lane.

I
represent Reston Recall. Reston Recall is dedicated to removing
members of the RA Board responsible for the Lake House fiasco.
I have just handed you Reston Recalls report. Because you, the Board
of Directors, together with RA staff and legal counsel, have failed to
negotiate a contract to investigate the circumstances that led up to the
purchase of the Tetra property at an inflated price, as well as the cost
overruns associated with that purchase, we have taken it upon
ourselves to examine the public record and present the known facts. I
should emphasize here that the public record only tells part of the
story. The underlying reasons for these known failures cannot be
determined unless an independent investigation is done. More on that
later.
Those facts include the following failures by the Board
Purchase the Tetra office building, for over twice its county-appraised
value of $1.2 million by requesting the appraiser add a restaurant to
the appraisal
Grossly underestimating the buildings renovations costs both inside
and out in the referendum to sell the deal to the membership
Signing a sloppily written lease back agreement that allowed Tetras
former owners to cancel the lease resulting in a $100,000 loss in RA
revenues
Allowing the staff to run up renovations costs by more than a factor of
three without the knowledge of the members
Sabotaging its own motion for an independent financial evaluation of
the Tetra fiasco by insisting on excessive RA control and contractor
liability on the vendor contrary to similar RA contracts for similar work
The detail supporting these facts is provided in the report.
More importantly, perhaps, is what Board members have said in the
past about the Lake House. Allow me to paraphrase.
Director Thompson with respect to the purchase price: Dont you
believe the appraisal? Yes, but that is not the question. Who asked
that a restaurant be added?
Chairman Graves with respect to membership acceptance: I had many
people at the opening of the Lake House congratulate the Board on

purchasing the Lake House. OK, but if you talk with the community at
large as I have done more than 50% are appalled at the purchase and
the cost overruns. The other half had no knowledge of the Lake House.
Director Thomas on the cost overruns: These things happen with large
project. Yes, indeed they do but the people responsible are either fired
or their contacts canceled.
Director Blitzer on the cost overruns: I tend to see my glass half full.
This is nice sentiment but does not address the problems getting to the
causes of the overruns.
Director Sanio on the need to complete the independent financial
evaluation: We need to get the evaluation done before we start work
on a $2.7 million renovation to the maintenance facilities. No. You
need to stop any further work on any projects regardless of schedule
until the roots causes of the this fiasco are determine and corrected.
The only way Reston gets back to its purpose as defined in the deed,
articles of incorporation and bylaws, is to elect a board with a majority
of members who will undertake a thorough evaluation of RAs
organization including but not limited to the senior staff leadership
team. Reston Recall will be reaching out to the candidates in the
upcoming election and supporting those that agree.
Thank you for your time.