Dear readers, this is an election year for executive board positions for the Lamond-Riggs Citizens Association, the neighborhood civic association. The election takes place at the May meeting on May 1, 2017. Officer and trustee positions are elected two-year positions. There are eight officer positions: president, first vice president, second vice president, recording secretary, corresponding secretary, financial secretary, treasurer, and parliamentarian. The parliamentarian is appointed by the president. There are 10 trustee positions. The official duty descriptions are contained in Article VI of LRCA’s bylaws, which are available on LRCA’s website.

Time commitment

Executive board members should be present for LRCA’s monthly public meetings, which are held the first Monday of each month during the months of October through June. Ideally, every executive board member should chair a committee. There are 12 committees. Executive board meetings are typically held the second Monday of each moth during the months of September through June. At the executive board meetings, we discuss meeting topics, committee activities, and neighborhood issues that need to be addressed. So official time commitment consists of two Monday evenings each month. Of course, work takes place outside of meetings, so you can count on spending a few more hours per month on LRCA activities.

My experience

I serve as a trustee for the 2015-2017 term. I was sort of recruited by LRCA President Barbara Rogers, who has done an amazing job leading the organization over the past few years. The official duties of a trustee are nebulous, so I made it my own. I chair the communications committee. Mostly, that meant creating and maintaining a website, email, social media accounts (facebook.com/lrcadc; @lrcadc), and listserv for the organization. With the help of some awesome volunteers (residents Harrison Beacher, Iyanna Holmes, and Aaron White), we were able to create a website that we hope is beneficial to residents. I also serve on the scholarship committee, working with committee chair Barbara Carter to get LRCA’s scholarship program up and running again. We were really excited to award three $1000 college scholarships to three very deserving neighborhood students last year. And I have spent a lot of time working with the development task force ably chaired by Gwen Cofield and others, reviewing documents for proposed development, drafting responses, soliciting resident input, making sure residents are informed about what is happening with development in the neighborhood, etc.

Really, you can do as much as you want to. It is a great way to meet neighbors, get to know your elected officials, and have a positive impact in the community.

Become an LRCA member in order to vote/run

In order to vote or run for an executive board position, one must be a paid member of the LRCA at least one month prior to the election in May. That means you have until the April meeting to become a member. Annual membership is only $10 for individuals, $15 for families, and $50 for corporate membership. Fortunately, it is easy to make online payments (thanks to resident and trustee Paul Garcia). Or you can pay in person at a public meeting. The next LRCA meeting is on March 6, 2017, at 7:00 pm at LaSalle Backus Education Campus, located at 501 Riggs Road NE (enter on Madison Street).

Seriously, please consider serving

If you have ever thought to yourself, “Gee I wish we had this in the neighborhood,” “We should do X,” “I have a great idea for a fundraiser,” or “I’m good with budgets or planning events,” then please consider running for a position. If you see a community need and think you have a solution or a better way of addressing an issue, then please consider running. What better way to make sure we have the community we want than to serve. If you think executive board membership might be a little more commitment than you want to take on, then please consider getting involved with a committee. The great thing about this neighborhood is that we have long had active residents. But, some of our most active, longest serving residents are ready to pass the torch on to other residents.

So think about serving in an official capacity. If you’re not an official LRCA member, become one today. If you want to chat or have questions, please feel free to reach out. Thanks for reading.