Below is an article that was written in the Northern Virginia Daily on July 7th, 2020.
STRASBURG —The new Town Council in Strasburg is leaving the remnants of the last council in place for the time being.
On Monday night, council members decided to hold off on creating new committees or assigning new members to existing ones until after working on the town’s strategic plan as a group.
New Mayor Brandy Boies said she thought it would be best for the council members to let work flow freely. Town Council meetings and work sessions can be used in similar ways to committee meetings as a way for the members to get acquainted with each other and the issues that committees will be dealing with.
No work will fall by the wayside, Boies assured council members Monday. She said all of the work that needs to get done will be accomplished either by the council as a whole or in subcommittees if necessary.
Specific questions should be directed to the town manager or town staff, who will work with council members to get the issue on the next meetings’ agenda, Boies said.
In an email on Tuesday, Town Manager Wyatt Pearson said he and town staff are supportive of the decision to hold off on establishing committees until council members have some more time to settle into their new roles.
“Focusing Council efforts on completing the strategic plan and constructing committees and appointments to those committees based upon the associated goals in the strategic plan should result in the most effective structure moving forward,” Pearson wrote. “It should also offer an opportunity to keep the new Councilors and incumbent Councilors working directly with each other on any issues that should arise in the meantime.”
Taralyn Nicholson, one of the four returning council members, said she wanted to make sure the new members understand how busy they will be during their term. Committee meetings are very active, she said, and keep the town running smoothly.
Boies said that council members will not leave any questions residents have left unanswered while committees are on hiatus.
New committees and appointments aren’t happening but the skeleton of existing committees is still established. Currently, the Town Council has five established committees and all but one of them has at least two members still sitting on them from the last council.
The Finance and Personnel Committee still has Nicholson and John Massoud.
The Infrastructure Committee still has Ken Cherrix and Massoud.
The Ordinance Committee still has Emily Reynolds.
The Public Safety Committee still has Reynolds and Nicholson.
The Recreation, Parks and Trails Committee still has Cherrix, Massoud, Nicholson and Reynolds.
New council members Dane Hooser, Christie Monahan, Doreen Ricard and Paul Weaver were present for Monday’s meeting as well as Cherrix, Massoud, Nicholson and Reynolds.
– Contact Max Thornberry at mthornberry [at] nvdaily.com