William Nicoson Newspaper Columns

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https://hdl.handle.net/1920/41

The William Nicoson Newspaper Columns are part of a larger collection of materials donated by William Nicoson to the University Libraries. His collection, in turn, is part of the Planned Community Archives, which includes voluminous materials on Reston, Virginia. Access to information about these collections is available from Planned Community Archives and William Nicoson Papers

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A Tavern Comes to Lake Anne
(Reston Times, 2006-03-01) Nicoson, William J.
Reston's Lake Anne Village Center has been celebrated for the number and quality of its restaurants. Beginning in 2003 the largest of these restaurants, known as Il Cigno (The Swan), specialized in Italian cuisine designed by a highly-regarded chef, Andrea Pace, a graduate of The Excelsior Culinary Institute in Merano, Italy. But the owner of the restaurant, Tony Arbid, invested in a capacious terrace canopy which a number of Lake Anne residents found objectionable. He eventually replaced the canopy with umbrellas but decided to move his restaurant and chef to a Great Falls location known now as Fiora di Luna (Moon Blossom).
Airports Authority Promotes Rail to Dulles
(Reston Times, 2005-12-28) Nicoson, William J.
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority has made public a sweeping plan which would combine the current two construction phases of rail to Dulles Airport and Loudoun County, relieve Virginia of future project expenditures, dispense with the time-consuming red tape of federal financing, substitute financing by tax-exempt bonds issued by the Authority, and assume responsibility for, and benefits of, Toll Road operations, including toll rate setting.
Incorporating Reston: Triumph or Folly
(Reston Times, 2005-12-01) Nicoson, William J.
In the 1970s and 80s, several efforts by community activists were made to incorporate Reston as a town. One effort resulted in a referendum by residents on a town charter adopted by the Virginia House of Delegates. It failed, largely, I believe, because it offered no new powers to the community other than garbage collection.
Newspaper Column: "ABC's of Reston Politics"
(The Connection, 1999-04) Nicoson, William J.
Over the last twelve months, Reston’s political landscape has been forever altered. I’m not talking about the birth of the Alliance for a Better Community (ABC). I’m talking about its rapid growth to maturity. Political alliances have come and gone during Reston’s development. But I predict that ABC will last as a vital source of community policies and political candidates as long as there are policy-making boards of Reston institutions to which candidates are elected.
Newspaper Column: A City Center in Reston for Dulles Corridor
(Reston Times, 2002-11) Nicoson, William J.
It seems reasonable to assume that the air-rights proposal for joint metro station and related commercial and residential development on platforms over the intersection of the Dulles Access Road and Reston Parkway, taken together with Reston’s adjacent Town Center, Plaza America, and the Sheraton Hotel redevelopment, will inevitably become a city center for the Dulles Corridor. Hopefully the development and redevelopment will be planned to permit such a city center to bring excitement and vitality to Reston and provide easy access from other communities in the corridor. Handsomely designed open space will be an essential component. Cultural offerings – in both performing and visual arts -- must be assured, not only to contribute to the vitality of animation around the clock but to draw new customers to Reston restaurants and shops.
Newspaper Column: A Critical Election
(The Connection, 2000-03) Nicoson, William J.
Next Saturday Reston residents will receive in the mail a critical envelope from the Reston Association. It will contain a ballot for the election of three members of RA’s board of directors. The ballot must be marked and returned by 5 p.m. on March 31. Why is this envelope so “critical”? Because, over the 3-year term of the directors to be elected, RA faces long-term decisions affecting the property values and life-style of all residents.
Newspaper Column: A Historic Vote Against War
(The Connection, 1999-05) Nicoson, William J.
Last Wednesday the U.S. House of Representatives made history. By a vote of 213 to 213, the House declined to support the air bombardment of Serbia initiated by President Clinton and the NATO alliance. Never before has either house of Congress failed to support military action ordered abroad by a President of the United States. House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt offered the resolution of support, believing it would pass easily. When it failed, he chastised House Republicans for partisanship. The White House lightly dismissed the vote as a “tie on standing still” rather than a rebuke of the President. Neither Mr. Gephardt nor the White House mentioned any of the 26 House Democrats who voted against Mr. Gephardt’s resolution. The vote of any one of them was all the President needed. How can this challenge to the Commander-in-Chief be explained? What motivated House members of both parties who voted against the President? What were they thinking?
Newspaper Column: A Literacy Manifesto at Sallie Mae
(The Connection, 2000-04) Nicoson, William J.
On March 28, Governor George W. Bush of Texas made a pilgrimage to Sallie Mae’s imposing Reston home. No, Sallie Mae isn’t a rich widow being courted for campaign contributions. She’s SLM Holding Corporation, and SLM is short for student loan marketing. GWB wanted to talk to citizens about student literacy, and, at the suggestion of Congressman Tom Davis who represents most of Reston, chose Sallie Mae’s rostrum from which to address the nation.
Newspaper Column: A Master Executive Comes and Goes
(The Connection, 1999-12) Nicoson, William J.
Robert J. O’Neill, Jr., arrived in August 1997 to become Fairfax County Executive, raising high hopes that he could do for Fairfax County what he did for Hampton, Virginia. There he is credited with “reinventing government” during 13 years of service as city manager -- a performance celebrated by expert commentators in Banishing Bureaucracy (1997) and winning him the prestigious National Public Service Award in 1996. Next month O’Neill will leave Fairfax County to become President of the National Academy of Public Administration, of which he was appointed a lifetime fellow in 1997. The nonpartisan,independent Academy chartered by Congress sponsors studies of government operations at alllevels but itself exercises no government functions and employs a staff too slim to trim. To escape the political winds of Fairfax County may be a relief for O’Neill, but those close to him wonder whether his executive talents will be wasted.
Newspaper Column: A Walk in Tomorrow's Park
(The Connection, 1999-01) Nicoson, William J.
The concept of Town Center has been high-intensity use of land, consistent with creation of a regional commercial and residential complex as the final project in Reston’s development as a mixed-use community. Many planners and community activists were disappointed that no residential space was programed into Phase I of Town Center. Retail and office uses weren’t much of a mix. Just wait, was the answer: wait for the high-rise apartments of Phase II.
Newspaper Column: Amenities Behind the Employee Surge: Who Pays?
(The Connection, 1999-02) Nicoson, William J.
A common theme of discussions at a breakfast forum last Thursday on “Hi-Tech Employee Surge” was reliance on community amenities needed or appreciated by employees of major companies choosing to locate in Reston. In fact speakers at the forum, sponsored by the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce, made it clear that the critical choice of location (“location, location, location”) was motivated in large part by the existence of community amenities.
Newspaper Column: An Election Scramble
(Reston Times, 2005-02) Nicoson, William J.
Who said what to whom has become a major issue in the tightly contested race to determine who will win the at-large seat on the Reston Association board being vacated by Vicky Wingert. Two other board members will also be elected but without controversy: the Dogwood candidate, Barbara Aaron, is running unopposed, and the apartment owners’ candidate will not be nominated or elected by residents as a whole. Three candidates are vying for the at-large seat: Bill Keefe, Jerry Volloy and Brian “Rock” Brown. The question for voters is to identify which candidate is best equipped to deal with current pressing issues facing the board.
Newspaper Column: An Electoral Silver Lining? No, Two
(The Connection, 1999-11) Nicoson, William J.
After the sudden judgment revealed on every election night, defeated politicians and their supporters “just look for the silver lining,” in the words of the song. Sadly, as a rule few are to be found outside poetry. But last week’s state and county elections may prove the exception. Leaving aside the wounds of defeated politicians, disappointed voters of both parties may find favorable local prospects resulting from outcomes they sought to prevent.The big news, drawing national media coverage, was the GOP’s capture of a working majority in the Virginia House of Delegates. For the first time since the Civil War aftermath, Republicans will control, beginning in the year 2000, both houses of the General Assembly and the principal elected offices in the executive branch of government.
Newspaper Column: Another Nixon is Precedential
(The Connection, 1999-01) Nicoson, William J.
Lawyers and journalists have speculated that at some early point in the Senate trial the president’s counsel will introduce a motion to dismiss the proceedings on the grounds that, if true, the articles of impeachment adopted by the House fail to state an impeachable offense. Senators of both parties might find this a convenient means of ending an unpopular trial. If all 45 Senate Democrats vote to dismiss, only 6 Republicans need join them to prevail.
Newspaper Column: Army of Artists to Occupy Town Center
(The Connection, 1999-05) Nicoson, William J.
A motley army of jewelry lacers, fiber weavers, glass blowers, canvas strokers, stone gougers, and clay throwers, among other eminent soldiers of arts and crafts, will invade Reston Town Center at sun-up May 15 and occupy both Market and Library Streets until sunlight fades on May 16. The Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival, managed with flair by The Greater Reston Arts Center, will stake its tents, fly its pennants and enthrall its throngs for an eighth straight May.
Newspaper Column: At Last a Name for the No-Name Group
(Reston Times, 2003-06) Nicoson, William J.
The legendary No Name Group has at last found a name. It will henceforth be known as the Coalition of Reston Organizational Leadership or COROL. The No Name Group got together some years ago to coordinate activities of Reston organizations. Members were the chief executive and chairperson of each organization represented, including Reston Association, Reston Community Center, Reston Citizens Association, Reston Historic Trust, Reston Town Center Association, the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce, Reston Interfaith, the Greater Reston Arts Center, the Reston YMCA, and LINK.
Newspaper Column: Banking Online in a New Millennium
(The Connection, 1999-05) Nicoson, William J.
If you’re the kind of check-writer who worries about overdrafts in a joint account because it’s hard to keep up with checks written by your spouse or because you don’t trouble to balance your own checkbook, I’m sympathetic because I’ve been there. Reston’s newest bank, Millennium, headquartered at Lake Anne Village Center, wants to take the worry out of check writing by providing instant information on your account balance, verified by check imaging. Five of eight other banks with Reston branches provide online bill paying and account information current to the previous day, but Millennium supplies, in addition, return-check imaging. From Millennium’s web site for registered depositors (bankatmillennium.com), just a click brings up the computer-current statement; another click on the unfamiliar or forgotten check entry brings up an image of the check itself; and another click shows the back of the check for endorsements and tracking information.
Newspaper Column: Big Savings If RA and RCC Get Together
(The Connection, 1999-04) Nicoson, William J.
Reston Association and Reston Community Center are very much in the same business. They are respectively the out-of-doors and in-doors divisions of a mythical Recreation and Parks Authority for a place called Reston. But, being entirely separate, they duplicate both program and administrative costs which would be substantially reduced in joint operations.
Newspaper Column: Bronze Bob Goes Upstream
(Reston Times, 2004-11) Nicoson, William J.
It was as if the bench-seated statue of Reston’s founder, Robert E. Simon, Jr., decided to explore the source of water flowing into Lake Anne behind him. On Saturday morning, October 23rd, Bronze Bob, as we call him, was found relaxing against the steep bank of the stream, feet in the water, not far from the bench swing on the concrete bridge over the stream.
Newspaper Column: Budgets Bursting in Air
(The Connection, 1999-03) Nicoson, William J.
With explosive brilliance, President Clinton has finally figured out how to spend the budget surplus in a way the Republicans are obliged to accept: literally blowing the money away in the rockets’ red glare by detonation of patriotic ordinance over Serbia, our Bosnian peace-partner.