Inside RLEP, Summer 2005

by Paul Farmer, President, RLEP

This space, which used to be "RLEP Currents," is set aside for your president's message, and we thought it was time for a new name for the column. We wanted something that suggests that you are getting the inside scoop on RLEP, on what's going on with the board, and on what the organization's leadership is thinking. So here goes…

RLEP has gone through a major turnover in leadership in recent months, which is nothing new. The RLEP Board of Directors is constantly morphing, as new directors come and old stalwarts depart. The important thing is that we have maintained an even keel and steady progress toward goals that shift gradually, if at all. At the board’s recent "offsite" conference, held in March, we reaffirmed our long-standing mission, goals, and objectives, and discussed a few new initiatives.

The biggest new initiative for RLEP is the Biodiversity Task Force, under the leadership of Pam Owen. If you want to know more about the task force or volunteer to help, please contact Pam at 540-675-9989 or pam@flybynightbooks.com.

RLEP has recently added some new volunteer positions: Photographer, Richard Lykes; Public Relations Director, Bob Lander; and an Events Coordinator, Kaye Kohler. Thanks are in order to each of these volunteers; they generously serve without monetary compensation.

Which brings me to the issue of RLEP organizational development. Are we doing the best job we possibly can as an environmental nonprofit? You, our members, should expect no less. Your donations are keeping RLEP moving ahead in the defense of our environment and in voicing good counsel on the best management decisions and planning for Rappahannock County and its natural and cultural resources. We are working to keep the rural in Rappahannock, but how can we maximize our effectiveness as a nonprofit?

The answer, I think, is that we also have to continuously work to build a better RLEP. We need to pay particular attention to recruiting RLEP directors—especially individuals who have significant nonprofit experience, including administration, planning, donor development, and grant writing. We also need writers, researchers, environmental scientists, engineers, educators, and lawyers, and volunteers with a host of other skills and the time to work on our objectives. If you think you might fit some or one of these descriptions, have ideas about other ways you could further our goals as an RLEP director or volunteer, and have the time to contribute, contact us at mail@RLEP.org. Elections for at least five new directors are just four months away.

You may or may not know that RLEP issues "Action Alerts" to its members and friends when breaking issues require Rappahannock citizens and landowners to register their views. This was a big help in passing the county’s lighting ordinance last year. Action Alerts helped again regarding a potentially precedent-setting decision of the Planning Commission concerning a request to install a controversial private sewage-treatment "package" plant. The plant would have been installed on a small, new-home site, where effluent would have washed directly onto neighboring properties. If you would like to receive our future e-mail Action Alerts, please e-mail us at mail@RLEP.org. You can also keep an eye out for RLEP Action Alerts by frequently visiting this website.

Now that's "Inside RLEP.' I hope it struck a chord.

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