Nominations closed October 27 for the following four CCCA officer positions, with only one nomination per position. The terms for each position are two years. All members whose dues are paid are eligible to vote in the election which will be done by Zoom poll. A brief bio of each candidate follows; they will present themselves at the November 11 Annual Meeting.
Vice President for Policy and Planning (Christopher Wimbush)
Chris is currently a Member-at-Large on the CCCA’s Executive Committee, supporting the Association’s housing policy efforts and serves as our community partner liaison to Arlington County’s Missing Middle Study. He is a Millennial renter and a passionate advocate for affordable housing and social infrastructure within our community to ensure public policy decisions impacting Crystal City reflect the needs of both homeowners and renters. As Vice President, he would like to focus on three priorities: 1) Work with our Livability 22202 working group members and key stakeholders to develop and execute an engagement strategy to ensure their work continues to have a direct impact on the county’s planning policies; 2) Work with Executive Committee colleagues to establish a clear policy agenda for 2021 and ensure we align the Association’s time, focus, and resources to achieving our policy objectives; and 3) Work hard to implement an inclusive policymaking and advocacy process that includes more opportunities for members to be involved with the development of the Association’s policy positions and improve the way we document and advance our positions with critical stakeholders.
Treasurer (Eric Cassel)
A founding member of the Crystal City Civic Association in 2014, Eric has been the Treasurer for the past two years and an active representative to the Arlington County Civic Federation where he oversaw the presentation of the Livability22202 Framework to other civic associations. In June, he was elected chair of the Board of Directors of the Civic Federation. For over 20 years, he has worked on Long Bridge Park. He is President of the Friends of Long Bridge Park and anxiously awaits the opening of the next phase. Eric currently coordinates the Livabiity22202 Underground Working Group.
Communications Director (Idris Clay)
Idris Clay is a Senior Account Executive at DCG Communications in Washington, D.C. He has spent the last decade working in digital marketing for B2C and B2G clients, website development, and corporate communications. He moved from Tennessee to Crystal City, Arlington, Virginia in 2016 and is a Millennial renter. You can find him on the trails cycling by day or in the kitchen teaching his teenage son how to cook by night. When not in front of a backlit device (including his Kindle), he enjoys reading and spending time with family.
Having previously attended our CCCA and BID-sponsored Happy Hour for Renters in February, he responded to a CCCA request for volunteers and was appointed Acting Communications Director in September. Since then, he has been managing the CCCA and Livability22202 websites (recently reorganized), helping to run Zoom meetings, and preparing advertisements and flyers for meetings.
Membership Liaison (Emily Norton)
Emily was appointed Acting Membership Liaison in June and serves on the Livability22202 Housing working group. She is a Millennial renter and has actively promoted the CCCA to the renter community. Emily is currently a Senior Analyst at the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General where she conducts performance audits of national surface transportation programs, including FTA’s safety oversight of WMATA, the effectiveness of USMMA’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (SAPR) program, and FRA’s oversight of California High-Speed Rail. Her first job in transportation was at a Regional Planning Commission in New Hampshire, where she developed a passion for transportation issues through assisting with corridor studies and implementing the Safe Routes to School Program in local communities. Emily completed the County’s Neighborhood College training program this summer.