Reston residents can start voting Friday, Sept. 4, to fill three seats on the Reston Community Center (RCC) Board of Governors.

The 2026 Preference Poll runs through 5 p.m. on Sept. 25, with ballots available online and in person, according to RCC's preference poll page. Mail-in ballots must arrive by the same deadline. Each seat carries a three-year term.

The nine-member volunteer board sets RCC's policies, guides its budget and represents the center at community events across Reston. Residents and business owners in Fairfax County Small District 5, which covers most Reston ZIP codes, fund RCC through a dedicated property tax of $0.047 per $100 of assessed value.

Who can vote

Residents and business owners in Small District 5 can cast a ballot. Candidates must also be Small District 5 residents and at least 18 years old, Patch reported when the filing period opened in July.

Candidate filing closed at 5 p.m. on Aug. 14. The names of this year's candidates were not listed in RCC's published materials as of Tuesday, Sept. 1.

Forum held Tuesday

RCC held the 2026 Preference Poll Candidate Forum on Tuesday, Sept. 1, at 6:30 p.m. in the Leila Gordon Theatre at RCC Hunters Woods.

How the process works

After voting closes, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors makes the official appointments based on the community's expressed preferences. In 2023, Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn requested the appointments of Vicky Wingert, William Penniman and Paul Berry on Oct. 10, 2023, 11 days after that year's poll closed.

Wingert led the 2023 poll with 1,219 votes, followed by Penniman with 1,105 and Berry with 1,051.

Bill Bouie chairs the current board. BeBe Nguyen serves as RCC's executive director.