Fairfax County Supervisor and COG Board Member Penelope Gross was unanimously re-elected for a second two-year term on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Regional Councils (NARC) during its Annual Conference in San Antonio, TX this weekend.  NARC is a national association of metropolitan planning organizations and regional councils, such as the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. 

Gross will again represent NARC’s Region 3, which includes Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia and West Virginia.  Among her accomplishments at NARC this year, she co-chaired the group’s Membership Committee and served as vice-chair for its Executive Director Selection Committee.  Gross also continues to be an active leader in the Washington region where she participates on the COG Board, the COG Chesapeake Bay Policy Committee, and the COG Public Safety Policy Committee.  She served as COG President in 2005. 

“Regionalism is very important to everything we do at COG,” said Gross, who has served on the NARC Board since 2004.  “Our history of working together as a region has been a great asset as we took on a key leadership role on homeland security in the National Capital Region.”

This year, Gross and other NARC Board Members plan to intensify their efforts to advocate for their members on legislative and regulatory areas such as transportation, homeland security, growth and development, aging, environment, and telecommunications.  She has also been appointed to the NARC Strategic Plan Committee to update the association’s vision and further improve its member services. 

Gross was first elected to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors from the Mason District in 1995.