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‘‘I think it’s extremely healthy for GOCA and for the community to have an infusion of new thinking, new energy and new ideas about what’s important to the community,” GOCA immediate past president John Lyons said. ‘‘I am very excited to have these fresh faces involved in GOCA and the greater community, and think it bodes well for our future.”

Barbara Falcigno, elected president at the organization’s Feb. 20 meeting, said that she, too, is looking forward to working with people who bring a multitude of different experiences and talents to the organization.

‘‘I think it is great that we have some new voices and some new energy,” she said. ‘‘I’ve worked with all three of the new board members during the last two election cycles, so while they may be new to GOCA, they are not new to me.”

Barbara A. Falcigno,president

Falcigno, 37, has lived in Olney Oaks for five years, but has lived in Montgomery County most of her life.

She owns a home-based business, but divides the remainder of her time between ‘‘being a mom” and her civic activism.

She served as the Olney Oaks delegate to GOCA for two years, and just completed a term as GOCA’s first vice president.

Other civic involvement includes serving as secretary, vice president and president of her homeowner’s association, and serving as the president of the Olney Coalition, an organization she helped to found.

‘‘I think Olney is a great place to live, and one reason is that there are great people who live here,” she said. ‘‘Getting involved in GOCA and in the community is a great way to meet people.”

Falcigno has some ideas she believes will make GOCA more effective and better benefit its members.

‘‘It is an umbrella organization that brings the community together to solve problems,” she said. ‘‘There is strength in numbers.”

She intends to hold informal gatherings before each regular GOCA meeting where representatives from the local homeowners’ associations can discuss a particular topic that may be of interest to them.

‘‘For instance, if the topic is purchasing pool furniture, people can discuss their research and what has worked for their community, so that another community looking to purchase new pool furniture doesn’t have to start from scratch,” she said. ‘‘Everyone has different experiences in their communities, but we are all dealing with the same issues.”

Her hope is that those attending the sessions will stay for the regular meeting, creating more involvement within the organization.

‘‘I hope they will have fun, get good information and also give back to the community,” she said. ‘‘We’re going to put out the welcome mat.”

She also plans to help those attending the GOCA meeting better understand the issues.

‘‘When someone talks about a new development, I hope to put it in context for those that are not familiar with it by pointing the location out on a map and providing some background information,” she said.

Falcigno said that since the Olney Master Plan was recently updated, GOCA’s work will shift its focus.

‘‘During the last election, the growth policy in Montgomery County was an important issue and will continue to be,” she said. ‘‘The master plan determines zoning, and what is built and where. The growth policy will determine when.”

Her goal is to educate GOCA members on the growth policy, since she expects it to be a major topic of the County Council this spring.

‘‘The more educated we are, the more effective we can be,” she said.

Robert W. Beard,executive vice president

Robert W. Beard, 46, the group’s new executive vice president, resides in Homeland Village and has lived in Olney for 16 years.

He is self-employed in marketing.

Beard is a newcomer to GOCA, although he served three years on his homeowners’ association board. He is also involved in local politics and with his church.

He agreed to serve as a GOCA officer because he enjoys being involved in the community.

Some of the issues he hopes to address are bike trails, environmental concerns, transportation and crime.

Sharon K. Dooley,first vice president

Sharon K. Dooley, 65, the group’s first vice president, is a resident of James Creek and has lived in Olney for six years. Before moving to Olney, she lived off Layhill Road for 25 years.

Dooley is a health care consultant who works with hospitals and physicians in the areas of compliance and medical audits, as well as staff education. She also teaches in Continuing Education and Workforce Development at Montgomery College.

Her involvement with GOCA spans 20 years or so, when she participated with her children in the Olney Days parades. She has attended GOCA meetings for the past two years.

She is involved in local politics, having run for County Council in the last election, serving as a precinct coordinator, and serving as president of the District 14 Democratic Club. On the state level, she has been involved with environmental and health care issues, and is on the board of Mobile Med, which offers free and low-cost medical care.

Dooley is excited about her new role.

‘‘I am serving as a GOCA officer because I care about the community,” she said.

One of the issues she is most concerned with is the Town Center Advisory Group and its work on developing the concept for the new Olney Town Center.

‘‘I am hoping for a very cohesive town center, more opportunities for youth, and to make Olney more walkable as it was planned to be.”

Gina M. Angiola,second vice president

Gina M. Angiola, 43, GOCA’s second vice president, lives in Norbeck Hills and has resided in Olney almost four years.

A physician by trade, she is currently a stay-at-home-mom.

She has attended GOCA meetings, but until now has focused on state and national politics.

She hosts Olney’s Democracy for America meet-ups and is a precinct chair. She has been involved with a variety of groups working on specific legislative issues, such as the Maryland Women’s Coalition for Healthcare and Montgomery County Peace Action.

Angiola said she is serving as a GOCA officer because she sees a tremendous connection between what goes on locally and what goes on at the state and national level.

‘‘I have two teenage sons, so issues like youth programs, the library and transportation are important to me,” she said. ‘‘All these issues affect the quality of life and tie into the bigger issues that I am involved with.”

Roy H. Peck,treasurer

Roy H. Peck, 64, the newly elected treasurer, has lived in the Olney area for about 15 years. He currently resides in Norbeck Meadows.

He is retired from IBM and works as a property manager.

He began his involvement with GOCA 12 years ago, serving first as a delegate from the Lake Hallowell Homeowners’ Association, and then as treasurer for ‘‘seven or eight years.”

He also served on the building committee of a local synagogue.

His reason for serving as a GOCA officer is to ‘‘help keep Olney a nice place to live.”

One of his major concerns is the Intercounty Connector.

‘‘I am personally against the ICC, and have been working diligently outside of GOCA to try to make the best out of a bad thing,” he said. ‘‘I am specifically working to improve traffic between Leisure World and Montgomery General Hospital, and working on getting a grade-separated pedestrian crossing to cross the ICC ramps.”

Peck adds that GOCA is on record as being against the ICC.

Jackie S. Benn,corresponding secretary

Jackie S. Benn, 39, beginning her second term as corresponding secretary, has lived in Fair Hill Farm for the past six years with her husband Daniel, also a GOCA officer.

She is a medical records manager and has been involved with GOCA since moving to Olney, serving as the Fair Hill Farm delegate and GOCA’s delegate to the Montgomery County Civic Federation.

She also has been involved in other civic activities, including the Fair Hill Farm board of directors, Olney Days planning committee and the Olney Relay for Life committee.

She enjoys her position of corresponding secretary because she believes it helps to keep the citizens of Olney informed as to what is going on around them.

One issue of importance to her is the development of the Town Center.

‘‘Because the location of Fair Hill Farm is so close to the Town Center, we need to watch it very closely so that we don’t lose the essence of what it has,” she said. ‘‘I am also concerned about traffic, particularly Georgia Avenue, Route 108, Spartan Road and Appomattox Road, which happen to be the roads surrounding the Town Center.”

Daniel L. Benn,recording secretary

Daniel Benn, 45, who is beginning his second term as recording secretary, works as a facility assistant.

He has been involved in the Montgomery County Civic Federation, the Olney Relay for Life planning committee, and the Olney Days planning committee.

‘‘I became an officer because I just wanted to help out and to get better acclimated to the community,” he said. ‘‘My goal is to make Olney a stronger community, one everyone can be proud of.”

A lessonin GOCA history

According to former GOCA president Ron Berger, the organization was officially incorporated in 1978, with a mission to study, plan, coordinate and promote the overall civic, economic, ecological and cultural welfare of the community within the Olney Master Plan area.

‘‘My experience, which has been since the 1980s, is that the function of this umbrella organization was to shape the community through a period of tremendous change,” he said.

‘‘Back then it was a very quiet, rural community, Routes 97 and 108 were each two-lane roads, and there was no stoplight at their intersection,” he added. ‘‘Because Olney is not incorporated, GOCA took on the role of the liaison with the county government, much as it does today.”

Berger said the 1980 Master Plan set the framework that developed Olney from the rural crossroads town that it was into the more suburban community that it is today.

‘‘Not only did GOCA help to set the principles in both the 1980 and recently updated master plans, but it continues to make sure development is built out in accordance with them,” Berger said.

Now, because much of the buildable land has already been developed, GOCA works to ensure the adequacy of government services, such as police and fire protection, library services and other things that the community needs or wants.

With the impending redevelopment of the Olney Town Center, GOCA will continue to focus on the creation of a community center, an element that many feel Olney is lacking.

The organization was instrumental in bringing a new library to Olney, and raised money towards turning an old dilapidated school building into Longwood Recreation Center.

Transportation has always been an important issue to the community, and Berger said that it was GOCA that got the State Highway Administration to move forward on widening Georgia Avenue, after convincing the county to front some of the money needed for the project.

Aside from dealing with development and legislative issues, GOCA has helped the community to develop its own sense of civic pride and identity, Berger said.

This has been accomplished through establishing traditions such as the old Olney carnival, Olney Days, the Olney Days Parade and the GOCA Awards Ceremony.

‘‘GOCA is tremendously important to the community, especially since it is not an incorporated area,” Berger said. ‘‘GOCA provides the citizens the opportunity to have a voice in the community, and to attract the attention of county and state officials.”

For more information, visit www.goca.org.

GOCA Officers

Barbara Falcigno, president

Robert Beard, executive vice president

Sharon Dooley, first vice president

Gina Angiola, second vice president

Jackie Benn, corresponding secretary

Danny Benn, recording secretary

Roy Peck, treasurer