July 26, 2002
The Town of Herndon is governed by a mayor and a six-member Town Council elected in May for two-year terms. The council meets the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m. in council chambers in the Town Hall.
Richard C. Thoesen has been a resident of the town since 1974. He was elected mayor in July 2002. Thoesen served as a member of the Town Council from January-June 2002. He served as mayor from 1984-1990, and as a member of the Town Council from 1982-1984. He served as vice mayor from 1994-2000. In January 2000, he was appointed as a board member of the Fairfax County Park Authority and is a member of the Herndon Optimist Club. He has been a member of the Reston Hospital Center's Board of Trustees since 1986. He is the former chair of the Herndon Community Cultural Arts Center Citizens' Advisory Committee II and has served as the chairman and member of the Board of Zoning Appeals, former commissioner of the Northern Virginia Planning District Commission, and former member of the Fairfax County Athletic Council. He is a former member and president of the Board of Directors for the Council for the Arts of Herndon. Thoesen is a registered professional engineer and holds bachelor of civil engineering and master of engineering administration degrees. He is a former captain in the United States Army and a Vietnam veteran. He is currently the deputy general manager of the Loudoun County Sanitation Authority, a public water and sewer utility.
Carol A. Bruce
Herndon Vice Mayor
Carol Bruce has been a Herndon resident since 1980. She was elected to her first term on the Town Council in 1988. In 1990, she became the first woman to win a second term. After serving a third consecutive term, she chose not to run in 1994 in order to focus on starting her own business. She returned to the council in 1996, and became vice mayor in 2000. In January 2002, she became the first woman to serve as Herndon's mayor, having been appointed to fill the unexpired term of former Mayor Tom Rust. She chose to run for her former council seat in the 2002 election and is again serving as the town’s vice mayor. A graduate of American University, she is a writer/editor and owner of Carol Bruce Communications. She is a past president of the Herndon Historical Society and co-chair of the Herndon Homes Tour Committee. She is a member of the Herndon Dulles Chamber of Commerce and the Advisory Board for HCTV. She is a former member of the Board of Directors of the Council for the Arts of Herndon and the Executive Steering Committee of the Herndon Festival.
John M. De Noyer
Herndon Town Councilman
John M. De Noyer was born May 19, 1926, and served in the U.S. Army in WW II and Korea in the Ordnance and Medical Departments. De Noyer received an AB from Chico State College in mathematics and an MA and PhD in geophysics from the University of California/Berkeley.
A Herndon resident for 19 years, De Noyer is married to Ann Csonka. They have six adult children, six grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
De Noyer has served on the Herndon Town Council since 1988. He was vice mayor 1990-1992 and January-June 2002. He also served on the Fairfax County Environmental Quality Advisory Council 1989-1996, serving as its chairman from 1991-1994.
De Noyer was a charter member of Friends of Runnymede Park and was a former associate professor of Geology at the University of Michigan. He has held senior executive and research positions in Defense, NASA, and USGS in geology, geophysics and hydrology, developing satellite remote sensing systems and programs. As a retired earth scientist, De Noyer actively pursues a number of environmental and scientific interests, such as volunteering as a nature educator. He also enjoys woodworking, cooking, dogs, and natural areas.
Dennis Husch
Herndon Town Councilman
Dennis Husch and his wife Nancy are 19-year residents of Herndon. He has served on the Town Council since July of 1994. He has also served as committee chairman for a local Cub Scout Pack, as president of the Herndon Optimist Club and as a member of the mayor's Hispanic Task Force. He has also been a member of the YMCA Planning Committee and the Ball Field Inventory Task Force.
Husch has been an advocate for lowering real estate taxes, fiscal responsibility, strategic planning, active recreation, and improving the quality of life and sense of community. He has supported efforts to revitalize Herndon's older neighborhoods and to establish clear policies that encourage downtown redevelopment.
Husch holds a degree in business from Strayer University and is a program manager for a defense contractor where his focus is customer service, fiscal management and strategic planning."
Connie Haines Hutchinson
Herndon Town Councilman
Hutchinson is a 47-year-old mother of four and a Herndon native. She is the communications coordinator for the Herndon Dulles Chamber of Commerce and manages the Herndon Dulles Visitor's Center in Historic Downtown Herndon. Hutchinson was elected to the Town Council in 1992 and 1994. During that time, the town completed the Herndon Municipal Center. Hutchinson has served on both the Architectural Review Board and the Heritage Preservation Review Board before being elected to the council and was the president of Herndon Youth Soccer and Herndon Elementary School PTA. Hutchinson is a graduate of Herndon High School and Virginia Computer College.
Michael L. O'Reilly
Herndon Town Councilman
Michael O'Reilly is a native of Northern Virginia, having been raised in the Baileys Cross Roads area of Fairfax County. He moved to Herndon with his wife Annie in 1980, living first in the Hunters Creek subdivision and, in 1985, his family moved into the Barker Hill subdivision.
Since 1979, O'Reilly has practiced law with the law firm of Rees, Broome & Diaz in Tysons Corner. In his legal practice, he represents individuals, homeowner associations and businesses.
O'Reilly has served as the chairman of the Architectural and Heritage Preservation Review Boards and as a member of the Herndon Planning Commission. In 2000, he was elected to the Herndon Town Council. He is a member of the Dulles Corridor Rail Association, the Northern Virginia Regional Partnership and the Northern Virginia Regional Commission. He is also a member of the Herndon Council for the Arts, the Friends of Runnymede and the Herndon Dulles Chamber of Commerce.
Harlon Reece
Herndon Town Councilman
Harlon Reece earned a BA in music education from Wayland College and an MS in technology of management from American University. After graduating from college, Reece began a career as an officer in the United States Marine Corps. His assignments included a variety of command and management positions including a tour in combat during the Vietnam War, where he was awarded the Bronze Star. He completed his Marine Corps career in 1978 and retired at the rank of lieutenant colonel to begin a second career in business. He was a division vice president in charge of East Coast operations until his retirement in 1996. Reece is currently in his second term as member of the Herndon Town Council.
Before he became a member of the Town Council, Reece served as a member of the town’s Architecture Review Board/Heritage Preservation Review Board (1998 - 2000). He served on the mayor’s Neighborhood Investment Leadership Team (1998 - 1999) and is currently the town’s appointed member of the board of directors for the Dulles Area Transportation Association. He is currently the president of the Council for the Arts of Herndon, treasurer of the Friends of Runnymede Park, a member of the Advisory Board of the Dulles Corridor Rail Association, and a member of the Advisory Panel for the Arts Council of Fairfax County. He is also a member of a number of local civic organizations including Herndon Rotary Club, Herndon Towne Square Singers, Herndon Historical Society, Herndon Cable Television, and Hands Across Herndon.