<ro>Steve DeBenedittis
<ro1>Mayor
<bt>Steve DeBenedittis is serving his first official term as an elected government leader after Herndon voters elected him mayor in May of 2006.
DeBenedittis grew up in Herndon, attending Herndon Elementary, Herndon Middle School and Herndon High School as a child. He won his election on a ticket of fiscal responsibility, government transparency and a return to small town values.
DeBenedittis has served as a Neighborhood Watch block captain, a volunteer executive director for the Special Olympics Powerlifting, is an active member of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Herndon and conceived and managed a special fund-raiser for the victims of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. He is a manager for the One to One Fitness Center in Tyson's Corner and holds a degree in marketing management from Virginia Polytechnic Institute.
He is married and is the father of two children. Before his children were born, DeBenedittis competed in several bodybuilding competitions in the metropolitan Washington, D.C. area.
<ro>Dennis Husch
<ro1>Vice Mayor
<bt>Dennis Husch had served on the Town Council since July of 1994 before rising to the position as vice mayor after he received the highest number of votes among council candidates in the May 2006 elections. 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 YMCA Planning Committee and the Ball Field Inventory Task Force. Husch is also a weekly participant in local Kendo martial arts classes, where he has learned the techniques of Japanese sword fighting over the last four years.
During his time on Town Council, 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 a community. He has supported efforts to revitalize Herndon's older neighborhoods and to build Herndon's core downtown neighborhood.
Husch holds a degree in business from Strayer University. He is a program manager for a defense contractor where his focus is customer service, fiscal management and strategic planning.
<ro>Connie Hutchinson
<ro1>Town Council
<bt>Connie Hutchinson is currently serving her fourth non-consecutive term as a member of Herndon’s Town Council after her most recent election in May.
A native of Herndon, Hutchinson grew up in the Herndon school system of Herndon Elementary, Herndon Middle School and Herndon High School. Hutchinson has served as the president of Herndon Youth Soccer, a board member for the Herndon Optimist Club and on the Architectural Review Board and Heritage Preservation Review Board in 1990. She is currently a member of the Herndon Downtown Alliance, the Herndon History Hunt Committee and the Promote Herndon Committee.
A mother of four, Hutchinson is the executive director of the Herndon-Dulles Visitor’s Center and resides in the D. Van Vleck’s subdivision of Herndon.
<ro>Dave Kirby
<ro1>Town Council
<bt>Dave Kirby is serving his first term as a member of Town Council after being elected in May 2006 in his third bid for a seat. He is employed as a senior IT specialist and holds an associate's degree in industrial electronics, drafting and design from the Coyne Electrical School, as well as a degree in Broadcast Engineering from the Cleveland Institute of Electronics. He is also a veteran of the United States Air Force.
Kirby is commander of the local American Legion Post 184, in which he volunteers in local tributes and flag ceremonies to and for soldiers on Memorial and Veterans Day and participates in the American Legion‘s role as festival marshal during the annual Herndon Festival. Kirby has served on the Boy Scout Review Board for local Scout Troop 913 and is a graduate of the Herndon Citizen’s Police Academy. Since settling in Herndon, he has been a member of the Council for the Arts of Herndon, Herndon Community Television-23 and the Herndon Loyal Order of the Moose, Lodge 2274.
A native of Danvers, Mass., Kirby first met his wife, Mary, during his two-year service as a communications diplomat for the U.S. State Department in Athens, Greece. Kirby and his wife are the parents of two sons in high school and college who were raised in Herndon.
<ro>Harlon Reece
<ro1>Town Council
<bt>Harlon Reece was re-elected to his fourth term as a member of the Herndon Town Council in May of 2006.
Before he became a member of the Town Council, Reece served on the town's Architecture Review Board/Heritage Preservation Review Board from 1998 to 2000, and on the mayor's Neighborhood Investment Leadership Team from 1998 to 1999. Reece is also the town's appointed representative to the board of directors for the Dulles Area Transportation Association and the Committee for Dulles, and an advisory board member of the Dulles Corridor Rail Association.
Since moving to Herndon in 1988, he has been the president of the Herndon Council for the Arts and currently holds the offices of president of the Herndon Free Clinic, treasurer for the Friends of Runnymede Park and second-vice commander of Herndon's local American Legion Post, among others. In his spare time he sings with the Herndon Town Square Singers, for whom he will often compose music and perform solos.
Reece, who was born and raised in Texas, holds a master's degree in technology of management from American University. He is a retired lieutenant-colonel of the United States Marine Corps, a Vietnam veteran and a recipient of the Bronze Star. He and his wife Midge are due to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary in 2007.
<ro>William “Bill” Tirrell
<ro1>Town Council
<bt>Bill Tirrell was recently elected to his sixth non-consecutive term as a member of the Town Council after serving from 1990 - 1992 and 1994 - 2002.
A 28-year resident of Herndon, Tirrell has served as a board member of the non-profit organization America’s Charities, the CEO of the Spina Bifida Association of America and is a graduate of the Herndon Neighborhood College and the Herndon Citizen’s Police Academy. Since moving to Herndon in the 1970s, Tirrell has been a member of the Friends of Runnymede Park, the Herndon Optimist Club, local American Legion Post 184 and Sister Cities of the Herndon Area, among other community groups.
A retired U.S. Navy commander, Tirrell holds a bachelor's and a master of science degree in financial management from the United States Naval Academy in Monterey, Calif.
Tirrell and his wife, Jan, raised two children in Herndon and have five grandchildren.
<ro>Charlie Waddell
<ro1>Town Council
<bt>
Charlie Waddell was elected to his first term on Herndon’s Town Council during the May 2006 elections.
Originally from Mechanicsville, just outside of Richmond, Waddell moved to the Herndon area in 1993 and into the incorporated Town of Herndon in 1994.
He has served as the chairman of the Herndon Community Association Coalition and the Herndon Crime Prevention Council and has spent the last 10 years as the president of the Dumbarton Square Homeowners Association. He has been a member of the Herndon Neighborhood College Alumni Association, the Friends of Runnymede Park, the Herndon Historical Society and Herndon Community Television-23.
A graduate of Randolph-Macon College and the recipient of a master of science degree from George Mason University in Fairfax, Waddell is currently a computer programmer and analyst in Reston.
He is the father of two children who both reside in Northern Virginia. Waddell is a history buff and active Civil War reenactor and holds the rank of master scuba diver.