Herndon’s Town Council is set to release a "vision statement" that will describe where it sees Herndon in 20 years this Friday, a product of a weekend-long retreat to instill ideals of teamwork, self-knowledge and clarity in public policy, according to town staff and officials.
The retreat-style program, which is independently facilitated by University of Virginia’s Welden Cooper Center for Public Service for elected government officials, took place over about 22 hours of conferences and exercises between Welden Cooper Center staff, town employees and elected officials on Jan. 26, 27 and 28 in Fairfax, according to information from council members.
It was the first time in more than a decade that the mayor, the entire town council and town staff leaders had gotten together for an event like this, council members added. Former Herndon mayor Rick Thoessen used to call action planning committees on occasion on weekends, but this was much different from that, said town council member Connie Hutchinson, who had served as a member with Thoessen in the '90s.
Town staff and officials refused to release any specific information about the event prior to the public release of what they said will be "the finished product" of the conferences on Friday.
According to the Welden Cooper Center’s Web site, the group offers training and orientation for elected officials, civic education programs as well as "group facilitation" and long-term strategic public policy planning, amongst other services.
A BROADER UNDERSTANDING of the operation of government and public policy formulation is what council member Dave Kirby took away from the event, he said.
"It was a magnificent activity, absolutely well worth the time," Kirby said. "Most of these retreat-type events, they show you how to do something and say, ‘OK, go out and do it.’"
"Here it wasn’t like that. We did everything as they were running through it with us."
The final product of all of the conferences and exercises that took place over the weekend will provide Herndon residents a glance into what their elected officials are hoping to take the town over the course of the next 20 years of Herndon’s history, Hutchinson said.
"Hopefully it will serve to inspire the people and that our vision for the town will be reflected clearly to them," she said.
Several calls made to Herndon Mayor Steve DeBenedittis were not returned at press time.
WHILE THE TOWN council has shared in its fair share of the controversy that has surrounded local Herndon politics as a result of a vocal debate as to the local effects of illegal immigration over the last several years, nothing of its sort was a major focus in any part of the exercises according to several council members.
"I was pleasantly surprised at how well we were able to come up with a vision statement that I feel like I can support," said council member Harlon Reece, the only remaining council member who had originally supported the establishment of the town’s day labor site. "It was a very non-political cooperative effort to get a common vision for Herndon’s future, and I feel we did a pretty good job at that."
For Reece, the extended exercise was about building up the characteristics that make good and responsive community leaders. The final vision statement, he said, will reflect those characteristics to the town residents.
"It’s a function of our leadership to develop a long-term vision," Reece said. "How can we be good leaders without a statement of where we see our town as being in 20 years?"