| Keeping
an Eye on Herndon |
| Doings about and around Herndon. |
| Who is actually mayor of Herndon? On June 5, the 2002-2004
town council, and Richard C. Thoesen, the newly elected mayor,
where sworn into office in the Council Chambers by John T.
Frey, clerk of the Fairfax County Circuit Court. Sounds pretty
official to me. |
| But on June 11, during the council's regular session--better
known as a public hearing--there seemed to be two mayors on
the bench: Mayor Carol A. Bruce and Mr. Thoesen, both of whom
were under the swearing-in pledge of mayor. |
| It was confusing to some people, but according to our best
source, the council and mayor serve from July 1 to June 30,
and even though Mr. Thoesen and Ms. Bruce were under oath,
Ms. Bruce serves until June 30. Then it's Mr. Thoesen's turn. |
| It used to be that the mayor and council were sworn in before
the Thursday night concert on the Town Green, avoiding the
overlap. |
| |
| The
Big Toss |
| And speaking of Tuesday night's council meeting, there was
a surprise non-appointment to the Herndon Planning Commission.
|
| Arno K. Randall, a long-time Herndon resident, was not reappointed
to the commission by a 5 to 1 vote. |
| Councilman William B. Tirrell, Sr. who ran unsuccessfully
as mayor this year and gave up his seat on the council, was
appointed to fill Mr. Randall's position. |
| Mr. Randall was first appointed to the planning commission
in 1984 and is the ranking member on the commission. He has
been a vocal and candid member of that board, always ready
with a quick quip and a witty remark. |
| Councilman Michael O'Reilly cast the dissenting vote. "Either
one of them would do a great job," he told The Observer. "But
I'm disappointed that it replaces Arno Randall." |
| Mr. Tirrell, who stepped off the dais during the vote, is
a former planning commission member. There is really no doubt
that his experience in Herndon affairs will be a benefit to
the commission, but Mr. Randall, who is also the grandfather
of the Herndon Festival, will be greatly missed. He has served
the town well. |
| |
| Here's
Your Sign |
| Once again some people are complaining that their cars were
towed during the Festival. One Herndon woman wrote, "Unfortunately,
this year the enjoyment...of the Festival was overshadowed
because many of us discovered our cars had been towed." |
| Her car was towed from the Pines Shopping Center (she called
it the Pinecrest Shopping Center), and it cost her $100 to
retrieve her car. |
| Now let me get this right: There were signs at every entrance
to the Pines Shopping Center warning Festival-goers that their
cars would be towed if they parked there. I was at the Festival
for many hours, and I saw those signs. |
| I keep wondering, "What part of 'No Parking' don't these
people understand?" |
| The Pines Shopping Center is private and has nothing to
do with the Festival. If I owned the Pines, I'd tow 'em too. |
| |
| Wrong
Newspaper |
| The Observer Newspapers and the Herndon Rotary Club joined
forces two years ago to present a $1,000 scholarship to a
Herndon High School student who planned to study journalism.
The scholarship is in honor of Peggy D. Vetter, the founder
of The Observer Newspapers, and who died in November, 2000. |
| Unfortunately, when the Herndon High School awards program
was printed, the Peggy Vetter Scholarship was attributed to
the Rotary Club and a different local newspaper, which shall
go unmentioned here (I don't want to compound the awful error). |
| To set the record straight, the scholarship is called the
Herndon Rotary Club-Observer Newspapers-Peggy Vetter Award.
This year it was awarded to Charles Murry, a fine, young man. |
| And that's Our Town this week. |
