Reece Runs for Mayor of Herndon
Herndon Town Council member Harlon Reece, who says he is disturbed by the tone of the debate over illegal immigration in the western Fairfax community, has announced that he will run for mayor this spring.
Reece, 70, a member of the council since 2000, has been a largely dissenting voice on a council that has passed, and attempted to pass, a series of measures to make the town less hospitable to illegal immigrants. The incumbent, Stephen J. DeBenedittis, who has not announced his plans, was elected in 2006 on a wave of popular anger about the town's sponsorship of a workers center. The town closed the center in September.
"I feel like I have been drafted," said Reece, a retired Marine Corps officer and businessman, in a statement. "A number of Herndon residents have asked me to run for mayor, because they believe I have the leadership qualities that will help bring our divided community back together. I have been troubled for some time about the tone of our dialogue, as we have struggled with the controversial and difficult issues surrounding the impact of illegal immigration on our town. We can do better and we must do better if we truly value our quality of life and sense of community."
Town elections are May 6.
By Steve Fehr |
January 12, 2008; 2:25 PM ET
| Category:
Bill Turque
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Election 2008/Local
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Posted by: PJ | January 12, 2008 4:24 PM
As a resident of Herndon, I can tell this jerk loud and clear than NONE OF US want illegal immigrants in our Town. We finally got rid of the hiring center, and hopefully the illegals will leave soon. How nice it will be to be able to go to the grocery store and not have a gang of these thugs heckling and threatening every customer. Maybe we can once again park our cars in front of our homes without them breaking into them as they carrouse our neighborhoods after dark. The only ones who want them to stay are greedy employers who don't want to pay a living wage to citizens or legal immigrants. Here's hoping Reece leaves with them. No one I know will vote for him.
Posted by: capone1 | January 12, 2008 11:36 PM
I thought we had social security so that these old geezers would retire and stay out of view.
Posted by: Anonymous | January 14, 2008 12:22 PM
The good thing about Harlon Reese running for Mayor is that he won't be on the town council when he loses his mayoral bid.
Posted by: Anonymous | January 14, 2008 2:10 PM
Wow. How much hate can one town have? Immigrants and Immigration will not go away. Yes we need to slow down the influx to the country but lets not hide our heads in the sand. Unless you are Native American Indian, you are an immigrant. There are positive options and the only way to move forward in the right direction is to communicate. There can not be yourside/myside to this issue. Compromise is the only answer. I love the Town of Herndon and yes I hate seeing the workers just loitering around town. But again positive discussion and seeing each others sides will help to resolve the the issue that is tearing this lovely town apart. Go Harlon!! And thanks for your service to our country.
Posted by: JP | January 25, 2008 4:23 PM
The comments to this entry are closed.
Apparently Mr. Reece needs a hearing aid as he still does not hear the voters of Herndon. There is nothing 'divided' about our community - we want illegal aliens OUT. As for the 'number of Herndon residents' (two? three?) who have asked him to run, they are probably the unlawful employers of the illegal aliens.