After an eventful first few months in office, Herndon Mayor Keven LeBlanc is looking to get a pulse check on where the town is now and where it hopes to go in the future.
The mayor has invited residents to gather in the Herndon Town Council chambers at 765 Lynn Street tomorrow (Tuesday) for a town hall-style meeting titled “Our Herndon, Our Future: A Community Conversation.”
With doors opening at 6 p.m., LeBlanc will deliver remarks at 6:30, followed by a discussion and question-and-answer session. The event is free with no advance registration required, and live interpretation services will be available for Spanish speakers.
With the chambers limited to a capacity of 200 people, the meeting will also be live-streamed on the town’s website and re-broadcast on Herndon Community Television (HCTV), the town’s public-access TV channel (Channel 23 for Cox customers and Channel 28 for Verizon).
Questions can be submitted through the town’s Facebook and Instagram pages.
“Our Herndon, Our Future is a great opportunity for residents to learn about key Town initiatives and have a conversation about how we can move them forward,” LeBlanc said in a press release. “There are challenges, but also many exciting opportunities on the horizon for Herndon. I look forward to discussing how our community is rising to meet both.”
Elected in November after one term as a town council member, LeBlanc has been tasked with steering Herndon through a period of uncertainty both locally and nationally.
In addition to dealing with the fallout of Comstock Companies backing out of plans to redevelop downtown Herndon, town leaders have adopted new branding, replaced their police chief, and approved a budget that increased property and meals tax rates.
A search for a new, permanent town manager is also still underway. Interim manager Chris Martino left on April 30, with Kirstyn Jovanovich — one of two acting deputy town managers — taking over the role this month.
The local immigrant community — which encompasses approximately 44% of the town’s over 24,000 residents — has been particularly on edge, as Immigration and Customs Enforcement steps up activities throughout the D.C. region, including reported raids in Reston and Herndon. Earlier this year, the Herndon Police Department denied rumors spread on social media that its officers were assisting ICE.
With his upcoming “Our Herndon, Our Future” town hall, LeBlanc hopes to encourage collaboration between community members and town leaders, according to the press release.
“A thriving Town just isn’t lines on a map, it is a group of people with shared visions, shared values, and shared commitments to building a better future,” he said. “It is important that we work together to understand where we want to go and how we will get there together.”
