Town Council Meeting Flooded by Public Comments

Though neither item was on the Town Council's agenda Tuesday night dozens of people came out to speak of their support or opposition to Herndon's 287(g) program and street solicitation ordinance.

After an hour of regularly scheduled presentations the Town Council opened up the floor for public comment. The town's 287(g) program allows local police to perform immigration law enforcement functions. The street solicitation ordinance keeps people from soliciting goods and services from public right-of-ways within the town.

Lisa Hernandez said she has heard rumors that the Virginia New Majority has been seeking "puppets" to spread their message throughout the town. She said she wants the Town Council to know she is not a puppet and prior to joining VNM she felt she didn't have a voice in Herndon.

Multiple members of the audience brought forward petition cards, which they said included more than 500 signatures in support of repealing the street solicitation ordinance.

Sherry Blanton said she is concerned that the street solicitation ordinance makes Herndon seem unfriendly to outsiders. She said the town seems to only be known for its stances against immigration. Julius Bradley said he feels the ordinance is "mean-spirited" and negative for the community.  

John Daniel said he also supports the repeal of the street solicitation ordinance. He said Herndon is a racially diverse community with many working class residents and he thinks it is an affordable place to live in Northern Virginia. He said the town has always been a diverse community and it seems ethnic relations have become strained in recent years.

While a large number of the more than 75 people who attended the meeting were there to speak against the ordinance, many audience members who supported the town's efforts also spoke out.

Herndon resident George Taplin said he has been very pleased with the performance of the council over the past four years. He said most of the council members have kept their promise that they would work for the betterment of the town. He asked the new members to make sure their service is to the town and not to their own agenda or outside groups.

Joel Scalzo said he has seen a lot of change in his 10 years in Herndon and feels much of it has been positive. "Herndon is a welcoming community," he said. "This is an old argument and I'm sick of it." He said the town is a very welcoming community as long as residents are willing to live inside the law.

Resident Mary Kirby said she doesn't understand why this discussion and argument is happening again. "I don't know why this is being brought up again," she said. "I can't understand why you would say these awful things and start this up again, and I really encourage you not to bring this up again."

Bill Campenni, a Herndon resident, said in his research of Virginia New Majority he has found that the group seems to create gaps in class, race and gender power. He said he thinks the group is looking to distract Herndon from what the town should be focused on, which is Metro and downtown development, home values, budget gaps and other local issues.

According to the Virginia New Majority's website they are a group that organizes Virginians in support of social and economic justice for all residents of the Commonwealth, "particularly African-Americans, immigrants, progressive whites, youth, women and the LGBTQ community."

Don Owens, who serves as the vice president of the Herndon Chamber of Commerce, said while the Herndon Chamber has no official position on the matter they do have anecdotal evidence that there does seem to be an image problem in Herndon, and they do encourage open dialogue.

Owens said the town's image impacts local businesses and home values and that is something that concerns the chamber. He said Realtors have a hard time selling or leasing residential and commercial properties in Herndon and many feel Herndon has ended up with a bad reputation in recent years.

"It's a beautiful place, but not always to outsiders," Owens said. He said the image of Herndon is something the council needs to fight for and they should be mindful of the impacts of their decisions to both residents and businesses.

After about two hours of public comments related to the street solicitation ordinance and Herndon's 287(g) program the Town Council began discussing its regular agenda at about 10:30 p.m. and ended the night shortly before 1 a.m.