Bunker Hill, 2006

The Help Save Herndon grassroots organization gathered in Herndon last night, recognizing its volunteers who helped put the illegal immigration issue on everyone's radar and honoring the newly-elected mayor and city council members. Attendees included Virginia State Senator Ken Cuccinelli and immigration expert Erin Anderson.

Mayor-elect Steve DeBenedittis, a citizen who opposed Herndon's publicly-funded day labor center, was elected on May 2, 2006, along with a slate of city council members who opposed the government-backed center.

Ann Null, proponent for rule of law on the previous Herndon city council, was honored for her principled stand in the face of fierce opposition by pro-illegal activists and the formerly ruling elite. Ann will be a featured speaker at the June 20 NOVA TownHall/Help Save Loudoun public meeting.

Help Save Herndon's front men, webmasters and the evening's emcees, Phil Jones and Aubrey Stokes. (My prediction: You'll be hearing more from these guys).

Butch Vaughan saw the writing on the wall years before most anyone else even saw the wall. He discussed the issue with residents, and especially workers and contractors, as they saw the effects of illegal workers changing their lives and livlihoods in the late 1990s.

John Neil accepts the HSH Certificate of Excellence with his better half, Lisa McTavish. John began collecting signatures of residents opposed to the Herndon Day Labor site as soon as the idea was floated. His initial grassroots activity was a key building block in the movement that evolved into Help Save Herndon.

This is how political revolutions start. It's easy to become cynical because the whole political structure seems so impermeable; regular citizens seem to have such little access or influence. Help Save Herndon proved it is possible for regular people to make a difference.

And the movement definitely is growing. Help Save Herndon is expanding into Help Save Loudoun because Loudoun County is now experiencing the same effects from illegal immigrants. The problem has already moved into Sterling Park, and it is moving into Ashburn. Residents of eastern Loudoun need to take notice.

If you share these concerns, please plan to join us on June 20 for the Help Save Loudoun kick-off meeting. It's the first step in combining our efforts to save the blue collar worker, our schools and our neighborhoods, but it's also the first step in creating a new political body for influencing our elected officials.