HomeMy Public PortalAboutTOL PR 2016-10-12 Hammler VML president-elect
Town of Leesburg
News Release
For Immediate Release
Media Contact:
Betsy Arnett, Public Information Officer
barnett@leesburgva.gov 703-771-2734
Leesburg Town Council Member Katie Sheldon Hammler
Elected Virginia Municipal League President-Elect, An Historic
First
Hammler will automatically serve as VML President starting October 2017
Leesburg, VA (October 12, 2016) – At the Virginia
Municipal League (VML) annual conference in Virginia
Beach earlier this week, Leesburg Town Council Member
Katie Sheldon Hammler was elected president-elect of
the organization for a one-year term. If re-elected on
November 8th by Leesburg voters, she will become
president at VML’s next annual conference in October
2017. Gordonsville Mayor Robert Coiner was elected
president and Newport News Council Member Patricia
Woodbury vice president.
The Virginia Municipal League is a statewide, non-profit,
non-partisan association of city, town and county
governments established in 1905 to improve and assist
local governments through legislative advocacy, research,
education and other services. The membership includes all 3 8 cities in the Commonwealth, 160
towns and ten counties.
Ms. Hammler’s election marks the first time in VML’s 111 year history that a Leesburg
representative will serve as the organization’s president.
"I congratulate Council Member Katie Hammler on her election as president-elect of the
Virginia Municipal League,” said Leesburg Mayor David Butler. “This is a first in Leesburg's
history! The election is a testament to Council Member Hammler's hard work and value to
VML’s members, and will certainly help Leesburg's visibility and influence across Virginia and
with the General Assembly. I hope all Leesburg residents will join me in congratulating Katie on
this historic achievement."
“I am sincerely humbled that I have been elected by VML’s town, city and county me mbers to
serve as president-elect,” Hammler commented. “ I will energetically leverage my VML
leadership role to create positive change for Leesburg, and for all municipalities in the
Commonwealth, for one of the key things I’ve learned as a twelve year incumbent is how
significant the laws at the state level impact local taxpayers in the form of unfunded mandates,
or decreasing funds of state-level responsibility. It is only by working collaboratively that we
can achieve our collective goals. I am honored and excited for the important opportunity to be
part of the leadership team that serves the most important level of government for Virginia’s
citizens – the local non-partisan level.”
Council Member Hammler has served on the VML Executive Committee since 2011, first as
town section chair, then as an at-large member and most recently as vice president. Prior to
joining the executive committee, she chaired VML’s Community and Economic Development
committee, and was a member of its Legislative Committee. She has been very active on many
issues state-wide including transportation funding, economic development, such as the Maker
Movement, and advancing healthy communities.
Council Member Hammler was first elected to the Leesburg Town Council in 2004 and is
currently serving her third four-year term on Council. She served as vice mayor from 2008-
2010. She earned a BA in International Relations from Brown University, which she attended
on an ROTC scholarship, and an MBA in Information Systems Management from The George
Washington University. She is a certified Virginia Planning Commissioner. A former Captain in
the U.S. Army Reserves, she has served as a high-tech marketing professional for over 25 years
for firms such as Telos, VeriSign, and Alcatel Data Networks. She and her husband, Rich, also an
Army Veteran, have two children and have lived in Leesburg for over 22 years.
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