Dianne Herrin

Before holding elected office, Herrin had been involved in the West Chester community since 2004, focusing on environmental issues. In 2006 she founded West Chester Borough Leaders United for Emissions Reduction (BLUER) which became the West Chester Borough Sustainability Advisory Committee in 2015, of which she was chair.[1]

Herrin sought office of Borough Mayor in 2017, she won the Democratic Primary with 61% of the vote, defeating Cassandra Jones (23%) and Kyle Hudson (15%). Herrin was the only candidate endorsed by the Sierra Club.[3] In the general election she defeated Tommy Ciccarone Jr., the Republican candidate, with 72.41% of the vote.[4]

Herrin was sworn in as mayor on January 2, 2018.[5] In 2019, she supported a ban on single-use plastics, which was passed by the Borough Council.[6] On October 2, 2020, she declared a state of emergency in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, limiting gatherings to 10 people. The order was subsequently amended to a limit of 25 people with a permit.[7]

Herrin resigned the mayorship on February 20, 2021 after being elected State Representative. She was succeeded by Jordan Norley, who previously served as interim mayor after Carolyn Comitta, Herrin's predecessor as both Mayor and State Representative.[8]

In June 2020, State Representative (and former West Chester mayor) Carolyn Comitta withdrew her re-election bid for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives's 156th district after having won the Democratic primary for the Pennsylvania State Senate's 19th district.[9] Democrats selected Herrin to replace Comitta in the general election.[10] She defeated Republican challenger Len Iacono in the general election, receiving 55% of the vote.[11] Herrin currently sits on the Commerce, Environmental Resources & Energy, Transportation, and Urban Affairs committees.[12]

On February 19, 2022, Herrin announced she would not seek a second term and retire at the end of 2022.[13] She was succeeded by Chris Pielli[14]