Town Council Members

The Laytonsville Town Council consists of a mayor and four Council members. Two Council members are elected at large each year for two-year terms. A mayor is elected each odd-numbered year. Town elections are held in May, and elected officials take office in July.

Mayor and Town Council Member  Backgrounds 

Mayor Charles Hendricks grew up in New York State. He earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Columbia University and a doctorate in history from Cornell University. He worked in the Washington, D.C., area as a historian with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for 14 years and with the U.S. Army Center of Military History for 20 years. He served as editor of Army History magazine. Charles and his wife Ann moved to Laytonsville in 2005, and he became a member of St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church. He served on the town’s Historic District Commission from 2009 to 2023 and was its chair for the last four of those years. Charles is the father of two sons, a daughter, and six grandchildren. He was elected mayor in 2023.

 Charles Bradsher has been a resident of Laytonsville since 1999 and has served as a Council Member since 2002. Charles works at the Pentagon for the Department of Defense and also serves as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army National Guard. Charles is a member of the St. Paul's United Methodist Church. He volunteers for the Boy Scouts of America as a Cub Scout Den Leader. Charles and his wife Kris have two sons, Chip and Bennett.

Tom Burke grew up in Laytonsville and returned to his childhood home in May of 2012. Prior to moving back to his family home and retiring, Tom spent most of his working career traveling widely throughout  the United States and Canada, working for an American manufacturer of computer peripheral devices. He and his wife, Mary, have two children, a son who lives in Portland, OR., and a daughter and grandson living in South Riding, VA. Tom and Mary spend a lot of time working on their home and gardening. Tom cares for a couple of classic British sports cars and he does carpentry and woodworking as well. Recently, he enjoyed using his woodworking skills to restore the "Town Sign" installed at the traffic circle. Tom sees Laytonsville as a unique combination of old and new where everyone can enjoy the charm and the comfort of living in a country setting.

Amy Koval grew up in western Pennsylvania just outside Pittsburgh. She attended the University of Pittsburgh where she earned her B.S. in Physical Therapy. After working as a therapist for several years in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia area hospitals, she became the chief of the PT department at Washington Adventist Hospital in Tacoma Park. Amy got married, started a family, and then began working part-time. She moved to Rochester, MN where she worked as a physical therapist in the school system. After a few years, her family moved back to Montgomery County, and she began working for Montgomery County Public Schools. During this time, she also returned to school to earn a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree as well as a Master’s certificate in Education. Amy worked for the Montgomery County Public School system for 25 years, primarily at Cashell Elementary in Olney and retired in 2020. Amy and her husband Tom moved to Laytonsville in 2017 and she has been a council member since 2019. They have 3 grown children and 3 grandchildren.

Christina Pellegrino grew up in North Platte, Nebraska, where most of her family still lives.  At age 18, she joined the Navy, where she served six years as an Electronics Technician, specializing in radar and IT communications. She met her husband, Obed while in the military, as he was serving in the Marines. They have three kids – Isaac, Elijah and Arianna. Upon completion of her naval service, she went on to college and earned degrees focused in business, legal studies, and a Master’s degree in contracts and acquisitions. They moved to Maryland in 2010 and Laytonsville in 2014.  She has been a member of Laytonsville Woman’s Club and Laytonsville Parks and Trails Task Force since 2017.  She works as the Director of Legal Operations, at a biotech company in Germantown. 

Laytonsville’s Government over the Years

Laytonsville was incorporated by an act of the Maryland General Assembly adopted in April 1892. From 1892 to 1956 the town was governed by three commissioners, who were elected annually, and the commissioners selected one of their number each year to serve as commission chair. The town charter was amended in 1956 to create the elected position of mayor, who then served alongside two other Town Council members. The mayor continued to be elected annually, but the Council members were elected to staggered two-year terms. Beginning in 1973, the mayor was also elected for a two-year term. A charter amendment adopted in 1976 expanded the number of Town Council members to four, with two elected each year for two-year terms. The five-member Town Council structure, headed by a popularly elected mayor, has remained consistent since then.

Mayors

1956–1958      Lewis C. Kibbee

1958–1969      Washington W. White

1969–1971      James L. Tessier

1971–1979      Stanley A. Mills

1979–2003      Charles T. White

2003–2011      Charles W. (Willard) Oland

2011–2016      Dan Prats

2016–2023      James Ruspi

2023–              Charles Hendricks