Who We Are
Composition and Responsibilities
The Town Council of the Town of Orchid is composed of five members, who are elected at large by the electors of the Town. Only qualified electors of the Town are eligible to be a member of the Town Council and they serve without compensation. In November, during the first regular meeting following the election, the Town Council selects a Mayor and Vice-Mayor from its members. All powers of the Town are vested in the Town Council, except those powers specifically given to the Charter Officers or specifically reserved by the Charter to the electors of the Town. The Town Council holds regular meetings and special call meetings open to the public where participation is encouraged. Generally, the Town Council's regular meeting is scheduled every first Wednesday of the month at 9:00 a.m. to be held at the Orchid Island Beach Club. When there are changes to the regular schedule or a special meeting or committee meeting is scheduled, an ad is placed in the newspaper, the website is updated, a notice is placed at Town Hall and notices are provided to the gate houses for posting at the entrances into Orchid. Please check the /Meetings page of the website to ensure you have the latest information.
Robert Gibbons, who prefers "Bob", graduated from Fordham Law School in 1969 and practiced law for 42 years. For most of his career, he was a partner at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, a major international law firm headquartered in New York City. He represented corporations, investment banks, lending institutions and governmental entities (federal, state, municipal and other domestic government entities) as well as foreign governments (such as Hungary and the Czech Republic, among others) in the development and financing of industrial facilities and public infrastructure projects in the US and abroad. A domestic example is, for instance, the municipal electric utilities of Jacksonville and Orlando, Florida.
Paul Knapp and his wife, Nancy, who lived and worked for many years in Chicago, are now Florida residents and split their time between their homes in Orchid and Bay Harbor (MI). He is an active boater and tennis player.
Paul was born and raised in California and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Administration from California State University in 1967. He next graduated Magna Cum Laude with an MBA in Finance from The University of Chicago Graduate School of Business in 1977.
Mary Jane Benedetto and her husband of 49 years, Dr. Dominick Benedetto, became full-time residents of the Town of Orchid in 2016. She was born in Rhode Island and moved to New Jersey at the age of 16. She graduated Douglass College in New Jersey in 1970 with a major in French. Her retail career started immediately at Bloomingdale's as an executive trainee in NYC. She later moved to Maas Brothers, The Hecht Company, back to Bloomingdales, and John Wanamaker.
Jim Raphalian moved to the Town of Orchid in 2013.
Jim graduated from Penn State University with an MBA in finance from Smeal Business School. His career began with Paine Webber, where he worked for 15 years as the Senior VP. He then joined Prudential-Bache where he also served as a member on their board of directors from 1982-1985. In 1985, he joined First Boston Corp. as a managing director responsible for international equities and later oversaw global equity sales trading for the company. Eventually, his career took him abroad to London, where he oversaw global equity distribution of European equities. Jim joined Schwab Capital Markets in 2001 as a Senior Managing Director, later retiring in 2005.
John Heanue and his wife Patricia grew up in White Plains, NY and raised their three daughters in neighboring Larchmont, NY. In 2019, they moved to the Town of Orchid.
