Former Supervisor Audrey Moore first appointed Suzanne F. Harsel to the Planning Commission in April 1982 to complete an unexpired term of the former Annandale District Commissioner. Supervisor Moore reappointed her in January 1984 to her first four-year term. Supervisor Sharon Bulova then reappointed Commissioner Harsel in 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008. Her current term expires in December 2011. She is currently the longest continuous serving Planning Commissioner on the Commission. In 1992 the Annandale District was renamed the Braddock District.

Commissioner Harsel is currently serving her seventeenth year as Planning Commission Secretary. As Secretary, she is responsible for setting each meeting's agenda, recommending approval of meeting minutes, and presiding over the Commission when the Chairman or Vice Chairman are unable to due to absence or handling a district application.

Commissioner Harsel currently serves as a member of the Redevelopment and Housing Committee, Policy and Procedures Committee, Personnel and Budget Committee, Planning Commission Seminar Committee, and the School Facilities Committee. She also serves as an alternate member of the Parks Committee . In previous years, she has served as the Vice Chair and Chair of the Policy and Procedures Committee and Co-Chair of the Environment, Parks, and Heritage Resources Subcommittee during Planning Horizons, and been an active member of the following Planning Commission committees: Proffers, Anniversary, Development Criteria, Environment, Redevelopment and Housing, Transportation, Revitalization, Infill and Residential Development, Major Plan Review, Public Utilities, I-Districts, Mini-Marts, 2232 Procedures, Capital Improvement Program, and P-Districts.

Suzanne Harsel graduated from Indiana University with a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education. Prior to living in Fairfax County she taught elementary school in Indiana, Germany, and Maryland. Since living in Fairfax County she has been a docent at the National Archives and managed the Virginia office of the Better Business Bureau. She recently retired from Fairfax County Public Schools as an Instructional Assistant. Commissioner Harsel and her husband currently reside in the Country Club View community in the Braddock District.