Donley began his public service as a member of Washington Area Housing Partners. He also served as a Co-Chair of the Cameron Station Redevelopment Task Force, which oversaw the redevelopment of the headquarters of the
Defense Logistics Agency in west Alexandria from 1988 to 2005. Donley was elected a member of the Alexandria City Council on the Democratic ticket and served from 1988 to 1996. In 1993, he received the most votes for City Council and was thus appointed Vice-Mayor, as is the practice on the Council. In 1996, Donley was elected Mayor of Alexandria. He served two terms until 2003. After a brief hiatus, Donley ran again for City Council and was again elected in 2009; he served as Vice-Mayor until his retirement from the City Council in 2012. Donley unsuccessfully ran to become mayor again in
2015, losing the Democratic primary. ==Death==