Absentee Voting for McLean Community Center Board

McLean residents can vote in the upcoming election for three new adult board members by absentee ballot and not have to worry about fighting the crowds on McLean Day to find the voting area.

Four adult candidates are running for three seats on the board. Four students are running for the two student seats on the 11-member board. You can also vote at McLean Day, held in Lewinsville Park.

Residents can stop by the McLean Community Center to pick up an absentee ballot package or can call the center or send a request by email to “elections@mcleancenter.org” to have a ballot package sent to their homes. Completed absentee ballot applications and ballots must be received by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, May 18, to be counted.

Residents need not be registered to vote in Fairfax County to vote for MCC board candidates.

Susan Bourgeois, chairman of the board's election committee, hoped to make it easier for residents to vote by absentee ballot. Both Bourgeois and board member Robin Walker have said absentee ballots are the key to winning a seat. You round up your supporters, have them request an absentee ballot, or take them a ballot and make sure it's returned, they explained during a recent committee meeting to organize this year's election.

She  wanted to allow the neighbors to be able to print out an absentee ballot at home. When Bourgeois presented her proposal to her fellow board members in March, they raised concerns of ballot security and ballot secrecy.

One of the wariest members was Risa Sanders who is seeking reelection to the board.  “I don’t think it gets us — I don’t think it makes it that much easier,”  said Sanders.

That's why voters must request the voting package.

The Community Center is the most powerful board in McLean because they set property tax rates and collect taxes that help pay for the center. The major issues facing the board:

• The board has amassed a $12 million surplus over the years by collecting more in taxes than the needed to run the center.

• The board has paid $100,000 for a feasibility study on what if anything the board might build on the site of the Old Firehouse in downtown McLean, where the board runs a teen center. MCC has long talked of replacing the teen center with either a gymnasium or a community building that would include a black box theater.

           A few challenges face the board: They don't own the land. There is no space for parking at a new building. The land needs rezoning. The board is unsure what it wants to build.

• The board has paid $90,000 to replace the outdoor signs directing folks to the community center.

Voting: By absentee ballot until Wednesday, May 18. Then at McLean Day (May 21)  from 10:30am-5 p.m.

For more information or to view candidate statements, visit the Center’s Website,
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