Politics & Government

Outgoing Community Center Student Members Lead in Absences from Meetings

Attendance records of board members

A check of the attendance records of the McLean Community Center Board meetings shows that the two outgoing student members had more absences over the past year than any other board members.

The community center board consists of 11 elected members — including a representative of McLean High School and one from Langley High School. They are elected by their peers to represent them. The students serve one-year terms.

Christy Meyer, the Langley High School representative, missed eight of 12 meetings held from May 2011 to May 2012  including her final meeting last week.

Find out what's happening in McLeanwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Maggie Hippler, the McLean High representative, missed five of the 12 meetings for the same time period. The board's year runs from May to May.

The largest number of adult absences were three for the year.

Find out what's happening in McLeanwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

From its inception, the MCC board has included elected student representatives  with the full voting privileges of adult members. When they are absent from meetings, their constituents are not represented.

In addition, the board's governing rules state after six absences, members can be voted off the board.

When asked about her absences Maggie Hippler said: "I understand that upon missing 5 board meetings out of the 12 and my apologies were definitely given to and understood by the Community Center.

"I accepted the role of being on the Governing Board and I did my best to attend each committee and board meeting that I was able to. I do send my advice to all present and future youth representatives that being on the Governing Board is one of the best experiences one could ask for, but it does come with a great deal of responsibility and commitment that definitely may conflict with other obligations."

Christy Meyer was asked twice for her comments. She never responded.

Kevin Dent, chair of the MCC Board said, "Maggie and Christy are 16 or 17 year old students taking difficult high school courses, applying to colleges, etc.

"I'm sure they came to the meetings as often as their schedules permitted.  As you are aware, our meetings are on weeknights and often run very late. It can be very difficult for a student to attend all meetings."

McLean Patch checked the official minutes of the board meetings posted on the MCC website and paper copies of the minutes to determine the attendance records of all board members.

The minutes showed that:

  • Board members Susan Bourgeois, Sean Dunn and Risa Sanders missed three meetings.
  • Chad Quinn, Craig Richardson and David Sanders had two each.
  • Jay Howell missed one meeting. Dent and Robin Walker had perfect attendance records.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here