Your Voter Questions Sent to MCC Board Candidates

McLean Patch sent your questions to the four adult candidates who are running for three seats on the McLean Community Center board yesterday.

Thank you for your thoughtful questions. We've asked the candidates to respond by 10 am. Monday so we can publish their answers beginning Tuesday. We will publish the answers verbatim. We will not edit them.

The questions from you are:

• What would you do with the $12 million budget surplus that has accrued over the past several years?

• McLean residents agreed to tax themselves to pay for building the Community Center 35 years ago. Since the bonds that built MCC were paid off long ago, will you support dissolution of the Small Tax District that imposes that extra tax on residents?

• For the existing board members, it would be interesting to know when (what year) they knew the surplus was getting so large and what they did to communicate to the McLean Community about these surplus funds.  I have only heard about this recently with the upcoming election. For the new people running, I would like to know if they were elected, what they would want to do with the funds.

McLean Patch added these biographical questions:

• How long have you lived in McLean?

• Education

• Occupation

• Your Message to the neighbors

The  11-member McLean Community Center board, made up of nine adults and two students, oversees the operation of the Community Center which houses the Alden Theater and the McLean Project for the Arts. The board sets a tax rate that is added to our taxes to help finance the center.

The center has a $6 million budget and the board has accumulated a $12 million surplus over the years by collecting more money than needed for center operations.

Election Information

Date: May 21 at McLean Day or you can vote by absentee ballot until May 18.*

Who Can Vote:
1. You must be a resident of the McLean Community Center tax district.  You need not be registered to vote in the general election.  

2. You must be at least 18 years old to vote for an adult candidate.

3. You must be 15 through 17 years old to vote for a youth candidate. Youth voters may vote for a candidate from each of the two school districts.

4. You must bring identification and proof of residency, such as a driver’s license or student ID. If you do not have identification, you may sign a sworn statement.

*To vote by absentee ballot. Call the Center or send a request by E-mail to “elections@mcleancenter.org” to have a ballot package sent to your home. Or, stop by the Center and pick up an absentee ballot package, which will be available beginning Monday, April 11. Completed absentee ballot applications and ballots must be received by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, May 18, to be counted.

ORIGINAL STORY: This is your last day to tell us what questions you'd like to the adult candidates running for the McLean Community Center board. We've heard from many of you and we'd like to hear from more of the neighbors.

We're preparing a Voters Guide for the May 21 Community Center Board elections for you.

We want to ask each of the four adult candidates three questions. Please tell us what you want us to ask the candidates. Just post your question at the top of our right-hand column or send us an e-mail, bobbi.bowman@patch.com.

Board candidates usually hold no rallies and make no public appearances. This is a very low-key election. This may be your only chance to ask the candidates a question unless you see them in the grocery store.

We'll collect the questions. Determine which are the  most popular and send them to the candidates.