Three candidates up for two trustee spots on MCC board
By SARAH SUTSCHEK - ssutschek@nwherald.com
CRYSTAL LAKE – Three candidates are running in the April election for two six-year trustee positions on the McHenry County College Board.
Incumbent Mary Miller of Crystal Lake is running for re-election. She was appointed in 2003 to replace a trustee who resigned and was elected later that year. She is the board’s vice chairwoman.
Her opponents are Ronald Parrish of Woodstock and John Darger of Crystal Lake. Frances Glosson is not running for re-election.
Miller said her strength was her financial background as a certified public accountant. She said she would like to see the college’s master plan start moving forward because of limited space for the nursing program.
“I think the top priorities for the college are ever-changing,” Miller said. “We have to search for a new president; we’re starting to get a committee together to continue expanding our programs for workplace development.”
Parrish, who has taught at the school, is a member of the Friends of MCC Foundation Board as well as co-founder and chairman of the Promise program, which allows future classes to attend MCC tuition-free.
College officials have said they have enough money for five years, and the Friends of MCC Foundation has pledged to work to keep the program going.
The Promise program is Parrish’s top priority, he said.
“We’re busy right now, and I feel that we need to be better represented at the trustee level at the college,” Parrish said.
“They’ve been supportive, but I think we need a direct liaison now.”
Darger sells college textbooks for W.W. Norton and Co., and he said he would give his account with MCC to a colleague if he won a trustee position to avoid any conflict.
In addition to finding a new president and preserving the educational mission of the school, Darger wants to make the board’s actions more open.
“There have been critics of the board; I don’t know that they’re completely fair,” he said. “I would work to make the process of deliberation on things more transparent.”
