MCC trustee resigns
CRYSTAL LAKE – Trustee Scott Summers resigned from the McHenry County College Board a day after approving a contract with the institution’s new interim president.
Summers, who had served on the board for four years, said Friday that he would not finish the final two years of his six-year term.
The board approved a $200,000 contract with interim President Larry Tyree on Thursday night during a special board meeting.
Summers had led the search for an interim to replace former President Walt Packard, who stepped down in February to be president emeritus.
In an e-mail to trustee Donna Kurtz, Summers wrote, “With the designation last night of Dr. Lawrence Tyree as interim president, I believe that the stage now is set for a broad change in leadership at McHenry County College.
“In order to help make way for this ‘fresh start,’ I resign as a trustee, effective immediately.”
The move stunned fellow board members.
“I was amazed,” board President George Lowe said Friday. “I didn’t expect this. I thought we had a very good meeting last night. We were coming along, and now this.”
Lowe said it would be up to the board to appoint someone to fill the seat.
Kurtz lauded Summers’ work on the board.
“Scott is one of the smartest and most honorable people I’ve ever met,” she said. “It was a gift for McHenry County College to have him as a public servant.”
Summers of Harvard works as an attorney. He briefly had been the board’s president before stepping down to serve as a trustee.
Summers opposed plans in 2007 to build a Health, Wellness and Athletic Center that included a 6,500-seat baseball stadium.
He was formally censured by the McHenry County College Board for speaking out against it. Plans for the center never were approved by the Crystal Lake City Council. He had said he believed that the center was a huge financial risk that would end up costing the college millions of dollars.
Summers could not be reached for further comment Friday afternoon.
Summers advocated for significant changes while on the board. And he helped revamp the college’s financial modeling practices so the board members could better see the implications of their decisions, Kurtz said.