McLean Community Center Board Announces Election Results, Hides Vote Totals from Voters

Two incumbents, a newcomer and two students have won seats on the McLean Community Center board.

For the second year in a row the Community Center Elections Committee has taken the highly unusual action of refusing to release the vote totals.

The winners of the election which was held at McLean Day today were incumbents Susan Bourgeois and Craig Richardson, who ran as a write-in candidate and newcomer Laurelie Wallace.

The contests were in the student races where Malika Nimmagadda defeated Craig McKenzie for the McLean High School seat on the board. Drew Armstrong defeated Will Ferrer for the Langley High seat.

Robin Walker, head of the Elections Committee, announced only the names of the winners, but kept secret the number of votes they had received.

"The numbers will be made available after we notify all candidates," Walker said in an email when asked why the individual votes counts were not given made public. "One candidate was not reachable this evening so we are waiting until tomorrow morning."

 Walker said the vote totals would be available to the public "after we hear from the unavailable candidate." She refused to name the candidate. She also refused to say when the votes would be released if the candidate remained unreachable.

McLean Patch asked Walker at the April meeting of the Elections Committee, if she would post the vote totals the night of the election.  McLean Patch explained they had not been posted last year on the night of the election.

Walker said the votes would be posted. In 2011, Elections committee chairman Susan Bourgeois, kept the votes secret from the public and did not release them until Monday morning.

McLean Patch has also asked MCC board president Kevin Dent and Dranesville Supervisor John Foust, who oversees the MCC Board, why the MCC has taken the highly unusual action of keeping the individual votes secret.

The 11-member MCC board oversees the operation of the McLean Community Center, its $6 million budget and $12 million surplus.