McHenry Co. College trustee resigns
In less than 24 hours McHenry County College gained an interim president and lost a trustee.
Trustee Scott Summers resigned from the college board Friday.
That it coincided with Thursday's hiring of Larry Tyree as interim president was no coincidence, said Summers, who lives near Harvard.
"I resigned once I was assured we had Dr. Tyree on board," said Summers, who helped recruit Tyree and expresses confidence in his guidance. "I had been thinking it would be opportune for me to move on, once there was new leadership. I think it was important to turn the page."
Summers' resignation caught MCC Board Chairman George Lowe off guard, especially since he had two years left in his six-year term.
"It came out of the blue," Lowe said. "I thought we did well the other night when we appointed Tyree. I thought everybody was fairly well behaved that night. It went well and then the next day you get this e-mail that (Summers) quit."
The relationship between Summers and other board members soured in 2007 after the trustee withdrew his public support for an MCC-built Health, Wellness and Athletic Complex and baseball stadium in Crystal Lake.
The city council rejected the plan and trustees later scrapped the $30 million facility and stadium.
The board censured both him and Trustee Donna Kurtz, who also changed her mind about plan.
Summers, who relinquished his chairmanship shortly after the fallout, also said he, former President Walter Packard and most of the board members were no longer on speaking terms outside the boardroom.
"Part of it is me," Summers said. "The informal camaraderie stopped. On a formal basis, things went on."
The school has 60 days to pick a successor. Interested parties should contact the college president's office, Lowe said.
Meanwhile, Summers is figuring out his next move in the public sector and has no hard feelings about his time on the board.
"The college will go on," Summers said. "Personalities come, personalities go. I did my best and I'm moving on."