MCC board shuffles its leadership

Members of the McHenry County College board of trustees have changed their lineup.

After censure resolutions caused Trustee Scott Summers to step down from his position as chair, the board rearranged leadership roles at Tuesday night's board meeting.

George Lowe, a longstanding trustee and 2005 board chair, will serve the remainder of Summers' vacated term. Lowe's position as board secretary will be filled by Trustee Carol Larson. Vice chair Frances Glosson will keep her original role.

Summers resigned his leadership position Oct. 25 after trustees voted 4-3 to censure him and finance chair Donna Kurtz over speaking out at an Oct. 17 Crystal Lake City Council meeting. Kurtz maintained her position as chief of the finance committee, even though the censure resolution asked for her to step down from that role.

In his 14 years as a trustee, Lowe remarked that he has never seen a board so divided. "It's all because of the Health, Wellness and Athletic Complex," he said.

After unanimously approving a $26 million, 95,000-square foot Health Wellness and Athletic Complex that would include a stadium that would host a minor league team, the board later erupted into arguments over the decision.

"The next few months are going to be difficult," he said.

Lowe's leadership style, he said, "is a little different. I always try to have committees operate as committees and do their thing. Everyone has a voice that way," he said.

The changes, finalized Tuesday night, will stick until board members reorganize again in April.