Three incumbents returning to MCC board; two newcomers also elected
Voters reelected incumbents Molly Walsh, Tom Allen and Mary Beth Siddons Tuesday to six-year terms on the McHenry County College Board out of a field of seven candidates.
Unofficial results with 41,497 total votes cast show Walsh leading the pack with 10,252 votes, followed by Allen with 7,561 votes and Siddons with 7,508.
Newcomers James Young secured 5,700 votes, Carlos Arévalo garnered 4,678 votes, Robert Lush received 3,177, and Maija Mizens came in last with 2,621 votes.
Suzanne Hoban received 7,214 votes securing a four-year board seat beating Cheryl Dawson, who received 4,988 votes, and Andrew Georgi, who received 3,896 votes. Elizabeth Speros collected 9,885 votes to secure a two-year seat against Peter Suffield, who received 5,317.
Walsh, 72, of Crystal Lake, was first elected in 2013 and currently serves as the board's secretary. She taught with MCC's Continuing Education department from 1986 to 2008.
"I would like to see MCC expand its focus on returning students and those workers looking to increase their employability (and) more resources spent in developing new programs like the physical therapy assistant program, nursing and welding to attract the nontraditional student," Walsh wrote in response to a Daily Herald candidate questionnaire. "Latino students represent 14 percent of the MCC student population and are often the first in family to attend college. We need to make sure we are addressing the needs of this specific population."
Allen, 63, of Lakewood, is a retired lieutenant firefighter/paramedic appointed trustee in January 2018.
He said MCC has reduced some geographic and socioeconomic barriers through the adoption of online courses and partnering with remote high schools to create programs and the Friends of McHenry County College to offer scholarships to underserved and underrepresented segments of the population.
"The college should continue to explore creative and fiscally responsible ways to knock down the barriers to higher education," Allen wrote in his questionnaire response.
Hoban, 56, of Woodstock, is executive director of Family Health Partnership Clinic. Speros, 58, of Crystal Lake, is an early career technical editor for two aerospace/defense contractors.
Siddons, of McHenry, chose not to participate in the Daily Herald's interview process.