Well, it was no Presidential or Vice Presidential debate, but we just had our Residents Association Candidates forum, prior to Friday’s voting on the Residents Association Executive Committee. A quorum is important.
Perhaps most importantly, there was a question about the changing relationship of the Board to residents, and specifically those residents who participate. Pat Howard, candidate for President, reported that while the residents association has “no real” power, it has the “power of persuasion.” A follow up question to current President Mike McCulley about his experience with the Board was ruled out of order.
The biographies of the slate recommended by the nominating committee are below:
Judy Collins (candidate for Secretary) has worked at Pfizer as a biochemist, and on a volunteer rescue squad in Virginia as an EMT. In two years at Collington, she has been secretary of both the Dining and Marketing Committees.
Pat Howard (candidate for President) is now First Vice President. She is a lawyer who has served as clerk to a judge, as a prosecutor in the Juvenile Division of the D.C. Corporation Counsel, and as a litigator for the Consumer Protection Division of the Federal Trade Commission. She retired in 1998 and then worked as a costumed tour guide in Annapolis.
Helen Lauck (candidate for First Vice President) describes her professional life as a series of mini- careers as a virologist, a stay at home mom, an Information Technology manager and an IT international marketing representative. She is currently Second Vice President and has been secretary to both the Grounds Committee and the Building committee. She is currently active in the Flower Committee and the Interiors group.
Tom McCain (candidate for Treasurer) retired in 1988 as Superintendent of Schools in Bernardsville, N.J., He then became president and sole owner of Learning Builders, a firm that provided planning and training services to school and business leaders in several states. He also has served since 1982, as Director of The Millington Bank in New Jersey as it grew from a $75 million mutual community bank, to a publicly held institution with $400 million in assets, serving the Middle Atlantic region.
Joan Smith (candidate for Second Vice President) joined the Foreign Service after a few years of teaching at all grade levels, elementary school to college. As a Foreign Service officer, she served in various positions abroad and in Washington, ending with appointments as Consul General to Haiti and the Dominican Republic. She is secretary of the Collington chapter of MaCCRA and is a member of the Drama Committee and the Mentoring Committee.
These are impressive candidates But today, I finally learned by word of mouth, that the voting will be Friday at 10:00 through 12:00, and the Annual Meeting will be at 2:00. I am mystified about the fact that this information has been so hard to find. If a quorum is to be achieved, these two events should have been advertised in the Couriers of the last three weeks, at least. I was unable to find this information in any Courier of the past three weeks. Maybe I missed something, but without Courier info, I cannot feel confident that a thorough effort has been made to reach all residents with the pertinent details of this election.