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MCA Elects 2019/2020 Board, Reviews Highlights of Year's Accomplishments

Published on 5/27/2019

At their Annual Meeting on May 23, the Membership of the McLean Citizens Association elected the Board of Directors for the year starting in June, approved revisions to the MCA By-Laws, and received updates on McLean-area issues from MCA Committees, the Dranesville District representative on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and the McLean Community Foundation

 

After President Dale Stein called the meeting to order and provided opening remarks, McLean Community Foundation Vice President Ali Khazai gave the MCF's annual report, highlighting their successful year in fund-raising and inviting MCA Members be on the lookout for worthy local projects that might apply to the MCF for grant funding. The Foundation is a non-profit (501 (c)(3) corporation established by the MCA in 1978. It promotes local philanthropy to advance the civic, educational and social interests of McLean. The MCA Membership elects the MCF Trustees and approves changes in their By-Laws.

 

Membership Chair Martin Smith welcomed attendees and thanked them for their support of the Association. He solicited their help in promoting MCA membership by spreading the word on MCA's great work on behalf of the community and by personally inviting their neighbors, friends and colleagues to join them as MCA Members.

 

Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust then shared his Office's perspective on recent and upcoming issues affecting McLean. He reported that the County zoning administrator had determined that the mental health rehabilitation facility on Davidson Road proposed by the Newport Academy would be considered as a single entity because the three houses would be operated as one facility. This makes the zoning classification a congregate living center that is not permitted by right in residential districts, as group residential centers are. Supervisor Foust also encouraged attendees to use the recently opened Jones Branch Connector road in Tysons. This new road runs between Route 123 and Jones Branch Drive with access to the I-495 Express Lanes, and was designed to relieve traffic on Route 123 at the 495 interchange.

 

The MCA Membership then approved the minutes from the 2018 Annual MCA Meeting and heard presentations of the MCA Treasurer's Annual Report and the Board-approved Budget for 2019-2020. The Chair of the Nominating Committee presented the candidates for open Officer and Director positions on the MCA Board for 2019-2020 and the candidates for MCF Trustees, all of whom were then elected by the Membership. MCA Vice President Glenn Harris then presented a set of proposed revisions to the MCA By-Laws, which were also approved by voice vote.

 

MCA Board Member and former MCA President Merrily Pierce announced that the online McLean History Portal has gone live. The Portal is an updated version of the original concept of the MCA and the McLean Historical Society: a physical McLean Room in the Dolley Madison Branch of the Fairfax County Library, as a repository for documents related to McLean’s history. A grant from the MCF let the County Library's Virginia Room hire archivists to catalog the extensive collection. The Portal makes the collection accessible not only to area residents but to anyone learning about the Greater McLean area and the MCA, finally realizing the original goal.

Members then heard highlights of the work over the past year of MCA's expert Committees: Budget and Taxation (report); Transportation (report); Education & Youth; Environment, Parks & Recreation (report); Planning & Zoning (report); Public Safety; and Tysons (report.)  More on MCA's recent accomplishments can be found in the April 2019 Newsletter emailed to Members.

Photos of the event were contributed by Brian Shahkarami.