Five Vying for Three Seats on MVF Board

This year’s race for the Montgomery Village Foundation’s board of directors is officially under way with five candidates vying for three seats: a pair of incumbents, a former board member, a first-time contender and one of the board’s most outspoken critics.

The five candidates were formally approved last night to run in the mail-in election:

• Pam Bort, a 15-year Village resident, was elected to the board in 2008 then lost her re-election bid last year. She is vice president of the South Village Homes Corp.

• John Driscoll has been board vice president for the past year, his third on the board. He has lived in the Village for seven years.

• John Horton was spurred to run after he and his neighbors in Eastgate . He was elected to the Eastgate board last year; this is his first try at the MVF board.

• Bob Hydorn has been president five of the six years he’s been on the board. He is a 26-year Village resident living in Patton Ridge. Hydorn, Driscoll and Bort are running as a slate.

• Don O’Neill, a 40-year Whetstone resident, has for years been a frequent and vocal critic of MVF policy. This is his second try at the board; he lost his bid last year.

Missing from the candidate roster: Dick Wright, the third incumbent and the board’s longest-serving member. After nine terms spanning four decades, Wright chose not to seek re-election.

The nine-member volunteer board oversees how the 501c(4) foundation spends its $7 million budget and advocates with government officials and elected leaders on behalf of the Village’s 40,000 residents.

Ballots will be sent to Village homeowners on Feb. 3.

The rest of the election schedule is as follows:

• Jan. 24 - Resident Q&A with the candidates, 7pm at the North Creek Community Center

• Feb. 23 - Candidate meet-and-greet prior to the February board meeting, 6:30pm at the North Creek Community Center

• March 2 - Ballots due by 5pm at the MVF office, 10120 Apple Ridge Road

• March 3 - Count ballots and announce the winners

Between 1,500 and 2,000 ballots are typically cast each year. Each homeowner can vote for up to three candidates. Two newcomers and one incumbent were elected last year, while 2010 and 2009 both saw two incumbents and one newcomer win seats.

Recent elections have included the foundation’s financial health, candidates’ transit and transportation priorities——and the board’s effectiveness in dealing with county and state government.

The heaviest discussion this year will likely center on the foundation’s role over the next few years as county officials reconsider Montgomery Village’s land use and zoning plan for the first time in half a century.