Incumbent, Two Newcomers Elected to MVF Board

The ballots have been counted and the results of the Montgomery Village Foundation’s annual election are in: Two newcomers and a four-time member have beaten out three other candidates for seats on the nine-member board of directors.

Northgate resident Dennis Clark and Pete Young of Whetstone are the newcomers; Linc Perley, also of Whetstone, is heading into his fifth term, which he expects to be his last.

The ballots were counted Saturday morning at the foundation’s office. Each homeowner is mailed a ballot and is able to choose up to three candidates. Each ballot counts as two votes. The tally:

• Dennis Clark 2,910 votes

• Linc Perley 2,780

• Peter Young 2,698

• Pamela Bort 1,714

• Don O’Neill 1,204

• Edna Miller 1,092

Clark, Perley and Young will take their seats the foundation’s March 24 meeting, joining the six other volunteers who help craft policy and steer how the foundation spends its $7.5 million budget.

This year’s election centered largely around talk of Montgomery Village’s long-term future and more immediate ways to bring the Village up to date with the kinds of amenities and resources that are increasingly available in other communities.

Young, a 13-year resident of Whetstone, could not immediately be reached for comment. Young and Clark were members of last year’s Long-Range Facility Planning Committee, which looked closely at what Kentlands, Reston and other planned communities have done to make themselves more attractive.

“I just think we have got to start changing,” Clark said. “We have not been paying attention here to improving our facilities. We have to restore the ability to have a new vision of the Village. We haven’t done that in a long time. We think it has to stay in the 60s, but it can’t.”

This year’s focus, said board president Bob Hydorn, needs to be the and striking a resident consensus as county planners start work on updating Montgomery Village’s land-use guidelines.

“No question, that is going to be the top priority,” Hydorn said.

Headway on those fronts can only come with cooperation from the government agencies that will ultimately make those decisions. Perley worries that Montgomery Village’s relationships in that regard aren’t where they need to be.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency rejected Montgomery Village’s request for a share of disaster recovery monies for last year’s snowstorms. At the state level, the foundation has for the last two years advocated for an unsuccessful “priority lien” bill meant to help HOAs recover assessment fees that go unpaid due to foreclosure. And at the county level, the Village’s HOAs continue to shoulder costs on roadway maintenance, snow removal and water quality protection.

“One of my principle interests is to get from the county and the state a little more respect,” Perley said. “With the clout that we should have, we should be able to get more respect than we’re getting.”