MEDIA RELEASE
Date: Thursday, January 9, 2020
For Immediate Release
For more information contact:
Lisa Moutinho – Washtenaw County Public Information Officer
734-222-6731 [email protected]
Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners Re-Elects Leadership Team
ANN ARBOR, MI -- As their first order of business at their first meeting of 2020, the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners held an election to select their four-person leadership team. The meeting, held on Wednesday, January 8 was called to order by County Clerk Lawrence Kestenbaum and then quickly moved into the nominations for Chair, Vice-Chair, Chair of Ways and Means and Chair of Working Session Committee. This annual organizational meeting gives the nine county commissioners the opportunity to appoint their peers who will then provide leadership and guidance to the Board, set the culture of the organization and serve as conduit for our community partners over the course of the next 12 months.
For calendar year 2020, the Board elected to maintain the current leadership structure:
Chair of the Board – Commissioner Jason Morgan (District 8)
Vice Chair of the Board – Commissioner Ricky Jefferson (District 6)
Chair of Ways and Means Committee—Commissioner Katie Scott (District 9)
Chair of Working Session Committee – Commissioner Sue Shink (District 2)
“It’s an honor to continue serving Washtenaw County as Chair of the Board of Commissioners and I appreciate the continued faith of my fellow commissioners,” said Jason Morgan, Chair of the Board of Commissioners. “We tackled some big challenges this past year, from protecting mental health services while managing a significant deficit in state funding, working to expand recreation opportunities in Ypsilanti and access to broadband internet throughout the county, and increasing overall funding to protect public health, mental health and community and economic development to address our impact on the climate with a plan to get to carbon neutral, addressing racial and economic inequity and increasing engagement with the community. I look forward to advancing these critical priorities and so many more including regional transit, bolder action on climate change and the creation of a long-term vision for our County to lead us far beyond just 2020. We’ll do all of this, together, working with our residents.”
"I am honored to be elected by my peers on the Board to serve as Ways and Means Chair again this year.” Said Commissioner Katie Scott. “Last year, I was proud to oversee a balanced budget that also allowed us allocate additional money to Public Health, Office of Community and Economic Development, and Community Mental Health along with other county departments as well. Despite our challenges, we came together to continue the vital work at the county and anticipate another year of great collaboration."
Chair of Working Session Sue Shink added, “I thank the voters for trusting me to serve them, and my colleagues for their confidence in me. I appreciate the opportunity to work with the residents, my fellow board members, the 1400 employees of Washtenaw County and the many, many people working to protect and enhance the quality of life here in Washtenaw County. This year promises to be full of challenges and there’s no better group of people to be working with to meet those challenges.”
You may find more information on the Board’s work, here.
You can find the full press release here.
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