BY TRACY LEE TATE
Special to the Times
LAKE BUTLER—Before the public comments at the start of the meeting, the Union County Board of County Commissioners had to take care of some organizational business – primarily selecting a new chairman for the board to replace Ryan Perez, who resigned last month.
Florida law states that an elected position from which an individual has resigned may remain open for no more than 23 months. Otherwise, a special election would have to be held to fill it. Since it is only about 12 months until Perez’s seat is up for election, the decision is left up to the governor to leave it vacant or to appoint someone to fill it until the next election. As yet, there has been no word concerning the matter, but a board needs a chairperson to conduct the meetings, and Union commissioners have always selected among themselves someone to run the meetings.
County Attorney Russ Wade handled the nominations and selection process “as the county has no rule for this situation,” he said. Commissioner Jimmy Tallman nominated Commissioner Channing Dobbs for the center seat, and the vote was unanimous, 4-0. Dobbs then nominated Commissioner Mack Johns for the vice-chair position, and that motion also passed 4-0.
After selecting its leadership, the board turned its attention to the committee assignments –commissioners and staff who participate in meetings with other governmental entities on behalf of the county. Perez had been assigned several of these, and his place had to be filled. The assignments are reviewed yearly anyway, so it was time for the reorganization.
Citizens need to know which commissioner represents the county in what capacity so they will know who to call if they have a problem with one of these agencies. Sometimes, a district commissioner will not be the one to contact for these special concerns. The breakdown of assignments is as follows:
Florida Crown – Mack Johns,
Transportation Disadvantaged – Johns,
North Florida Regional Planning Council – Jimmy Tallman,
New River Solid Waste – Tallman and Channing Dobbs,
New River Public Library Cooperative – Tallman and Dobbs,
Union County Public Library – Willie Croft and Johns as the alternate,
Suwannee River Economic Council – Croft and Johns as an alternate,
SHIP – Croft and Johns as an alternate,
North Florida Economic Development Partnership – Dobbs replacing Perez, Tallman, and Williams,
Small County Coalition – Tallman replacing Perez,
Broadband Initiative – Tallman replacing Perez and Johns.
