by Graham Sturgeon, co-editor
THE 2017 SHIAWASSEE COUNTY Board of Commissioners met for the first time in the New Year on Wednesday, Jan. 4. during the board’s organizational meeting. Shown are (from left) Dan McMaster, District 2; Mike Bruff, District 1 and board vice chair; Brandon Marks, District 4; Mark Coscarelli, District 7; Jeremy Root, District 5 and board chair; Jeff Bartz, District 6; and Gary Holzhausen, District 3. (Independent Photo/Graham Sturgeon)
The Shiawassee County Board of Commissioners kicked off 2017 by convening for an organizational meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 4 to establish committee representatives, approve the rules of organization and procedures, and to set the meeting schedule for the next year.
District 5 representative Jeremy Root, who was just elected to his second two-year term on the board in November, was nominated to be the chair for the Shiawassee County Board of Commissioners, and newly-elected commissioner Mike Bruff of District 1 was chosen as the vice chair. As such, Bruff will serve as the chair of the Committee of the Whole, with newly-elected District 2 representative Dan McMaster to serve as the vice chair.
The newly-elected Brandon Marks of District 4 will chair the Finance & Administration Committee, newly-elected Mark Coscarelli of District 7 will be the vice chair, and Bruff will fill out the committee.
McMaster will chair the Health and Human Services Committee, Marks will be the vice chair, and Bruff will be the third member of the committee.
Coscarelli was chosen to chair the Economic & Physical Development Committee, Jeff Bartz of District 6 will be the vice chair, and McMaster will fill out the committee as the third member.
The Public Safety & Courts Committee will be chaired by Bruff, Bartz will be the vice chair, and Gary Holzhausen of District 3 is the third member of the committee.
Meetings are traditionally held the second full week of each month, with a few exceptions. This month’s meetings will begin on Monday, Jan. 9 and run trough Thursday, Jan. 12. The board did decide to move the November meeting week to the week of Nov. 6 to Nov. 9.
Additionally, the commissioners decided to move the start times for their meetings from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. for the Committee of the Whole and Thursday meetings. The Economic and Physical Development meetings will now begin at 5 p.m. on the Monday of meeting week, with the Finance & Administration meetings to follow at 5:15 p.m. The Public Safety & Courts Committee will be at 5 p.m. on the Tuesday of meeting week, with the Health & Human Services Committee meeting to follow at 5:15 p.m.
While the move was made to allow the commissioners extra time to travel from work to meetings, Commissioner Bruff is encouraged that moving the meetings times back could allow for more residents and county employees to be able to attend the meetings. All meetings are held at the Surbeck Building, 201 N. Shiawassee St. in Corunna.
