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In making his motion for a new chairman Tuesday during the first meeting of the year, Commissioner Scott Mangold said he wanted, in part, to give Chair Dossie Overfield a chance to vote more, as the …
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In making his motion for a new chairman Tuesday during the first meeting of the year, Commissioner Scott Mangold said he wanted, in part, to give Chair Dossie Overfield a chance to vote more, as the chair only votes to break a tie.
She had to break two ties to continue her role she’s held since 2022, with the final, successful motion sending commissioner Lloyd Thiel to vice chair.
“That’s the most you’ve voted in a long time,” Mangold said.
“And that was one of the hardest votes in a long time,” Overfield added.
The votes came a couple hours after the commissioner gathered with other county staff, elected officials and family to watch as Mangold and new commissioner Kelly Simone were sworn in to continue, as District Court Judge Bill Simpson said, a tradition of strong leadership for the county.
Later that morning, Mangold’s first motion of his second term was for Thiel to take the chair spot and move Overfield to vice chair.
Mangold said he was torn with the decision and “I have certainly appreciated the extra work you have done as chair over the last few years,” but said he’d like to give Overfield a chance to vote more after multiple years in the chair spot.
Thiel said he’d accept the post but told Overfield, “In no way could I do as well as you have, I do know that you spend a lot of additional time ... I think some of us don’t realize how much work you do.”
Mangold and Thiel voted for the motion, while Scott Steward and Simone voted against. Steward said while he agreed with returning to the tradition of rotating the chairmanship and had nothing against Thiel as chair, he said with recent changes in staff and a new commissioner, it would be beneficial for Overfield to stay in the role this year.
“Chair Overfield has been supremely helpful to me in navigating the election cycle ... training me for this,” Simone said.
The 2-2 split forced Overfield to break the tie, and she thought for a time before voting against the motion.
Next, Steward motioned for Overfield to remain as chair. After a friendly motion by Simone to make Thiel the vice chair as well, the four commissioners voted the same 2-2 split, except Steward and Simone voted in favor.
After another long pause, Overfield voted aye.
“I do think part of the reason is with new staff, a new commissioner,” she said of her decision to vote to stay as chair. “That was part of my thought process.”
