County approves 2018 committee and advisory board assignments

by John Holler, Correspondent:  It only took a matter of minutes to approve, but at the Jan. 2 meeting of the Wright County Board of Commissioners, perhaps the most important action the board takes all year was approved – delegating the numerous committee and advisory board assignments for 2018. In all, county board members sit on 14 committees and 36 advisory boards – all of which have to be divided up among the five commissioners. In many respects, the committee/advisory board assignments take care of a lot of the investigative work that goes into issues before they reach the full board for potential votes. “If we had to do our committee work at the board meetings, we would be in the board room all day,” said Commissioner Charlie Borrell. “Our committees and advisory boards are where most of the day-to-day work of the county gets done. There are some issues, like the recent proposal for the landfill expansion, that go through a dozen committee meetings and hearings before it ever got to the county board. It’s a very important job that we have as commissioners and where issues are vetted out and the board gets the background information we need to make informed decisions.” Each commissioner came to the job with their own set of experience and fields of expertise that they bring to the county board and that make natural choices for committee/advisory board appointments. Commissioner Mike Potter has been active in transportation issues, so he serves on most of the transportation-related boards and committees. Commissioner Christine Husom has a law enforcement background, which has her on several committees dealing with such topics. Commissioners Mark Daleiden and Darek Vetsch both have some expertise in technology and are naturals for technology-related issues, which have become front-burner topics over the last couple of years. Borrell, as a farmer from the rural portion of the county, serves on the planning commission where the county deals with requests to convert ag land into residential or business properties. “I think we all bring our own experience to the table,” Daleiden said. “We all have experience and interests that naturally lend themselves to serving on committees, because we can readily understand the issues that are being proposed or discussed and can best explain the issues to the other commissioners or ask the questions that get the information we need to make sound decisions for the county.”

To read the entire article, subscribe to the Messenger today!