After 10 minutes of discussion, the Sweetwater County Commissioners appointed Lauren Schoenfeld to fill the vacant seat.
At the previous commissioners meeting, the commissioners were deadlocked on who they wanted to fill the vacant seat left open after Commissioner Don Van Matre's death. Commissioners Randy Wendling and Jeffrey Smith wanted Lauren Schoenfeld, while Commissioners Wally Johnson and Roy Lloyd supported Island Richards. The third, candidate, former Commissioner John Kolb, didn't receive support by any of the commissioners.
At today's special meeting, the group voted 3-1 to appoint Schoenfeld to the board. Johnson was the only opposing vote.
During the brief meeting, each commissioner had the opportunity to voice support for which candidate they felt would do the best job.
Wendling said he wanted to thank residents who reached out to the commissioners with their opinions and after reviewing the emails and listening to phones calls, he was still going to support Schoenfeld for the position.
Johnson said the issue that still drives him is how the Sweetwater County Republican Party voted.
"That vote was taken. Island Richards won that two to one," Johnson said. "I think that's extremely important, at least to me, because I represent in this chair all the people of Sweetwater County, not just Republicans."
He said Richards has donated a lot of time to the county serving on boards.
"He will do an outstanding job and hit the ground running," Johnson said. "I still support him strongly."
Smith said he had to areas to consider. One: what the voting public wants him to do in this matter and two: what who he thinks is the best choice.
"I've heard loud and clear their opinions," Smith said. "In considering those, I by far, from the public heard maybe two, three or even four to one in support of Lauren, so I will continue to put my support behind Lauren as well."
"I kind of had a feeling we're going to come down to this," Lloyd said.
To make his decision, Lloyd said he spoke with each candidate personally and reviewed all emails sent to him and listened to all phone calls.
"I'll be honest I still believe they both incredible traits and strengths to the commission and both would represent this commission differently," Lloyd said. "I think that's what makes it hard."
He said he's done enough research that he could justify his decision either way.
He took an online poll into consideration and all of the emails and calls he received. Based on those and listening to the public, he decided to support Schoenfeld.
After the motion and vote was made, Schoenfeld said in an interview that she was excited and appreciated the "open door" policy the board took when listening to residents on this issue.
"Now the real work starts," Schoenfeld said.
She may have just been appointed, but Schoenfeld already has a goal in mind as a county commissioner: to continue the pursuit of economic development for the county.
"I truly appreciate the support of the community," Schoenfeld said.
She wants to listen to what residents have to say and address the community's needs as they arise.
Reader Comments(0)