Commission elects Michael Tree chair and Kent Partridge vice chair

At the Aug. 13 meeting the Surprise Veterans Disability and Human Services Commission elected Commissioner Michael Tree as chair and Commissioner Kent Partridge as vice chair for the 2025-26 municipal year. Staff read selection rules from city code and opened nominations. Commissioners nominated Allison Wisniewski and Michael Tree for chair; Tree received a majority and commissioners then moved and seconded a formal motion. The meeting record shows a public roll-call vote in which all listed commissioners responded "Aye" and the chair announced the motion passed. Nominations for vice chair produced Gwen Maxfield, a self-nomination and a nomination for Kent Partridge; the commission voted by ballot and then by voice. The chair announced that the motion carried and commissioners completed a roll-call affirmation. Staff reminded commissioners that city code requires the selection tonight and explained eligibility rules, including that members who have served two consecutive terms as chair or vice chair must wait two years before being eligible again. Staff said votes are public and that a candidate must receive a majority of the seven-member commission to be selected. No appeals or challenges to the results were recorded in the meeting minutes.