The Clay County Commission on Thursday tabled a resolution to appoint a county representative to the zoological district board and directed staff to ask the Friends of the Zoo board to submit a list of three nominees approved by that board.

Commissioner Johnson raised procedural and legal concerns about how the three names were selected and said the chair of the Friends of the Zoo had submitted candidates without the full friends board's vote. "First and foremost, Commissioner Nolte, was never legally on that board," Johnson said as part of a broader critique of past practice; he cited state statutory language and said the county deserves annual financial reports on zoo operations.

Commissioners debated whether it was within their power to delay selection. County counsel advised the commission that state statute requires the Friends of the Zoo to present three names and the county has 60 days to make a selection; the statute does not specify what happens if the commission delays beyond 60 days. County counsel said the 60th day from the county's receipt of the list (which the administrator said came July 9) falls in early September, with the commission's last meeting inside that 60-day window on Sept. 4.

Commissioners Lawson and Carpenter said they wanted the Friends of the Zoo board engaged and to know how the three names were selected. Commissioner Wagner cautioned that the county should not try to dictate who the friends board selects, saying, "If we are going to start saying that we want things done the right way and we are declaring publicly who we want to see on a list of 3, then I am sorry, we are the ones that are out of line." Commissioner Whittington said he had declined to vote for a friend who had asked for support to avoid a perception of conflict.

The motion to table the item and send it back to the Friends of the Zoo board for reconsideration passed on a 5-1 roll call. Commissioners instructed staff to ask that the three nominees come from a Friends of the Zoo board-approved process rather than from the board chair alone. Administrator materials provided to the commission show the county receives about $1.08 in sales-tax revenue per taxable sale that is earmarked for the zoo; one commissioner cited the county audit figure of roughly $6 million per year from the county's $1.08 sales-tax amount as the local funds under oversight.

Ending: The commission deferred action and set a staff direction: request a Friends of the Zoo board-approved slate of three nominees and return the item for consideration before the statutory 60-day window closes.