Anoka County commissioners elect chair, approve organizational rules and multiple appointments

Commissioner Mike Gamache was elected chair of the Anoka County Board of Commissioners for program year 2025 by a 4-3 vote, and Commissioner Jeff Reiner was elected vice chair by the same margin, board members said during the board’s organizational meeting.

The board also approved a package of organizational resolutions and appointments, including rules and procedures for the board, designation of the public meeting notice facility, establishment of the county board of appeal and equalization, appointment of hearing officers and other routine organizational items. Most of those resolutions passed unanimously. The board set committee assignments and moved to a committee-of-the-whole structure for several major topic areas, and approved numerous appointments to regional boards and associations.

Why it matters: the chair and vice chair set meeting agendas and preside over board sessions and the committee-of-the-whole arrangement alters how commissioners will receive information and lead portions of combined meetings. The resolutions and appointments determine board operating rules and who represents Anoka County on regional bodies for the coming year.

In the meeting’s opening business, Administrator Dickenson called the roll and outlined the process for selecting officers. A nomination was made and seconded for the chair; Commissioner Gamache accepted the nomination. After the raised-hand vote the chair position was decided by a 4-3 tally, at which point the board chair began presiding. The vice chair nomination and vote followed, and the board selected Commissioner Jeff Reiner as vice chair by a 4-3 vote.

The board then considered Resolution 2025-1, establishing rules and procedures for 2025. Commissioners discussed the new committee structure: four large committee-of-the-whole groupings focused on human services, management, public safety, and transportation/parks; other items (finance, information technology, airport, intergovernmental, property records and taxation) were grouped under a government-operations focus. Under the committee-of-the-whole format, all commissioners will attend but a lead commissioner will serve as the chair for each portion; if a lead is absent the board chair or vice chair will step in. Commissioner Meissner and others told the board they expect some early meetings to be “bumpy” because the change is substantial.

The board approved a slate of additional organizational resolutions with no recorded opposition: designation of the public meeting notice facility (Resolution 2025-2), identification of local officials (Resolution 2025-3), creation of the county board of appeal and equalization (Resolution 2025-4), appointment of hearing officers (Resolution 2025-5), employer contribution toward retirees’ medical insurance (Resolution 2025-6), and an award of the county’s publication bid for the financial statement and official proceedings (Resolution 2025-7). Each of these was offered by a commissioner as noted on the record and passed by voice or roll-call vote with unanimous support unless otherwise noted.

The board made multiple appointments to internal committees and external boards and associations for 2025, approving the county’s representatives to the Regional Rail Authority, the Association of Minnesota Counties (AMC), the Minnesota Intercounty Association (MICA), and the National Association of Counties (NACO). The board also recommended appointments to the Anoka County Housing and Redevelopment Authority and the Anoka County Campusing Board and set term-end dates for trustees listed on the record.

Personnel and other appointments approved included the county agriculture inspector appointment of Quinn Taylor (Parks Division) and a Sheriff’s-recommended appointment of city mayors to the Joint Law Enforcement Council: Mayor Weston Rolfe and Mayor Jamie Barthel were appointed to one-year terms (the board referenced Joint Law Enforcement Council contract 2008-0279). The board recorded those mayoral appointments on the sheriff’s recommendation; the motion passed by voice vote with no opposition.

Votes at a glance - Chair of the Board (nomination accepted by Commissioner Gamache): approved 4-3 (motion/mover: nomination offered; second not specified). Outcome: elected chair. - Vice Chair (nomination in the name of Jeff Reiner / Commissioner Reiner present): approved 4-3. Outcome: elected vice chair. - Resolution 2025-1 (rules and procedures): offered by Commissioner Schulte; passed unanimously. - Resolution 2025-2 (designation of public meeting notice facility): offered by Commissioner Braastid; passed unanimously. - Resolution 2025-3 (identifying local officials): passed unanimously. - Resolution 2025-4 (establishing county board of appeal and equalization): passed unanimously. - Resolution 2025-5 (appointing hearing officers): offered by Commissioner Schulte; passed unanimously. - Resolution 2025-6 (employer contribution toward retiree medical insurance): offered by Commissioner Jepsen; passed unanimously. - Resolution 2025-7 (award of bid for publication of county financial statement and proceedings): roll-call vote recorded as unanimous. - Resolution 2025-8 (appointment of county agriculture inspector, Quinn Taylor): approved unanimously. - Appointments to multiple external boards and associations (Regional Rail Authority, AMC, MICA, NACO, Anoka County Housing and Redevelopment Authority, Anoka County Campusing Board): motions moved and seconded on the record and approved (most unanimous as recorded). - Appointment to Joint Law Enforcement Council (mayors Weston Rolfe and Jamie Barthel), pursuant to contract 2008-0279 on sheriff recommendation: approved by voice vote.

The board adjourned following the organizational business and appointments.

Sources and attributions: descriptions above are taken from the board’s roll call, nominations, motions and staff/commissioner remarks recorded during the Anoka County Board of Commissioners organizational meeting.