The Woodbury County Board of Supervisors reorganized at its 2025 organizational meeting, adopting its bylaws and rules for public participation and electing Supervisor Dan Bittinger as chair by a 4-1 vote; Supervisor Mark Nelson was elected vice chair unanimously.

The board unanimously approved its current bylaws, which the presiding officer described as taking precedence after the Iowa Code and as subject to a two-meeting amendment process. Outgoing chair Matthew Ong asked the board to adopt the rules to allow the new supervisors to proceed. "They are required to be adopted in the first meeting of the year after every general election and they can be amended in a two-step process at any time," Ong said.

The bylaws motion passed on a voice vote, 5-0. The board then elected a temporary chair to preside over the chair election; a nomination from the floor to name Matthew (as spoken in the meeting) temporary chair passed 5-0.

Supervisor Mark Nelson nominated Supervisor Dan Bittinger for chair. Nelson cited Bittinger’s work as the board liaison to the Law Enforcement Center Authority and said Bittinger had "a great understanding" of that project. Dr. Scaff, the auditor and clerk to the board, noted that closing nominations and electing a chair would require a roll call vote. The roll call returned yes votes from Carper, Dietrich, Nelson and Bittinger and a lone no from Supervisor Eng; the motion carried 4-1.

Supervisor Eng explained his vote and concerns before the roll call, saying he had observed behavior that led him to oppose the nomination. "There is no nicer supervisor in private, but he is unreliable in public," Eng said, and added he would vote no based on his experience.

Nelson was elected vice chair on a subsequent roll call, 5-0. Several supervisors used their turn during reorganizational business to welcome the board's two new supervisors and to discuss committee assignments. One supervisor asked that Supervisor Dave Dietrich be considered as the board’s liaison to the Law Enforcement Center Authority.

The board also debated and then affirmed its rules for public participation, keeping the practice of one public-comment period at the end of the meeting rather than separate beginning and ending comment periods. Supervisor Mark Nelson urged retaining the single end-of-meeting public comment window, saying it better allows the board to follow up on concerns and that prior practice sometimes left staff or the board unable to address remarks because speakers left early. "I think we've avoided that situation," Nelson said. The public-participation rules were adopted 5-0.

The board approved the meeting agenda and a consent agenda of routine items by unanimous votes during the session. Members discussed possible changes to the upcoming budget-review schedule, including moving some work to daytime multi-hour sessions to reduce late-night meetings and to better accommodate staff.

The meeting closed with supervisors agreeing to circulate committee assignments to new members and to consider adjustments for the coming year. Outgoing chair Matthew Ong received public thanks from colleagues for his two years of service as chair.