The San Juan County Commission unanimously ratified the appointment of Mike Moulton as interim director of San Juan County Public Health on a motion Wednesday.

The public health board told commissioners it advertised the interim position internally and received three applications. Ron Skinner, chair of the San Juan County Public Health Board, told the commission the board met Dec. 26 and “for 2 hours … we went over everything. Each person, each application, and we came up with unanimously, Mike Moulton to be the inter[im] director.”

Commissioners moved promptly to ratify the board’s selection. Commissioner Stubbs made the motion to ratify the appointment, which was amended to explicitly name Mike Moulton as interim director and then approved 3–0.

Commissioners and board members discussed the need for a clear second-in-command at the health department while a permanent director search proceeds. Skinner said the board interviewed internal candidates and emphasized the selection was not made lightly: “We had 1 person come 71 miles to be there, and this was not done lightly.”

The commission’s action was procedural ratification of the public health board’s appointment; no permanent director hire or additional staffing was approved at the meeting.

Looking ahead, the public health board and county administrators will continue the process to fill the director post permanently and to clarify interim reporting lines.