Commissioners name Paul Savas vice chair for 2025; housing authority makes same selection

The Clackamas County Board of Commissioners on Jan. 9 selected Commissioner Paul Savas as the commission’s vice chair for 2025 and the Housing Authority of Clackamas County board made the same selection in a separate vote.

Under board policy that the vice chair is chosen at the first business meeting of each calendar year, the commission voted 5-0 to appoint Savas after Commissioner Ben West moved the nomination and Commissioner Martha Schroeder seconded it. Commissioner Savas thanked colleagues and said he was “honored and ready and prepared to take that role.”

The meeting then convened as the Housing Authority of Clackamas County Board of Directors, where West again moved to appoint Savas and Schroeder seconded. Housing Resident Commissioner Anne Leenstra, participating remotely, joined in the roll call; the motion passed 6-0.

County Administrator Gary Schmidt explained the vice chair policy at the start of the meeting: the board “select[s] a vice chair among the 4 commissioners who are currently not the chair to serve in the role of vice chair when the chair of the commission is not able to attend meetings,” with the term running 12 months unless the board decides otherwise.

The votes were recorded by roll call. For the Board of County Commissioners the tally was five ayes; for the Housing Authority board the tally was six ayes, with Leenstra participating remotely.

The vice chair role is procedural: the vice chair presides at meetings when the chair is unavailable. No other policy changes were made during the motions.

Commissioners recessed briefly between the two votes to switch the meeting’s body from the county commission to the housing authority and then back; those transitions were procedural and the selections were taken separately in each body.