Pine County elects Josh Moore chair, Roger Nelson vice chair and confirms committee appointments

Josh Moore was elected chair of the Pine County Board of Commissioners at the board’s Jan. 6 organizational meeting after a roll-call vote. The motion to elect Moore carried with four votes in favor and one opposed; District 4 cast the lone nay.

The board next elected Roger Nelson as vice chair by unanimous roll call. Commissioners present in the room and participating electronically joined the votes.

Commissioners reviewed the county’s 2026 roster of boards, committees and appointments. Members discussed switching primary and alternate assignments for several advisory committees — including land advisory and negotiation/personnel committees — and agreed the chair would fill some appointments and return to the board where a statutory or board-level action is required. County staff was asked to follow up on a few committees that legally require specific alternates.

The board also reappointed citizens to several advisory posts. Kurt Mangan was reappointed to the extension committee for a three-year term after the board noted state statute generally requires annual appointments at the organizational meeting but accepted tabling a second District 4 appointment to seek additional candidates. The board unanimously reappointed Mary Ruemeister to the East Central Library Board for another three-year term.

The board scheduled a committee-of-the-whole meeting for Jan. 27 to review the county strategic plan, walk through proposed board operating guidance and, tentatively, meet with state senators to discuss legislative priorities ahead of the session.

The meeting set the board’s leadership and left several chair-appointed committee slots to be finalized by the chair and staff in the coming weeks.