Kittitas County hears recruitment plan for expanded COG executive director role; public commenter calls it "messy and expensive"

Kittitas County commissioners received an update Feb. 2, 2026, on the recruitment process for an Executive Director position at the county's Conference of Governments (COG), and a member of the public objected to the proposed direction.

Public Works Director Josh Fredrickson told the Board the COG has "significantly evolved" and now has a broader scope of work that would allow it to take on larger, regional projects. He said the Executive Director role will require "a strong skill set" to leverage opportunities that support and grow the county's economic development efforts.

Pat Kelleher, speaking during the public-comment period, said he opposed hiring for the expanded executive role. "I don't know how it will ever work and it seems like it will be messy and expensive," Kelleher said.

Fredrickson presented a recruitment subcommittee timeline and a distributed handout outlining next steps for the Executive Director search; the Board received the update but did not take formal action on the recruitment during the meeting.

The discussion framed the position as intended to move the COG beyond project-by-project grant requests toward coordinating and implementing larger initiatives that span multiple jurisdictions. Commissioners did not vote on policy changes to the COG at this meeting; the recruitment subcommittee's schedule and any formal hiring decisions are the next steps in the process.

The Board's next procedural actions on the recruitment were not specified in the minutes; staff will follow up as the subcommittee advances the timeline.