Temporary board appoints Colene Martin and Gary Richardson to Josephine County commissioner seats

Chair Dustin Calvo, treasurer, presided over a special meeting of a temporary board of Josephine County officials on Feb. 18, 2026, that appointed Colene Martin to Commissioner Position 2 and Gary Richardson to Commissioner Position 1 by a 6-0 roll-call vote.

The appointment followed tabulation of interview scoring sheets by Clerk Rhiannon Henkels, with Calvo and Legal Counsel Wally Hicks reviewing the results. Henkels’s tabulation showed Colene Martin as the highest-scoring applicant and Gary Richardson as the second-highest. Wally Hicks initially moved to appoint Colene Martin to Position 2 but withdrew that motion; Peter Allen then moved to accept the interview scores and appoint Martin to Position 2 and Richardson to Position 1. The motion was seconded by Dave Daniel and carried on a roll-call vote: Peter Allen — yes; Chris Parton — yes; Wally Hicks — yes; Dave Daniel — yes; Rhiannon Henkels — yes; Dustin Calvo — yes. The meeting record states, “Motion carried 6-0.”

Before the appointments, the board opened the meeting by declaring potential conflicts of interest. The board noted generally that it reviews and approves department budgets and compensation; Peter Allen specified that some applicants had used his private surveying services. The declaration was recorded before the appointment vote.

The temporary board recorded brief additional discussion of matters related to the application and interview process, thanked staff and participants for their professionalism, and adjourned at 9:28 a.m. The transcript and minutes do not specify effective dates for the appointments or additional implementation steps.