Mesa County Board of Public Health designates final selection for executive director after executive session

Mesa County — At a special meeting on April 6, 2026, the Mesa County Board of Public Health entered an executive session to discuss personnel matters related to its executive director search and then voted to designate a final selection.

The meeting began with a motion to enter executive session. Speaker 3 moved, “I move that the Board of Public Health enter into an executive session for the purposes of discussing personal matters regarding the executive director position search as authorized by CRS section 24 6 4 0 2 4 f I.” The motion was seconded and approved by voice vote.

When the board returned to open session, the chair introduced discussion of candidates and selection of finalists. Speaker 2 moved that the board “officially designate Aaron Minnerath as our final selection for filling the open position of executive director.” The motion was seconded and brought to a voice vote; the chair called for in favor and received vocal “Aye” responses. The chair then stated the motion carried.

During the discussion period several board members offered extended endorsements for a candidate named Erin, praising her operational leadership since stepping in as interim and her plans for the agency. For example, Speaker 4 said, “I would be very excited about Erin as the sole finalist, based a lot on, mostly the work she's done,” and other members echoed that praise. The transcript therefore contains an internal inconsistency: the motion names Aaron Minnerath as the board’s final selection while multiple participants subsequently praised a candidate identified as Erin. The board did not record a formal roll-call vote in the transcript; explicit vocal affirmations recorded in the public portion include at least three spoken “Aye” responses.

A staff member explained logistics for the meeting recording and read aloud attendees present for the executive session, listing Marguerite Tuthill, Mona Highline, Steven Daniels, Janine Frey, Joe Chiock, Alexander Holz, Trish Weber, Nina Atencio, Todd Starr and Navara Drews. The chair and other board members agreed to notify the other applicants with more personalized communications; staff and a board member volunteered to draft a signed letter and place phone calls to the two other interviewed candidates.

The chair closed the meeting with an adjournment. The transcript shows the board directed staff to prepare communications to candidates and to coordinate any press statement, with a follow-up draft to be circulated through regular channels.

What happened next: The transcript does not record a formal written appointment, a signed contract, or a roll-call vote. It records a voice vote designating a final selection during the public meeting, and an earlier executive session where the board reviewed applicants. The discrepancy between the name used in the motion and the name repeatedly praised in discussion was not reconciled on the record in the provided transcript; the board’s official minutes or a staff statement would be needed to confirm the exact individual designated.