Committee votes to forgo electing officers for remainder of 2026

The Scott Water and Natural Resources Citizen Committee voted to forgo electing officers for the remainder of 2026 while retaining the committee’s voting authority and asking staff to run meetings.

Commissioner Clayton Wagner moved that the committee "absolve ourselves of officers for 2026, but we will maintain the voting and the minutes and allow staff to run the meeting," and the committee carried the motion in a roll call. The transcript records affirmative responses during roll call and no negative or abstaining votes were announced. The motion’s practical effect is that the committee will not name a chair, vice chair or optional secretary for the remainder of the calendar year; staff said votes will still be taken on formal items and recorded.

The committee discussed the rationale beforehand: staff told members that officers are now optional under the updated operating procedures, which were revised in part to satisfy the watershed management plan requirements and to allow more flexibility for virtual meetings and liaison activities. Several members said they were comfortable continuing without officers for the short remainder of 2026. A committee member emphasized that the group will still take votes on key items such as the watershed plan draft and the annual budget.

Next procedural steps: staff will record the committee’s position in minutes and bring the officer question back at the first meeting of 2027 when members can decide whether to elect officers then.