Serving Franklin County, WA
Serving Franklin County, WA
Newly elected Commissioner Mullen selected chairman pro tempore
Franklin County Commissioner Clint Didier
PASCO – In his first vote as a Franklin County Commissioner, Rocky Mullen cast the deciding vote on who will lead the county for the next year.
By a 2-1 vote Tuesday morning, Jan. 5, Commissioner Clint Didier of Eltopia was elected county commission chairman for 2021.
The dissenting vote was cast by Commissioner Lowell "Brad" Peck of Pasco, who voted for himself.
"If we're going to use a fairness measure of rotation, then I deferred to Commissioner (Robert) Koch a number of years," Peck said, noting he should be selected chairman.
Didier, too, made a pitch for the position, noting that a District No. 3 commissioner has not served as chair for a number of years.
Didier replaces former chairman Robert "Bob" Koch, who did not seek re-election; Mullen was elected as his replacement on the commission.
In an immediate follow-up motion, Mullen was unanimously elected as chairman pro tempore.
Both Didier and Mullen have been advocating for reopening Franklin County businesses shuttered by gubernatorial mandates.
Following the selection of the commission leadership, the commissioners approved their committee assignments for 2021.
Commissioners also discussed resuming in-person meetings going forward.
"As chairman, I will be attending the meetings in the chamber," Didier said, after calling on Mullen and Peck to join him in the courthouse for future meetings.
County Attorney Shawn Sant cautioned commissioners about doing so, noting there may still be some restrictions on meetings, such as requiring masks, minimum spacing and continuing to offer digital meeting services.
"Right now, the same restrictions on having five members outside of your household are still in place," he said.
Roger Harnack is the owner/publisher of Free Press Publishing. Having grown up Benton City, Roger is an award-winning journalist, photographer, editor and publisher. He's one of only two editorial/commentary writers from Washington state to ever receive the international Golden Quill. Roger is dedicated to the preservation of local media, and the voice it retains for Eastern Washington.
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