(Editor's note: This article has been updated)
All three nominees presented by Madison County Board Chairman Kurt Prenzler for the appointment of three vacant positions were rejected by board members last week.
Prenzler nominated Val Doucleff to complete Ray Wesley’s term in District 6, Larry Meisenheimer to complete Tom McRae’s term in District 14 and Dana Brockman to complete Chrissy Dutton-Wiley’s term in District 15.
Board member Chris Guy said his votes rejecting the nominees were not against anybody in particular, but he was concerned that he did not hear from any of the nominees. He said that before he became a board member, he called every county board member to introduce himself.
He added that while none of the nominees contacted him, he has heard from people who are interested in the vacant seats but who were not nominated for appointment.
Board member Eric Foster asked if any of the appointments were recommended by the individuals who had been elected to those seats before resigning. Prenzler answered that they were not.
Board member Doc Holliday said that when a county board member is leaving, he or she usually has a say in who the replacement will be.
“I would hope that you would take that into effect of what the recommendation of the county board member is,” he said.
Board member Mick Madison said that appointing new board members to fill vacant seats following a resignation or retirement is typically a process where they work together.
“It’s not all your pick,” he said to Prenzler. “You can’t have all the say.”
He said they may have voted in favor of some of the appointees if they had been included in the process.
Madison added that they don’t know the appointees and know nothing about their qualifications.
McRae resigned after he was elected as Madison County Circuit Clerk. His first order of business was appointing Wesley as his chief deputy, resulting in his resignation.
Dutton-Wiley resigned after she moved outside of her district and into McRae’s district. Board members indicated during the meeting that they thought it would have been more appropriate to appoint Dutton-Wiley to finish McRae’s term, which would have ended the same time as her term was expected to end in her previous district.
Madison said Dutton-Wiley was elected by her constituents and moved to the district of a fellow board member who had been elected four times by his constituents.
Board member Heather Mueller-Jones added that the time and effort to campaign and then to be elected should be taken into consideration.
After voicing their concerns over the nomination, the board voted unanimously against appointing Meisenheimer to fill McRae’s vacancy. He received 24 “no” votes.
“It has nothing to do with this individual,” Madison said, “but the answer is no from me.”
Brockman received two votes from board members Robert Pollard and Ryan Kneedler in favor of her appointment to Dutton-Wiley’s seat and 22 votes against her appointment.
Doucleff received seven votes in favor of her appointment and 17 against appointing her to Wesley’s vacancy.
Board members Bill Meyer, Mick Madison, Mike Walters, Dalton Gray, Pollard, Erica Conway-Harriss and Kneedler voted in favor of Doucleff.
Prior to voting, Conway-Harriss said she personally knows Doucleff and said she would be a great addition to the county board.
Following the votes, Walters offered to help Prenzler pick new nominees for the appointments, but said he understands if his services are not needed.
“I would be more than happy to sit down and work with you on these three openings to try to pick some other people,” he said.
Walters also asked when the seats must be filled by.
Someone with the State's Attorney's Office said the seats must be filled within 60 days of the vacancy. He added that Wesley and McRae's positions must be filled by Jan. 29.