By John Raffel
Correspondent
ALLEGAN – A new Board of Commissioners for Allegan County is ready to get to work.
Members of the newly formatted, five-member Board of Commissioners (BOC) were sworn into office Thursday by Chief Circuit Court Judge Roberts Kengis at the annual organization meeting required by state law.
Also as required, the board elected officers, re-electing Chairperson Jim Storey of Holland to a two-year term, breaking with the recent tradition of electing chairs to one year terms, and re-elected Vice Chair Dean Kapenga of Hamilton.
“State law limits commissioner vice chairs to a one-year term,” Storey wrote in his weekly newsletter. “The Board welcomed new commissioner Scott Beltman of Monterey township who joined incumbents Mark DeYoung of Dorr, Gale Dugan of Otsego, Kapenga, and Storey.
“The Board also adopted changes to its rules of operation for the next year. No other changes were made to the county’s governing structure.”
Storey also reported the mild weather and the promise of food and entertainment drew thousands to downtown Allegan for the New Year’s Eve 2022 ball drop.
“The turnout confirmed the downtown business development strategy of city and business leaders,” Storey said. “For the past few years, city leaders have encouraged private-public investment as the city works to make its downtown a destination for commerce.”