Ilsa Minor Daily Press The new Delta County Board held its reorganizational meeting this week. They are, from left, Myra Croasdell, Steve Viau, Kelli Van Ginhoven, John Malnar and Matt Jensen.

ESCANABA — The newly-elected Delta County commissioners settled into their new roles Tuesday during the reorganizational meeting of the commission by voting who would lead the board for the coming term and establishing their board and committee assignments.

The first action of the commissioners was to elect Commissioner John Malnar as the board chair. Malnar was nominated for the position by Commissioner Steve Viau. The two men are the only commissioners who served on the board prior to Tuesday, and Malnar’s election was unanimously supported by the commission as a whole.

“I would like to thank the commissioners for putting me in charge of being chair,” Malnar said during his commissioner’s comments at the end of the meeting.

After Malnar’s election came the election of the board vice-chair. Newly-elected Commissioner Kelli Van Ginhoven was nominated for the position by Commissioner Matt Jensen, who also joined the commission Tuesday. No other nominations were made for the position, but Viau voted against Van Ginhoven’s election to the seat.

The board then moved into appointments to various committees, advisory boards, and community boards where the county is represented. After the Malnar read the new board and committee appointments, there was some discussion from the commission about whether or not to trade appointments between some of the commissioners based on their interests.

Specifically, Van Ginhoven asked Jensen to give her the appointment on the Delta Conservation District Board. Jensen declined the request.

“I’d like to keep it if possible just because when the parks and the conservation district recently split I think that would lend some good continuity and be able to mend the bridges that we had in between there,” said Jensen.

Viau expressed disappointment in his removal from some of the boards he had previously served on, specifically the Delta Solid Waste Management Authority.

“I was just a little disappointed in not being consulted on two of the boards that I belong on because I would have liked to have gave some information that I’ve been following up on to them boards.”

Malnar said he shuffled the appointments because he and Viau were “just loaded with committees.”

Ultimately, there were no trades made by the commissioners. The appointments for the remainder of 2024 are as follows:

Personell Committee — Viau (chair), Van Ginhoven

Finance Committee — Jensen (chair), Malnar

Budget Committee — Committee of the whole

County Prosecutor — Viau

County Sheriff — Commissioner Myra Croasdell

Probate Court — Croasdell

Circuit Court — Croasdell

District Court — Croasdell

Friend of the Court — Croasdell

Community Corrections (U.P. Administered) — Croasdell

Delta County Central Dispatch Advisory — Viau (alternate to County Administrator Ashleigh Young)

Building and Zoning Department — Van Ginhoven

Construction and Zoning Board of Appeals — Jensen

Planning Commission — Jensen, Van Ginhoven

Board of Public Works — Malnar

Cooperative Extension Service — Jensen

County Road Commission — Malnar

Airport Board — Jensen, Van Ginhoven

Central Upper Peninsula Planning and Development Regional Commission (CUPPAD) Executive Committee — Malnar

CUPPAD Member at Large — Jensen

Delta Conservation District Liaison — Jensen, Malnar (alternate)

Building and Grounds Committee — Viau, Malnar

Delta Solid Waste Management Authority — Van Ginhoven, Viau (alternate)

Michigan Association of Counties (MAC) Workers Compensation Board — Malnar

Building Authority — Jensen

Renaissance Zone — Croasdell

U.P. State Fair Authority — Jensen

Brownfield Authority — Croasdell

U.P. Resource Conservation and Development — Croasdell, Malnar

Superior Trade Zone — Van Ginhoven

Jail Committee — Van Ginhoven, Croasdell

Northwoods Rails — Viau

UPCAP U.P. Energy Workgroup — Croasdell, Viau

MAC (various committees) — Malnar, Viau

Parks and Recreation — Van Ginhoven, Jensen

Department of Human Services Board — Viau

County Board of Health — Viau, Malnar

U.P. Michigan Works! Local Elected Officials (LEO) Board — Viau, Malnar (alternate)

Community Action Agency Delta County Committee on Aging — Malnar, Croasdell (alternate)

Upper Peninsula Commission for Area Progress (UPCAP) Board — Croasdell

Emergency Preparedness Committee — Malnar and Van Ginhoven (as board chair and vice-chair)

Alternate Education Board — Malnar

Little Bay de Noc Council of Governments — Malnar, Van Ginhoven

Pathways Authority Board — Malnar

Northcare Network Substance Use Disorder Policy Board — Viau

Delta County Local Planning Body (Homeless Coalition) — Viau

Opioid Task Force — Viau, Van Ginhoven