Tuolumne County supervisors select new leaders

The Tuolumne County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on Tuesday to select Supervisor Anaiah Kirk as the board chairman and Supervisor Kathleen Haff as the vice chairwoman for the year.

Supervisor Ryan Campbell, who represents District 2, served as board chairman last year and handed the gavel over to Kirk, who represents District 3, moments after the vote was taken at the public meeting.

“People think it’s a leadership role, but for me it’s more of a servant role,” Kirk said. “You have to walk that line and get things accomplished, even if you don’t see eye to eye.”

While the title is largely ceremonial, the board chairperson each year does have some additional responsibilities and powers that include putting topics on the meeting agendas, presiding over the meetings and making committee assignments.

During a brief acceptance speech, Kirk spoke about how he feels all of his colleagues are focused on doing what they feel is best for the county even if they don’t always agree, and how his focus will remain on families and children in the community as a husband and father himself.

Kirk also thanked Campbell for leading the board over the past year and noted how all five supervisors are currently in their first terms, with three of them having just completed their first year.

“We’ve grown as we’ve sat here these past three years,” Kirk said.

Campbell and Kirk have each announced

they will run for reelection in the June 7 primary and currently don’t have any declared challengers, though that could change soon, as prospective candidates for the board can start pulling election paperwork on Tuesday.

The two will be running separately in their respective districts as opposed to head-to-head, with only the registered voters in each district able to have a say.

It’s tradition for the positions of board chairperson and vice chairperson to rotate each year among the five supervisors in numerical order by district, though the board does have the option to select whomever they want.

Kirk was elected to be vice chairman last year as the supervisor for District 3, while Haff succeeded him as the supervisor for District 4.

Guy Mccarthy / Union Democrat District 3 Supervisor Anaiah Kirk was unanimously voted intuesday as the chair for thetuolumne County Board of Supervisors. District 4 Supervisor Kathleen Haff was voted in as board vice chair.