Commissioners choose chairman, vice-chairman for 2024

YORK – Commissioner Randy Obermier has been chosen as the chairman of the York County Board for 2024, a position he has held several years now.

​His fellow board members voted in favor of him keeping the reins this calendar year, as they held their first and reorganizational meeting of the new year, meeting in regular session Tuesday morning, Jan. 9.
The meeting was postponed for two hours, due to road conditions in the area following Monday’s snow storm. However, business carried on as usual for the first commissioners meeting of the new year.
Commissioner Obermier has been a York County Commissioner since 2014, when he was first elected. He became the vice-chairman of the county board in 2017 and then became chairman in 2020 – a position he will now obviously continue.
On Tuesday, the board also voted unanimously for Commissioner Daniel Grotz to serve as vice-chairman for 2024. This is a position he is also held last year and the year before.
Grotz was appointed as a York County Commissioner in 2020. Grotz fulfilled that term (which ended on Dec. 31, 2022). He was reelected in the 2022 General Election cycle and took the oath of office on Jan. 5, 2023, for the next four years.
Unfortunately, there was an empty chair at the table, as Commissioner Woody Ziegler unexpectedly passed away shortly before Christmas. The county is currently advertising for interested persons to apply for that position in District 2. Applicants must be a citizen of the United States, be at least 18 years old and have a high school diploma or GED. They must reside in District 2 and be a registered voter with no felony conviction, per state law. The application timeframe is currently open. Once the applications are received, an open interview session will be held with the applicants, conducted by a panel that includes the county treasurer, the county clerk and the county attorney. That panel will decide who will represent District 2 for the remainder of this year.
If interested persons aren’t sure which commissioner district they live in, they can contact the county clerk’s office to check. The county clerk’s office has the information regarding district boundaries, which were slightly redrawn after the 2020 Census.
Once someone is appointed to the District 2 seat, the commissioners’ committee assignments will be made.
During the meeting, Obermier acknowledged the vacancy unfortunately exists, just as it did last year at this time right before Ziegler was appointed to fill it.
It was noted applications from interested parties are to be filed with the clerk’s office by the end of business on Friday, Jan. 13. Then public interviews are scheduled to take place on Tuesday, Jan. 16, at 5 p.m.
However, York County Clerk Kelly Turner noted that as of now, no applications have been turned in. Obermier said if no applications are received, the application period will be extended.