Snider unanimously re-elected as Adams County Board chairman, says it will be his last term

QUINCY — As the newly-seated members of the Adams County Board drew lots to determine the lengths of their terms for the next decade, Chairman Kent Snider smiled and chuckled a bit when he drew the “short straw” of a two-year term during Monday night’s special board meeting and lottery for term lengths.

It just made things easier.

“Well, I told everyone this was my last election and I was really just hoping for a two-year term,” Snider said.

Snider shared those sentiments with his 20 colleagues on the County Board while asking for their votes and they responded by unanimously electing him to his third-two year term as chairman. The end of this term will also give Snider an even 20 years on the board.

“I want to finish the 48th Street (roundabout) project and we’ve pretty much got the ARPA stuff done,” Snider said. “So I just really wanted a cleanup session for me and so two years is really all I wanted. We’ve got a lot of new members on the board so I think there are a lot of unanswered questions. Like I said, if you don’t go to the meetings, you don’t understand how we get to where we are. And I think once they start going to meetings and start learning how the system works, I think it’ll definitely educate them.”

While’s Snider re-election to the chair was unanimous and without opposition, Bret Austin had a much tighter contest for vice-chairman, just edging Joe Zanger by an 11-10 vote.

The 21-member Adams County Board consists of three people in each of the county’s seven districts. Adams County Clerk Ryan Niekamp had the three members of each district come up together to draw orange ping-pong balls from an Abe Lincoln-esque stovepipe hat. There were three balls in each hat marked “2-4-4”, “4-2-4” and “4-4-2”, which represented the length of the three terms the members would serve over the next decade.

The District term breakdowns and committee assignments are as followed:

DISTRICT 1

Bret Austin-R, 4-4-2, Finance (committee chairman); Keith Callaway-R, 4-2-4, Finance; Todd Duesterhaus-D, 2-4-4, Legislative and Judicial.

DISTRICT 2

Ryan Hinkamper-R, 4-2-4, Transportation, Building and Technology; Barb Fletcher-R, 4-4-2, Public Health and Safety (committee chairman); Mark Sorensen-R, 2-4-4, Public Health and Safety.

DISTRICT 3

Dave Bellis-R, 2-4-4, Transportation, Building and Technology (committee chairman), Marvin Kerkhoff-R, 4-4-2, Legislative and Judicial; Mark Dietrich-R, 4-2-4, Public Health and Safety.

DISTRICT 4

Kent Snider-R, 2-4-4, Board Chairman; Steve McQueen-R, 4-4-2, Public Health and Safety; Travis Cooley-R, 4-2-4, Finance.

DISTRICT 5

Jon McCoy-R, 4-4-2, Legislative and Judicial; Tim Finlay-R, 4-2-4, Finance; Robert Reich-R, 2-4-4, Legislative and Judicial (committee chairman).

DISTRICT 6

David McCleary-R, 2-4-4, Transportation, Building and Technology; Bradley Poulter-R, 4-4-2, Finance; Les Post-R, 2-4-4, Transportation, Building and Technology.

DISTRICT 7

Brent Fischer-R, 2-4-4, Public Health and Safety; Joe Zanger-R, 4-2-4, Transportation, Building and Technology; Theresa Bockhold-R, 4-4-2, Legislative and Judicial.