District 1 Supervisor Art Babbott elected County Board Chair

District 5 Supervisor Lena Fowler appointed vice-chair

Supervisor Art Babbott, right, was elected County Board Chair. He was congratulated by outgoing chair District 3 Supervisor Matt Ryan. Courtesy photo

The Coconino County Board of Supervisors named District 1 Supervisor Art Babbott as the next Chair of the Board. He replaces District 3 Supervisor Matt Ryan.

Babbott will serve as Chair for the next nine months.

“I want to thank Supervisor Ryan for providing great leadership over the past 10 months,” said Chairman Babbott. “I look forward to leading the Board of Supervisors as the County makes investments in innovation by developing the Counties Facility Master Plan, the Parks and Recreation Master Plan and the Subdivision Ordinance.

“We will also further the Strategic Investment plan which we created during the last budget cycle. This plan will invest resources in education, improving criminal justice outcomes and working with national, state and local partners to create healthy forests to mitigate the future threat of wildfire and post-wildfire flooding.”

District 3 Supervisor Matt Ryan served as Chair since November of 2017.

“It was truly an honor to serve as Chairman of the Board and being able to share the excellent work of the County,” said outgoing Chair Matt Ryan. “It has been an exceptionally busy year with many complex issues. We had a change in County leadership, passed a fiscally sound budget, expanded services and improved public safety.”

The Board also named District 5 Supervisor Lena Fowler as Vice-Chair. Babbott and Fowler began their leadership roles Sept. 11.