New faces will join the Knox County Board, next month.
The introduction of five new members and five departures will likely mean some new leadership for the board and its committees.
Of the six committees that make recommendations on county business, at least four will have new chairmen.
Shawn Pitman who chaired the highway and landfill committee, Jeff Jefferson, chairman of the nursing home committee and Greg “Chops” Bacon who co-chaired the county’s building committee did not seek re-election. George Knapp who was the other co-chair of that committee was ousted in the general election.
Board Chairman Brian Friedrich tells WGIL his position and the committee leadership will be chosen next month.
“On December 5, the county board chairman gets picked,” Friedrich says. “At that meeting, like what I did, I waited until the next meeting so I had a week to talk to everybody and to see who was going to be on the board. I left everything the same in December. In December we voted on what I had picked and then in January it went into effect.”
Perhaps one the largest changes will be Bacon’s departure. The District 2 Democrat additionally served as the finance committee chairman which balances the county’s budget each year.
Bacon was on the board 14 years and was the second longest tenured member behind District 5 Republican Rick Sandoval who won re-election to his his seat earlier this month.