The Mathews County Board of Supervisors elected its officers for 2021 during its annual organizational meeting last Wednesday, which was held virtually on the Zoom platform.

Mike Rowe was selected as chair on a 4-1 vote, with Paul Hudgins dissenting. Melissa Mason was unanimously elected vice chair.

Deputy County Administrator Julie Kaylor will continue as clerk of the board, with Communications Manager Caroline Oxley continuing as deputy clerk.

Schedule

The board is required to name a physical meeting place for its monthly meetings, and voted to make Mathews High School its primary meeting location from February through June, while pandemic precautions will likely still be required. However, members made it clear that virtual meetings will still be held as necessary, on a case-by-case basis. All meetings will be held on the fourth Tuesday of the month, at 6 p.m. to reduce the possibility of conflicts with high school activities.

The regular January meeting will be held virtually, at 1 p.m. this coming Tuesday via Zoom.

There will also be a virtual Budget Public Input Meeting at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 27, to give residents an opportunity to express concerns or make suggestions about the budget before the budget process gets underway.

Beginning in July, the schedule will return to normal, with meetings in the historic courthouse at 6 p.m. in July, August and September, and at 1 p.m. in October, November and December.

Code of Ethics and Rules of Procedure

The board unanimously adopted the proposed Code of Ethics, but not before Hudgins remarked that he thought the board would have a problem with the code “because of the way it conducts itself at times.”

Mason reminded Hudgins that all board members were given an opportunity to contribute to the code of ethics and originally signed on to it saying that they were committed to carrying it out “regardless of our personal opinions of each other.”

“We’re not going to agree on the same things,” she said. “But what matters is that we do right for the county as a whole, not for one set of constituents … If some people thought we were going to do for a segment of the population on certain particular interests, that’s on them.”

She urged members to get along and move forward with a plan to make things happen “for the good of the county, not the good of a few.”

The proposed Rules of Procedure were adopted on a 4-1 vote, with Hudgins dissenting.

The board decided to schedule a required FOIA Training Meeting and a staff-suggested Strategic Planning Meeting at a later date.

Board appointments

All board members’ appointments to various commissions, committees, and outside agencies remain the same as last year. Rowe will represent Mathews on the Middle Peninsula Criminal Justice Services Board, the Middle Peninsula Planning District Commission, the Middle Peninsula Regional Security Center Board, and the Waterways Ad Hoc Committee.

Mason will serve as liaison to the Mathews Market Days Committee, Mathews Social Services Board, and Middle Peninsula Planning District Commission.

Amy Dubois will continue to serve as representative to the Mathews Broadband Advisory Board, Mathews County Community Policy Management Team, Middle Peninsula Alliance, and Virginia Association of Counties.

Jackie Ingram’s appointments are to Emergency Services (alternate), Mathews Broadband Advisory Board (alternate), Mathews Main Street Committee and Mathews Memorial Library Board of Trustees.

Hudgins will continue to serve as Emergency Services Director and as liaison to the Mathews Planning Commission and the Waterways Ad Hoc Committee.

Other appointments were:

—County Administrator Mindy Conner, Deputy Director of Emergency Services; Administrator for the Mathews County Community Policy Management Team, Middle Peninsula Alliance, and the Waterways Ad/hoc Committee; alternate to Middle Peninsula Regional Security Center; and representative to the Virginia Peninsulas Public Service Authority.

—Sheriff Mark Barrick: Deputy Coordinator of Emergency Services, and representative to Middle Peninsula Regional Security Center.

—Hal Bourque: EDA Representative to the Middle Peninsula Alliance.

—Director of Planning, Zoning and Wetlands Thomas Jenkins: alternate representative to the Virginia Peninsulas Public Service Authority and staff for the Waterways Ad Hoc Committee.