Fitzwater appointed Presiding Commissioner
, Publisher/Editor
12-10-2009
After 106 days, the wait is over.
Gov. Jay Nixon has appointed Rodger L. Fitzwater, 47, of rural Norborne, as presiding commissioner for Ray County on Tuesday.
Fitzwater’s appointment fills the vacated position left from the untimely death of Presiding Commissioner Jeff “Puff” Adams on Aug. 23.
“Rodger Fitzwater has a long history of serving the people of Ray County, both locally and in Jefferson City,” Gov. Nixon said in a Dec. 8 press release. “I am confident that he will serve them well as their presiding commissioner.”
“I was a little bit surprised. Maybe what happened on Friday (with Western County Commissioner Mike Twyman) might have spurned on the governor,” Fitzwater said. The governor and his staff contacted him around 4 p.m. Tuesday for the news, he said.
Ray County Clerk Lynn Rogers said once he receives the appointment from the Secretary of State, Fitzwater will be sworn in.
“I look forward to working with them and thank the governor for the confidence he has in me to do the job,” he said, adding that he governor mentioned their good working relationship when Fitzwater was a member of the House of Representatives.
Fitzwater represented House District 36 in the Missouri House of Representatives from 1995 to 2001. He served as chair and vice-chair of the House Education-Elementary and Secondary Education Committee and vice-chair of the House Elections Committee, and was on the Agriculture Appropriations Committee in his three terms. Fitzwater also worked in Gov. Bob Holden’s administration until a new governor was elected. After leaving office, he served as executive director of the Missouri Division of Professional Registration in the arm of the Department of Economic Development. A lifelong resident of Ray County, Fitzwater currently is the chairman of the Ray County Transportation Board, of which he has been a member since 1996. He is also an active member of the Ray County Fair Board.
“I’m happy for him and happy for us to have the position filled. He’s a good guy with experience in government and he’ll do fine,” said Commissioner Twyman this morning, who returned to work Monday after suffering a light stroke last week.
In September, the Ray County Democratic Central Committee interviewed eight candidates for the position, among those being Fitzwater and Adams’ wife Diana. The committee ultimately selected Diana Adams as their first choice for the position. Fitzwater was their second choice, according to Democratic Central Committee chariwoman Rena Creason. The governor’s office instructed the committee to submit their top two picks and send all applications to Nixon’s office, she said. Gov. Nixon broke with tradition by not appointing a party committee’s candidate – a likely first in Ray County.
A governor county appointment due to death is the first since June 1981, when then-County Collector Oliver “Junior” White died in office, according to Rogers. Rogers also said the 106-day lag to fill the open seat is the longest in Ray County history. Previously, 34 days was the longest stretch.
Fitzwater’s appointment ends Dec. 31, 2010. Candidate filings for the presiding commissioner seat begin in February for the August 2010 election.
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