It was a mix of bipartisan gestures and partisan squabbles at the first 2025 meeting of the new Leelanau County Board of Commissioners Tuesday. In what was billed as a procedural “organizational session,” the newly-elected board made key decisions not just about board leadership and meeting schedules, but also about two county committees not scheduled for discussion on the agenda.

Organizational meetings are typically an opportunity for boards to recalibrate at the start of the New Year, handling business like electing board leaders, amending board rules, or approving meeting schedules for the year. All of those items were indeed handled at Tuesday’s meeting, which marked the start of a new era for the board. Five of seven board seats changed hands in the November election, and the partisan balance – which had been deadlocked with a 3-3 Democrat-Republican split – now leans 4-3 in favor of Republicans.

Despite the partisan split, Tuesday’s meeting began with two apparent gestures of bipartisanship. First, Democrat and District 1 commissioner Rick Robbins nominated District 7’s Steve Yoder, a Republican, to serve as board chair. Yoder was the only nominee for that role, and won unanimous approval.

Minutes later, District 4 commissioner Ty Wessell – one of two returning Democrats, as well as the former board chair – beat out District 5 Republican Alan Campbell to win the position of vice-chair. Yoder crossed party lines to cast the deciding vote for Wessell, with his fellow Republicans – Campbell, District 2’s Mark Walter, and District 3’s William Bunek – voting for Campbell. Wessell, Robbins, and District 6 Democrat Gwenne Allgaier supported Wessell.

But bipartisanship seemed to erode as the meeting went on, particularly when Campbell made a motion to disband the county’s Energy Futures Task Force (EFTF). The committee sought to advance renewable energy initiatives at the county level and was given a one-year runway by the Board of Commissioners in fall 2023. After a controversial first year, county commissioners rejected a request from the EFTF in November that would have allowed it to continue meeting for the remainder of the year. That vote temporarily paused the EFTF, but the fate of the group was ultimately left up to the new board. Campbell’s motion – which passed 4-3 along party lines – means the EFTF is officially dead.

The question of whether to kill the county’s renewable energy task force was not on the agenda for Tuesday’s organizational session, and no members of the EFTF were on hand. Allgaier, who helped launch the EFTF in 2023, bristled at Campbell’s motion, arguing that the board should decide the fate of the task force when it reconvenes at an executive board session next Tuesday to decide committee appointments.

Things got more heated when Campbell suggested the board might also reconsider the future of the Leelanau Housing Action Committee (HAC). Formed in 2017, that body works to help Leelanau villages and townships modify their policies and ordinances to support the development of affordable and workforce housing. While the County Board of Commissioners supported the creation of the HAC in 2017, the committee technically exists under the auspices of the Leelanau County Planning Commission.

Citing a series of cancelled HAC meetings in 2024, Campbell wondered whether the “inactivity” of the committee merited a change of course, though he did not make a specific motion.

“We have so many people who really, really care – including myself – about [affordable housing],” Campbell said. “But I’d like to have a discussion about if continuing that task force in its present form…is the most effective use of the people involved.”

Wessell, who has served on the HAC in the past, pushed back.

“We have heard from Housing North that, in some form, [the HAC] helps their mission,” Wessell said. “I would say before we make a decision on that, we ought to check with Housing North, and Peninsula Housing, and the planning commission, and get their recommendation. I don’t think we have enough information today to make that decision.”

“It really should be this board’s decision whether we want to help them out; we shouldn’t depend on them to tell us that we have to help them out,” Bunek countered. “I haven’t seen anything productive coming from [the HAC] as far as affordable housing or workforce housing, or whatever you want to call it. They have meetings, they talk, and this has gone on for seven years… I would think that it’s time for the county to get out of it.”

Bunek then made a motion that the HAC be disbanded entirely, arguing that the issue of housing should be left to the townships. “We really don’t have the power to do anything with zoning,” he said.

“This board makes informed decisions, and I don’t think we have enough information today,” Wessell fired back. “I think it would make sense to reach out to the experts and say, ‘Is there a role that we can be helpful?’ And if there’s a role, then let’s consider how we do that. If there’s not a role, and if we can’t be helpful, let’s not waste our time. But I think, this wasn’t on the agenda today, and we haven’t had any input from the public. I think we need to make sure we make an informed decision.”

Allgaier, meanwhile, said it would be “irresponsible” for the county to get out of the housing discussion.

Bunek’s motion failed 3-4, with Campbell joining the Democrats in opposition. Campbell then made his own motion “that we request that the county planning commission review [the HAC], and that our administrator review its creation to make sure that we’re following our own rules.” Campbell also asked that an organizational meeting for the committee, which had been scheduled for January 13, be cancelled “until we get those answers.”

After an amendment from Wessell that the review of the HAC include consultation with expert organizations like Housing North and Habitat for Humanity, Campbell's motion passed 7-0.