{"id":19422,"date":"2026-01-13T14:12:59","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T21:12:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/?p=19422"},"modified":"2026-01-13T14:12:59","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T21:12:59","slug":"el-paso-county-commissioners-announce-chair-and-vice-chair-for-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.elpasoco.com\/el-paso-county-commissioners-announce-chair-and-vice-chair-for-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"El Paso County Commissioners Announce Chair and Vice Chair for 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]<b><span style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif\">El Paso County, Colorado, January 13, 2026 <\/span><\/b><span style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif\">&#8211; The El Paso County Board of County Commissioners has selected its leadership for\u00a02026. Commissioner Carrie Geitner, District 2, will continue serving as chair, and Commissioner Lauren Nelson, District 5, has been elected vice chair.\u00a0The board expressed appreciation to Commissioner Holly Williams, District 1,\u00a0for her service as vice chair last year. Williams is\u00a0term-limited and\u00a0entering her final year on the board.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif\">The chair and vice chair are chosen annually by a vote of the board. The\u00a0chair\u00a0presides\u00a0over meetings and\u00a0together the leadership team sets meeting agendas.\u00a0These appointments take effect\u00a0immediately.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif\">Geitner\u2019s\u00a0reelection\u00a0provides continuity as the board addresses key issues affecting El Paso County residents. Now in her fifth year of service and\u00a0elected as chair for a\u00a0third\u00a0time, she\u00a0maintains\u00a0strong leadership and\u00a0institutional knowledge to\u00a0focus the work of the board.\u00a0In addition to other commissioner responsibilities,\u00a0Geitner\u00a0serves\u00a0as the board\u2019s state legislative liaison. She\u00a0represents\u00a0El Paso County\u2019s priorities at the state level, particularly as mandates and decisions\u00a0impact\u00a0the funding, services, and programs that support the community.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif\">Nelson joined the board in 2025 to\u00a0represent\u00a0District 5 and has already\u00a0gained recognition for her\u00a0leadership and results-oriented\u00a0approach. She has experience in budget oversight from her time\u00a0as treasurer\u00a0on\u00a0the\u00a0Colorado Springs School District 11 Board of Education.\u00a0Her private-sector background as a food scientist includes work in project management, product development, and operational efficiency.\u00a0Nelson\u00a0is enthusiastic about\u00a0improving governance\u00a0to\u00a0best serve the people\u00a0and\u00a0protect\u00a0individual rights and safety.\u00a0She\u00a0has earned the respect of her colleagues through her thoughtful approach and commitment to public service.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif\">With leadership\u00a0established, commissioners will focus on key priorities including public safety, responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars, infrastructure investment, and policies that support a strong business climate, private property rights, and transparent governance.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif\">\u201cI\u2019m grateful for the confidence my colleagues have placed in me to continue serving as chair,\u201d Geitner said. \u201cI look forward to serving with\u00a0Vice Chair Nelson. She\u00a0has already made a strong impact, and\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0clear she brings leadership and a results-driven perspective to the board. Together with our fellow commissioners,\u00a0we\u2019ll\u00a0continue making decisions that best serve the people of El Paso County.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif\">\u201cI\u2019m honored\u00a0to be selected by my fellow commissioners to\u00a0serve as vice chair,\u201d Nelson said. \u201cIn this new role, I\u2019m committed to working with my colleagues to lead with integrity, build on the county\u2019s momentum, and deliver results that reflect the values and priorities of our community.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif\">The El Paso County Board of County Commissioners\u00a0is responsible for\u00a0setting policy, land use decisions, and\u00a0overseeing county operations, including\u00a0the\u00a0adoption of the annual county budget\u2014$532.3 million\u00a0in 2026. In addition,\u00a0commissioners\u00a0represent\u00a0the county on various boards and committees that address regional priorities, including the El Paso County Board of Health,\u00a0Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority,\u00a0Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments,\u00a0and Regional Building.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif\">More information is available at\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif\"><a href=\"https:\/\/url.us.m.mimecastprotect.com\/s\/PtuBCn5X7pHOkM2OcZsjHJeUUY\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b><span style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif\">https:\/\/bocc.elpasoco.com<\/span><\/b><\/a><\/span><span style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><strong>###<\/strong><\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><strong>www.ElPasoCo.com<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]El Paso County, Colorado, January 13, 2026 &#8211; The El Paso County Board of County Commissioners has selected its leadership for\u00a02026. Commissioner Carrie Geitner, District 2, will continue serving as chair, and Commissioner Lauren Nelson, District 5, has been elected vice chair.\u00a0The board expressed appreciation to Commissioner Holly Williams, District 1,\u00a0for her service as&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":210,"featured_media":19423,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1391,1673],"tags":[6518,7939,7938,7895],"class_list":["post-19422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-news","category-news","tag-el-paso-county","tag-infrastructure","tag-jeff-crank","tag-news","category-1391","category-1673","description-off"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.2 (Yoast SEO v27.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>El Paso County Commissioners Announce Chair and Vice Chair for 2026 - El Paso County Colorado<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The El Paso County Board of County Commissioners has selected its leadership for 2026. 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