I really enjoy serving on the Columbia/Boone County Board of Health. There are some really smart and experienced people on the board. Every meeting I learn much from their participation both concerning issues of public health, and on issues concerning effectively working on a committee.
Recently, the meetings have become a little long-winded. Tonight's meeting was no exception. The meeting began at 5:30 and adjourned at 7:45. It is not that there is that much to discuss, usually business can be covered in under one hour. The rate limiting portion of the meeting is our monthly briefings on local public health topics or projects. While extremely informative, they often go over their allotted 15-20 minutes.
Elections were tonight. I humbly declined a nomination for the office of Chair, but accepted nomination and was elected to the office of Vice Chair. I did not feel I could devote the time necessary to adequately perform the duties of Chair, but am I glad to be a back-up to the Chair and take on a few more responsibilities.
I know the Chair and I will be able to work well together. I hope to help him keep the meetings moving along through guiding discussions and keeping them focused on the topic at hand, utilizing committees more often and keeping the monthly briefings, well, brief.
One of the things I am most excited about is the launch of a Board of Health page on the City website. It appears the Vice Chair may take responsibility of managing content on the site. If so, I hope to be able to find some RSS feeds from local and national public health entities to keep content fresh and current and also involve members of the board in writing articles related to their fields of expertise.
I am already looking forward to next month!!!
