Channell named Commissioner of the Year

CCI honor goes to comish who goes “above and beyond”

After several years representing Gunnison County at Colorado Counties Incorporated (CCI) gatherings, county commissioner Hap Channell has been named the Commissioner of the Year for 2010.

Channell was nominated by his fellow commissioners and voted in by the CCI board of directors, which is made up of eight of the 64 county commissioners represented, for “the outstanding contributions to CCI made by a commissioner throughout the year.  The award goes to a commissioner for his or her activities that were truly ‘above and beyond the call of duty’ in 2010,” according to a county press release.
By spending time on issues that would impact more than just Gunnison County and keeping an open mind in committee discussions, Channell has shown himself to be committed to county issues by participating on many committees, some of which review or introduce legislation at the state and national level.
“He is fabulous. His leadership is extraordinarily admirable and I think his peers respect him because he’s pragmatic and thoughtful. He doesn’t seem tied to partisan politics,” CCI’s policy and research supervisor Gini Pingenot says. “He looks at the merits of whatever issue is before him and approaches every topic thoughtfully.”
CCI is a non-profit organization that brings about 200 county commissioners, council members and mayors together to work on common issues as well as lobby on behalf of county interests to government and regulatory bodies.
“He represents counties and their interests on several local and state committees to include the All-Hazards Planning Committee, with an appointment made by the Governor on the Child Welfare Advisory Committee, as well membership to a statewide agricultural classification committee,” the release says.
Pingenot says CCI has been naming a commissioner of the year for more than a decade and chooses a new CCI participant every year to serve as a model for the incoming class of commissioners.