By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post
Joe LeRoux of Victoria has been selected to fill the open Third District Ellis County Commission seat for the remainder of the year.
LeRoux was selected from seven candidates Thursday in a meeting held by the Ellis County Republican Party to fill the seat vacated by former Commissioner Dean Haselhorst.
The retired veteran and current operations manager at Hess Services said he is excited to get a chance to serve on the commission.
“I’m excited to serve in this capacity,” LeRoux said. “I’m excited that so many people came out to be considered and I’m very grateful that out of all those great people I was selected to represent the Third District, and I can’t wait to hear the feedback from the folks that reside in my district.”
Only two of the 12 precinct committee member seats are full in the district, so it was up to those two individuals to pick from the seven candidates.
Each candidate had an opportunity to address the two voting members and the roughly 20 people who attended the meeting.
They then took questions from the members, and each finished with a closing thought.
The two precinct members picked their top two candidates and LeRoux was listed in both of their top two.
“Ever since I’ve lived in western Kansas, I fell in love with the place,” LeRoux said. “I’ve been a western Kansas resident on and off since 1996, (and) I’ve been a resident of Victoria for close to seven years. I’ve fallen in love with that community. It’s treated me and my kids very well, and I just want to give them good representation.”
The Third District is the largest in land size of the three county commission districts. It is made up of six townships, which includes the entire eastern edge of Ellis County and an area north of Hays.
LeRoux's appointment to the board of commissioners has been sent off to the governor for her approval. He is expected to take his seat on the commission in the first meeting of February.
