Reprinted from the Health District's quarterly publication mailed to district residents (Spring 2010)
TOPIC: Health District cancels board election
 Tim O'Neill to become newest board member
 
With only three qualified candidates to fill three open seats, the Health District canceled its board of directors election originally scheduled for May 4.

The board of directors canceled the election as permitted by state law at its March 12 meeting after only three people filed to become candidates by the official deadline in February.

The three candidates included two incumbents and one newcomer:

• Joe Hendrickson, 62, of Fort Collins, is the current president of the Health District board of directors. He is an instructor at the University of Northern Colorado and a former assistant superintendent with Poudre School District. He was appointed to fill a vacancy on the board in December 2003. He subsequently was elected to fill the remaining two years of the term in 2004 and was re-elected in 2008.

• Celeste Kling, 52, of Fort Collins, is a local attorney, mediator, children’s advocate and adjunct faculty member at Colorado State University. She was elected to the Health District board in 2006.

• Tim O’Neill, 57, of Fort Collins, is executive director of Foothills Gateway, a Fort Collins agency whose mission is to empower and support individuals with cognitive disabilities and their families. He will fill a vacancy left by the impending departure of board member Lee Thielen, who is term-limited.

O’Neill is new to the board, but he is no stranger to the Health District, having worked with the agency on a number of issues over the years and as a member of the steering committee for the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Partnership.

“I hope to assist the board of directors and staff of the Health District in the development of strategies, goals and policies that advance our community’s ability to meet the healthcare needs of all of its citizens,” O’Neill says.

All three will begin their four-year terms in May.

The Health District is governed by a five-person board of directors whose members are elected at large from the community. Board elections are held every two years in even-numbered years, and members serve staggered, four-year terms.

To learn more about the Health District board of directors, visit www.healthdistrict.org/board.