By Larry Jones
August 4, 2003

During the July 15 Annual Business Meeting of the National Association of Counties, thousands of county delegates gathered in Milwaukee from across the nation and elected Boone County (MO) Commissioner Karen Miller as their new president. Miller will serve as NACo's 69th president. And as a commissioner from a rural county, she will focus her term on issues facing rural America to ensure that its interests are heard in Washington as national policy is developed. Miller was sworn in by former Missouri Governor Roger B. Wilson who, during the ceremony, assured county delegates that she "does not have one ounce of quit or one ounce of back-up in her body."

County delegates also elected Blue Earth County (MN) Commissioner Colleen Landkamer as their new second vice president. Landkamer ran a successful campaign against Forsyth County (N.C.) Commissioner David Plyler who withdrew from the race for 2nd vice president when it became apparent that Landkamer enjoyed overwhelming support from a broad base of county delegates. Landkamer has been very active in NACo since 1996 when she was appointed to its Board of Directors. She also served as chair of the Rural Action Caucus, president of the Minnesota Association of Counties and on more than a dozen Naco committees.

Other officers elected to the new NACo leadership team include president-elect Angelo Kyle, commissioner, Lake County (IL); first vice president Bill Hansell, commissioner, Umatilla County, (OR); and immediate past president Ken Mayfield, commissioner, Dallas (TX).