ANN ARBOR, MI – Jason Morgan will lead the first-ever all-Democratic Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners.

The Ann Arbor Democrat, starting his second term, was appointed chair by his colleagues as four new commissioners were sworn into office Wednesday night, Jan. 9.

“I’m just incredibly excited for this new board that is diverse, is energetic, is majority-female for the first time in history, and it’s just a lot of really great people who are genuinely passionate about doing good things for our community,” Morgan said.

The new commissioners are Shannon Beeman of Manchester, Jason Maciejewski of Dexter Township, Katie Scott of Ann Arbor and Sue Shink of Northfield Township.

Two of the new commissioners were appointed to leadership positions Wednesday night, including Scott as Ways and Means Committee chair and Shink as Working Session chair. Ricky Jefferson of Ypsilanti was named vice chair of the board.

Morgan, 29, is believed to be the first openly gay county board chair in Washtenaw County.

He has worked as a staffer for U.S. Reps. Debbie Dingell and John Dingell, and as director of government and community relations for Washtenaw Community College.

After recently completing his master’s degree in public administration at the University of Michigan, he’s working as the Michigan transition team director for U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin.

The biggest thing Morgan wants to accomplish as county board chair, he said, is implementing a county equity policy and making the county more equitable, including every municipality.

Morgan also wants the county to embark on a new master plan process for the first time in about 15 years.

That would start with benchmarking the true state of the county in terms of how residents are doing, he said, and then coming up with a strategy to make progress in areas such as economic inequality, transportation and affordable housing.

The county has been talking about affordable housing for years and Morgan believes the most direct way it can make progress is to build on county land. He said the county is taking a look at future uses of its properties, including parking lots in downtown Ann Arbor.

“My big hope for us over the next couple years is to assess how we’re using our county land and have thorough discussion and debate about how we could use it better going forward, and I think a huge part of that will involve building more affordable housing,” he said.

Morgan also hopes to see the county make progress on plans for a recreation center on the east side of the county and improving broadband Internet access in rural parts of the county, including western Washtenaw. He wants the county to put together a five-year capital improvement plan so residents can see what’s in the works and offer input and feedback before anything happens.

Robust community engagement and public input processes are priorities for Morgan.

“I really want to make sure that, as we invest resources into the county, we’re doing it strategically when we’re investing in infrastructure,” Morgan said.

The county water resources commissioner is working on a plan for a regional recycling initiative and Morgan hopes the board can play a supportive role as recommendations come forward, including possibly building a new multi-jurisdictional recycling facility.

There also are talks of installing solar panels on county property. The county’s new environmental council is expected to present a climate action plan to the board later this year, Morgan said.

“I think we’ll have lots of exciting stuff happening,” he said.