RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KNX) — The Riverside County Board of Supervisors seated its new chair on Tuesday. Jeff Hewitt’s appointment was supported by all but two members for the largely ceremonial post.
Appointing a chair and vice chair is an annual, beginning-of-year custom for the body. Supervisor Karen Spiegel was the outgoing chair from 2021. This year’s vice chair was Supervisor Kevin Jeffries.
The board chair oversees scheduling meetings, guidingh earrings, signing proclamations, and attending functions as a representative of the whole body. The board generally rotates the position annually, and the line of succession is determined by whichever district is up for a turn. This year, the 5th District, represented by Hewitt, was up.
“I’m really proud to have served on this board with Supervisor Spiegel,” Hewitt said Tuesday. “She had a lot of challenges. Supervisor [Manuel] Perez the year before conducted himself in a really good manner. Learning things from other leaders is a real honor, and hopefully I can continue in that vein.”
When the vote for chair and vice chair was called, Hewitt and fellow Supervisor Kevin Jeffries made the motion and seconded it themselves. Spiegel voted to seat the men, and they voted to seat themselves. Two others abstained from voting — Perez and Supervisor Chuck Washington.
Hewitt, a registered Libertarian, and Perez and Washington, both Democrats, have reportedly clashed over policy decisions in the past. The relationship between the new chair and the two Democrats has been described as “hostile.”
Neither Perez nor Washington commented on their abstention. In the last two decades, all votes for chair and vice chair have been unanimous.
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