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For the third time this year, Douglas County has lost one of its representatives on the board of the Tri-County Health Department.
The early resignation of Zach Nannestad means Douglas County no longer has any of the Tri-County board members it had before the COVID-19 pandemic. Tri-County is the public health department for Douglas County.
Nannestad sent in his resignation Wednesday, about a week after he abstained from board votes related to requiring the wearing of masks inside schools as a COVID safety measure.
Nannestad cited a conflict of interest regarding his employment with the Douglas County School District as his reason for resigning, according to his letter notifying the county and health department.
“I do not wish to leave this role,” he wrote in the letter, “However, I have recently found myself in a clear conflict of interest when asked to vote on matters specifically impacting my primary employer.”
The Douglas County School District lists Nannestad as the operations manager for environmental health.
Nannestad went on to write that the commissioners had “asked for my assurance” that he wouldn’t abstain from future votes because of this conflict and that he felt he couldn’t give that.
Tri-County, which serves Adams, Arapahoe and Douglas counties, has a Board of Health made up of nine members, with three from each county. The board votes on various policies and public health orders.