Isle of Wight County’s Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on Jan. 2 to elect Don Rosie to succeed Joel Acree as its chairman.

Rosie, who’s held the District 5 seat since 2018, had previously been offered, but declined, the chairmanship in 2022, making this year his first in the leadership role.

As chairman, Rosie will preside over the board’s meetings and is tasked per the board’s bylaws with recommending appointees to standing or ad hoc board committees to be approved by a majority vote of the full board.

The board voted unanimously to elect Rudolph Jefferson to succeed District 2 board member William McCarty as its vice chairman. Jefferson has represented the former Hardy District, now District 3, since 2013.

The votes follow the board’s tradition of rotating the chairman and vice chairman each year, with the prior year’s vice chairman becoming chairman.

It’s the first time since 2017 that the board has been led by a representative from its southernmost voting district. District 5, formerly known as the Carrsville District, spans roughly 145 square miles from the Isle of Wight-Surry county line to the southern tip of the county at its border with the city of Franklin and southwest Suffolk.

The board voted that same evening to readopt its bylaws and the same internal committee and regional commission assignments from 2024.

Acree will continue alongside County Administrator Randy Keaton on the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission and Western Tidewater Water Authority. Acree will also continue on the Western Tidewater Community Transportation Collaborative.

District 1 board member Renee Rountree will continue as Isle of Wight’s representative on the Eastern Virginia Regional Industrial Facility Authority, or EVRIFA, the Hampton Roads Workforce Council and the WTWA.

Jefferson will continue alongside Keaton on the board of the Western Tidewater Regional Jail.

McCarty will continue on the Hampton Roads Transportation Advisory Committee, Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization and WTRJ.

Rosie will continue on the Hampton Roads Military Federal Facilities Alliance.

Within the county, McCarty and Rountree will serve on the board’s capital improvements plan committee.

Jefferson will continue as the board representative to the county’s Commission on Aging.

Rosie and Rountree will serve on the community development committee.

Acree and Rosie will serve on the Franklin Intergovernmental Relations Committee.

Acree and Rountree will serve on the Intergovernmental Water & Sewer Task Force.

Jefferson and McCarty will serve on the joint tourism committee with County Administrator Randy Keaton serving as an alternate member.

Jefferson and McCarty will serve on the parks and recreation committee.

Jefferson and Rountree will serve on the personnel committee.

Jefferson and Acree will serve on the public safety committee.

Acree and McCarty will serve on the public works committee.

Jefferson and Rountree, as the two representatives whose districts include the town of Smithfield, will serve on the Smithfield Intergovernmental Relations Committee.

Jefferson will serve on the Social Services Board.

Acree and Rosie will serve on the Commission on Adults with Disabilities.

McCarty and Rountree will serve on the stormwater advisory committee.

Acree and Rosie, as the two representatives for the central and southern county voting districts, will serve on the Windsor Intergovernmental Relations Committee.

Among the board’s first tasks in 2025 will be to start the process of hiring a replacement for Keaton, who in October announced his intention to retire on or before Aug. 31.