(Photo by Amber Phipps) Commissioner James Booth was absent for his final Washington County Commissioner’s regular Thursday meeting. Booth’s resignation letter announced his final day in office is today.

Washington County Commissioner James Booth announced in a letter on Thursday that his final day in office is today. Booth was absent for the regular commission meeting, and Clerk Ben Cowdery read the resignation letter.

“I request that you notify the appropriate committees or boards that I currently serve, on behalf of the Board of Commissioners,” the letter from Booth read.

The seat remains vacant until Commissioners Charlie Schilling and Eddie Place appoint someone for the position.

The commissioners contributed $20,000 from the General Fund to help support families in need as a result of thousands of individuals in the county being without SNAP benefits for the month of November. The contribution will go to the Washington County Department of Job and Family Services.

The government has been shut down since Oct. 1, and as a result, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Services ran out of funding. In order for SNAP cards to be loaded with November’s funds, the government would have needed to open Wednesday.

“We realize that this is a small token of what goes out each month in resources to these families,” said Schilling. “I think the emphasis needs to be put on our federal government at this point for them to get their stuff together.”

Hunger Solutions Mid-Ohio Valley has also recently contributed up to $100,000 to the Southeast Ohio Food Bank. Director of WCDJFS Flite Freimann said this was made possible through donations from Memorial Health Systems, Peoples Bank, and Marietta College.

“The number varies a little bit each month but it’s about $1.3 million is how much SNAP comes in at,” said Freimann. “So $20,000 isn’t going to make up for that, but it can save one truly needy family or a senior who isn’t capable of continuing to purchase food.”

Freimann said he hopes the government will be able to resolve this soon because people are going unfed and unpaid.

“I really appreciate what the commissioners have done, and we’re going to continue to move forward as a community,” he said.

In honor of Veterans Day on Nov. 11, the commissioners approved a resolution to honor the Washington County Veterans Hall of Fame Inductees.

The resolution recognizes veteran residents who have carried honor in their military service and community contributions after their service.

“These contributions may encompass a wide range of achievements including military service, professional accomplishments, civic engagement, public service, volunteerism, veterans advocacy and other significant lifelong achievements,” said Schilling.

Washington County Sheriff’s Office Major Kevin Carr shared updates about the success of the I.G.N.I.T.E. program at the jail and the improvements that are underway on the jail’s commander system.

“The commissioners were generous enough to approve us to update our commander system which runs the doors, the cameras, the intercoms-the brains of the facility,” said Carr. “It’s in the middle of that process now…it gives volumes of security there.”

Since the I.G.N.I.T.E. program launched earlier this year, Carr said the first graduate has been out for 12 weeks now and remains actively employed rather than returning to old ways.

“This is trying to break the cycle of recidivism which will help bring our population (at the jail) down,” he said.

The commissioners wrote a letter of support for Marietta College’s application for funds from the Department Development’s Advanced Energy Fund. Marietta College was looking to save $214,423 in energy costs by replacing the lighting in the Rickey Science Center with LED lights. Accessing these funds required support from the county commission before approval for the grant.