Published September 29, 2025
MACo Members,
The time has come for me to hand the gavel over to the next in line. While this year was fast and furious, this moment will be bittersweet. It has been an absolute privilege serving all of you as president of the Montana Association of Counties. I have worked hard to take every leadership opportunity offered to me to better lead this organization. As your president, I have spent a lot of time traveling, starting with a trip to Alaska last fall, along with three trips to Washington DC throughout the year. Lastly, and my favorite part of traveling, was tagging along with the MACo team through the great state of Montana this summer for district meetings to meet with all you fine folk!
It was again a great privilege to serve in Helena at the Capitol for the 69th Legislative Session, spending three weeks representing all Montana Commissioners, Elected Officials, and MACo. I enjoy being a voice and a presence for all county needs and the bills pertaining to them. Although this session seemed to continuously target counties, we were able to collectively come together as commissioners and convince legislators to take a deeper dive into county functions and budgets before trying to pass some of their proposed legislation. Networking and building relationships with our Representatives and Senators is a large part of what we do as elected officials and as members of MACo.
A few personal take aways from the year: It’s not what you know, it’s who you know, notoriety is temporary. When you make a mistake, own it, humility goes a long way. The leaders you meet from across the country have the exact same issues you have, just on a different scale. And lastly, from the Late Great Commissioner John Ostlund, “that sun is coming up tomorrow no matter what you did or did not get accomplished or whatever mistake you might make or event think you made”. Those words spoke to me several times in the past eight years, and they have never been truer. The passing of John will forever leave an unfillable hole in our hearts and in this organization, as he dedicated so much of his time to the success of MACo. I would also like us all to remember Shannon Chamberlin, MACo’s past Property Casualty Trust Administrator. Shannon’s passing leaves us to remember her many years of hard work building relationships with counties, commissioners, her dedication, along with her infectious smile and personality. Shannon will always have a special place in our hearts.
With that, I would like to thank all of you Montana Commissioners for allowing me to represent you, encouraging me throughout the year with texts, phone calls, and personal visits. My goal was to make you all proud, as I did my best to carry on the tradition by being the leader you expected. I would like to thank the Executive Committee for coming alongside me anytime I solicited their advice or felt overwhelmed with decisions. I would like to thank all of you who spent time in the great city of Helena during session to represent your counties and MACo. I would like to thank the Liberty County Commissioners and elected officials, who filled in the gaps in my absence and encouraged me as I traveled and spent a lot of time away from my desk this last year.
Finally, I could not have asked for a better group than the MACo Staff. As a member services organization, they work hard to make sure our counties have the best information, the best resources, and put on much-needed conferences. MACo is here for all counties, big or small, they cover them all. MACo staff not only call us commissioners, but they also call us friends, and I am convinced there are no better people we can rely on.
My advice to the upcoming leadership: Be mindful of your actions, you never know whose watching, listening, or who you might impact. (I remind myself daily of the definition of character: Doing what’s right even when no on is watching). Be the person you would want to work with, speak highly of each other even when the other is not in the room and of course: “Make good choices”.
Farewell and all my best to the upcoming president(s)
Joette Woods – Montana Association of Counties 24-25 President