WORC’s Board of Directors elected officers during its meeting Dec. 5. Dakota Rural Action’s (DRA) Nancy Hartenhoff-Crooks takes the reins as Chair. A DRA member for nearly 20 years, Nancy and her husband live on a small acreage on the edge of Toronto, South Dakota. She is the Coordinator of Disability Services at South Dakota State University.
The Board tapped Rein van West to be Vice-Chair. A former school teacher, Rein (pronounced ‘Rhine’) served as director of the Colorado Outdoor Education Center before retiring to Ridgway, Colorado. He has been President of the Western Colorado Congress since October 2012.
WORC’s new Secretary/Treasurer is Charles Sangmeister, a member of the Northern Plains Resource Council from Nye, Montana. Charles represents the Stillwater Protective Association, a Northern Plains affiliate, on both a task force and an oversight committee for the Good Neighbor Agreement, the only legally binding contract between a community-based group and mine in the United States.