The last item listed on the agenda for the Tuesday, December 17, meeting of the Putnam County Commission was a recess for Christmas luncheon to be followed by a resumption of business for the purpose of interviewing candidates to fill the seat on the commission left vacant by the resignation of Steve Deweese on November 30.

Because interviews are conducted during executive session which are closed to the public, the recess effectively ended the meeting. On Wednesday, December 18, the commission reconvened for 3 minutes and 41 seconds to announce that they (Commissioner Andy Skidmore and Commissioner Brian Ellis) were unable to agree upon a single person to fill the vacancy from the 21 applicants interviewed. The failure to reach a consensus will delay filling the empty seat until the Putnam County Republican Executive Committee submits the names of three qualified candidates to the commission (Skidmore and Ellis).