Rachelle Roe has been appointed to the Jefferson County 911 Dispatch Board of Directors.
Roe, 44, of High Ridge was sworn in June 27, filling the District 1 seat that has been vacant since March, when John Whitehead resigned. Roe will serve the rest of Whitehead’s four-year term, which he won in 2022 and will expire in April 2026.
District 1 is one of the three seats on the seven-member board that covers the western side of the county.
Board members voted 3-1 at the May 23 meeting to add Roe to the board, with Jamie Guinn of District 1 casting the only no vote. Directors John Scullin, the chairman, and Andy Sides of District 2 were absent from the meeting.
“(Guinn) only voted no because he backed a different applicant,” 911 Chief Travis Williams said.
Williams said he served on a committee that chose Roe from among seven applicants, adding that her experience in financial matters helped her stand out from the other applicants.
“She’s got a lot of experience in finance and contracts, and (the committee) thought she’d be the best fit,” he said.
Roe said she never held a public office before, but was interested in serving her community.
“Public service is something I’m passionate about,” she said. “I look forward to being able to contribute my skills and experience in the financial industry to an organization that is so vital to all residents of Jefferson County.”
Roe, an investment analyst for a nonprofit organization in the St. Louis area, has a bachelor’s degree in business administration and economics from Central Methodist University in Fayetteville, and a master’s in business administration-finance from Concordia University in Wisconsin, Mequon, Wis.
She said she does not know if she will run to keep the seat when the term ends.
“It’s a wait-and-see situation,” Roe said. “We’ll see how it goes, see if it’s a good fit for me.”
Roe joins current board members Scullin (in the chairman position voted on by the entire county), Guinn and Sides, along with Perry Tindall of District 1 and David Kennedy and Brian Taylor of District 2, which covers the eastern half of the county.