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A special meeting was held on Tuesday morning to determine who would replace Peggy Beltrone on the Cascade County Commission, but the remaining two commissioners could not agree on a candidate.

Commissioner Bill Salina is backing Jane Weber, the former director of the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center. Salina said he nominated Weber because she had received the largest number of votes from the Democratic precinct captains.

Commissioner Joe Briggs, however, did not support Salina's motion and made his own motion nominating current Airport Board Chairman Jeff Mangan. Briggs said he was basing his nomination on the future needs of the county and the upcoming legislative session.

Briggs also said it was important to keep in mind that that Tuesday morning was the first time he and Salina knew which candidate the other was supporting and why.

Briggs explained, "We've been conducting independent processes, although we did jointly interview candidates on Friday. So at this point, we have an opportunity to look at the reasons why each of us is supporting the candidate we are. It'll give us an opportunity for one of us to either change our minds or perhaps go in a different direction."

Because neither commissioner supported the other's motion, they agreed to table the decision until Thursday.

The commission will take public comment on the candidates until the special meeting on Thursday.

Along with Weber and Mangan, George Paul is also among the candidates; he ran for a County Commission seat in 2006 and is a former director of the local food bank.

If commissioners still can't agree on one of the three candidates at Thursday's meeting, they will request a new list of three candidates from the Democratic Central Committee.