WOODSTOCK – If Thursday’s approval of committee assignments was an indicator, the learning curve of the new McHenry County Board could be steep.

Its 14-7 vote to accept committee assignments – the only action item on the agenda – survived a challenge alleging the assignments as presented violated the County Board’s own rules. The vote to approve then required two subsequent motions and votes because of confusion as to whether members actually approved committee assignments or a calling of the question to stop debate.

Board members approved the committee structure hammered out last month by new Chairwoman Tina Hill, R-Woodstock, and the aptly named Committee on Committees she assembled. The group, made up of the chairwoman and one member from each of the County Board’s six districts, is convened after every November election to adjust memberships in the 11 standing committees in which most of county government’s work gets done.