Former Leelanau County Administrator Chet Janik will be leading the search for a new county administrator/chief financial officer (CFO) to replace his immediate successor, Deb Allen, once her resignation goes into effect on April 12.
The county board of commissioners approved a contract with Janik, who is now a consultant with the Michigan Leadership Institute (MLI), at their Feb. 20 regular session. According to the search proposal provided to the board Chairman Ty Wessell, Janik’s services will be provided for $4,500 plus direct expenses not to exceed $1,000.
Janik served as Leelanau County administrator for over a decade from mid-2012 to 2023. His replacement, Allen, was hired in December 2022. Allen announced that she entered into a separation agreement with the county on Feb. 8 to make way for a new administrator with a “deep” financial background.
Allen and Wessell said the county needs an administrator/ CFO with financial expertise to help implement changes to the organizational structure set in motion by the creation of a separate finance department in May 2021. Previously, financial duties were the purview of the county clerk.
While county officials and employees generally seem to hold Janik in high regard, Commissioner Kama Ross expressed concern that the county was rushing into a contract with Janik without exploring other options. The contract was ultimately approved 6-1, with Ross voting no.
“I asked (Chet) to please give me information that would make me more comfortable saying that he is the right person to lead this search in a position that we’ve been struggling with since 2021,” Ross said. “I have heard from constituents (and) county staff that there is some hesitation that he is the right person going forward.”
Ross said that she contacted Networks Northwest and the city of Traverse City, which referred her to 10 other contractors besides MLI that could conduct the search for a new administrator/ CFO. These options were not explored at the meeting.
The county previously hired the MLI in November to conduct an organizational culture survey, which was carried out by MLI Regional President John Scholten, and a governance training workshop for the commissioners, which was also led by Janik on Feb. 8.
Also at this meeting, the county board amended their rules of order and procedure to prevent audience members from “assigning” their speaking time to other people. The rules also require that public comment at the start of meetings be related to items on the agenda, although speakers can still discuss non-agenda items during the second public comment period at the end of meetings.
This change follows a Jan. 24 petition by a dozen audience members to give their five minutes of public comment time to one person for an “extended” presentation on alleged “security flaws in our county’s computer election system.” The board allowed this presentation for their executive session on Feb. 13, although Wessell expressed “misgivings” at the time.
The county board approved these amendments by a 5-2 vote, with commissioners Melinda Lautner and Jamie Kramer voting no. Lautner claimed that the current public comment procedures are already working and argued that the amendment signaled that the board doesn’t want to hear from their constituents.
“It also feels like the timing’s off,” Kramer added, “because this came out right after a highly disputed public comment. I think everyone gets that. I feel like it’s important that everyone gets their time.”
“I’m confused because I don’t think we’re saying we don’t want to hear from the public. We’re saying that we want to do exactly what we’re doing, but just a reminder that you also have a commissioner you can contact if you want something on the agenda,” Wessell said.
Finally, the board agreed to incorporate a “commitment to respect” into their rules of order and procedure. Wessell said the list was inspired by former County Administrator Chet Janik’s own “code of conduct.” Several department heads had encouraged the board to develop a new code of conduct at their Jan. 16 meeting.
These commitments call for board members to “conduct public affairs with honesty, integrity, fairness, and respect for others,” and “focus(ing) on achieving constructive solutions for the public benefit,” among other things. The commissioners approved the commitment by a 6-1 vote, with Lautner voting no.
Lautner took issue with the commitment to “respect and maintain the nature of confidential and privileged information” in the view of her recent attempt to see all communications between Commissioner Ross and other elected officials, department heads, employees, and Administrator Allen by invoking the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
“I think this is very interesting that this falls on this table right now, especially when we talk about the nature of confidential information. (This commitment to respect) goes without saying as I said last week. This is not anything we can hold anybody on this board to,” Lautner said.
Lautner also attempted to appeal to her fellow commissioners to have them waive the county prosecutor’s $1,000 fee for completing her request at the Feb. 20 meeting but failed to gain a second to her motion.
