Leelanau County’s current administrator, Deb Allen, is set to set down in about two weeks on April 12, leaving the county without its most important nonelected official until a new administrator/ chief financial officer (CFO) is hired. In the intervening period, former Traverse City Mayor Richard Lewis will serve as interim administrator for Leelanau County.
Lewis will be interim administrator until the county chooses a new administrator/ CFO. They hope to approve an employment agreement with them by the week of May 27, per the “aggressive” timeline proposed by former county Administrator Chet Janik. However, Lewis said he was willing to serve as interim administrator longer if circumstances demand it.
“This is assuming that the train runs on time — everything falls into place, and it’s there — but if for some reason, it has to go for an extra couple weeks or a month, because whoever you decide on can’t leave their current place — I’m not leaving here,” Lewis assured the county board of commissioners at a March 22 special session.
Lewis received the most votes out of all interim administrator candidates in a straw poll of county commissioners conducted by Janik March 19, and unanimous support from all the commissioners present at the special session Friday.
Per Janik’s earlier suggestion to the board, Lewis will work three days a week as interim administrator and receive a stipend of $700 for each day of work. However, Lewis said that he would be flexible in his scheduling so he could work extra hours at the government center when needed.
Lewis started out as an administrative assistant in Daviess County, Kentucky before moving to Traverse City, where he was city manager from 1991 to 2008. Lewis returned to Traverse City in 2015, where he served another four years as city commissioner and mayor for two years. He opted to not run for reelection after his term expired in 2023 and is now retired.
Lewis’ resume also includes working for the civil engineering company CH2M Hill, including working with the directorate for Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan serving the U.S. military, and as city manager for the city of St. Joseph in southwest Michigan from 2008 to 2015. Janik is leading the search for the new administrator/ CFO as a contractor with the Michigan Leadership Institute. 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.
