The Leelanau County Board of Commissioners seems to have reached a consensus Tuesday that the next board should choose their own administrator, as the current board is unlikely to hire one before the Nov. 5 elections anyway.
As interim Administrator Richard Lewis noted, the composition of the next board is going to be radically different. Even if the election results favor the incumbent candidates, only three out of seven county commissioners will be back in 2025. And all three of these commissioners are facing opposition from the opposing political party.
Two of the sitting commissioners, Jim O’Rourke and Doug Rexroat, opted not to run for re-election. A third commissioner, Melinda Lautner, lost her party’s nomination in the Aug. 6 primaries, and a fourth, Jamie Kramer, resigned from her position last month.
“You will have four new members at minimum sitting up here, and we still haven’t gotten through to November,” Lewis said. “Is it right that this board makes that decision on who the next individual is going to be? Personally, I don’t think so. I don’t think that’s the right thing to do for the individual, or the board that’s coming forward. And that next board’s going to be here for four years.”
Indeed, the county commissioners who are elected in November will serve four-year terms, not two-year terms as has previously been the case. The next board will be more effective if they have a good working relationship with their administrator, as the administrator coordinates county government in accordance with their policies.
Lewis said that once the November general election results are certifi ed, he’ll meet with the new board — as determined by voters — and they’ll decide which firm will lead the search for the next county administrator. On the other hand, board Chairman Ty Wessell said the current board might choose to extend or terminate the contract with their current consultant for the search.
After the previous administrator, Deb Allen, left in February, the board hired the Michigan Leadership Institute (MLI) as a consulting firm in the search. The MLI gathered a list of almost 40 potential candidates, but once interviews concluded in June, the county board was not prepared to offer the position to any of them.
Given these results, the next board may choose a different firm to renew the search. But at the time, the county was looking for someone with a “deep” financial background to serve as a combined administrator and chief financial officer (CFO) to help set up the county’s struggling finance department.
The county may not be looking for an administrator/CFO anymore, however. The board appears to have tasked Lewis with setting up the finance department instead. The board approved the “creation of (a) finance department” in May, and Lewis appointed a finance director — Cathy Hartesvelt — last month.
At one point, the board wanted to postpone the appointment of a finance director until after they hired an administrator/CFO, reasoning that the new administrator/ CFO should have a say in choosing the finance director serving under them.
The board agreed to hold a special meeting before the end of the month, to determine the job title and responsibilities for their next county administrator. As of the time of writing, the date and time have not yet been decided upon. Per a suggestion from Commissioner Kama Ross, finance Director Hartesvelt, Treasurer John Gallagher, and other “key players” will be invited to the discussion.
At next week’s regular meeting, the board will likely extend Lewis’s contract through May 2025 or until a new administrator is hired. Lewis, a former mayor of Traverse City, was hired as interim administrator in March, and he started in April after Allen’s resignation went into effect.
Lewis seems to have been wellreceived in the position by both elected officials and staff. Commissioners O’Rourke, Rexroat, and Wessell praised his performance so far at Tuesday’s meeting.
“I was so pleased that Richard agreed to stay through May,” Wessell said. “This gives us the option to move as fast as we want. We need a special meeting to define the position, but before he chooses to change his mind, I hope to get a commitment to work until May.”
“I am insane, and I do carry my papers,” Lewis said jokingly about continuing his contract for what could be another eight months.
However, Lewis has made it clear that he is not interested in the Leelanau County administrator position on a permanent basis, nor extending his hours. The current board hopes the county will find a new, full-time administrator before Lewis’s contract ends in May.
