The Leelanau County government is taking a blow as another department head recently confirmed to the newspaper that they submitted their letter of resignation. This time around, it was human resources (HR) director Darcy Weaver, who will be leaving on Jan. 5, 2024.
Weaver’s resignation comes at an unfortunate time as replacements for several positions — including the county finance and planning and community development directors — have still not been hired, and the county board relies on the HR director to make job postings on the county website and write job descriptions. Weaver told the Enterprise that the search for qualified candidates for these positions will continue under her supervisor, county administrator Deb Allen.
“This was a personal decision. I wish the best for the employees here who work so hard to serve the citizens of Leelanau County,” Weaver told the Enterprise. “I would like to add that I am appreciative of the leadership and professionalism of our county administrator Deborah Allen, and that my resignation is not a reflection on her. With the inherited cultural issues, which have been well documented for several years, Deb has worked hard to support the employees of the county.”
Weaver was hired as HR director in April 2022 once the board of commissioners reached a consensus that the position would be full time instead of part time. The human resources department was created as part of the previous board’s May 2021 controversial decision to strip financial and human resources management responsibilities from the county clerk’s office.
Prior to being hired as HR director, Weaver had at least 10 years of experience in county government. She worked in the clerk’s office before becoming chief deputy to county treasurer John Gallagher. And when the first finance department head – Jennifer Zywicki – suddenly resigned on the same day that Weaver was hired in this new role, she temporarily led both departments until Jared Prince started as finance director in August 2022.
Weaver is the fourth major county employee to resign in the last three months. The county’s fifth finance department head, Sean Cowan, resigned on Oct. 20 over insufficient “resources, authority, staff (and) executive support” from the board of commissioners.
Executive assistant Laurel Evans announced her retirement less than a week later, despite the board agreeing to move her to a salaried position and increase her wages by almost $10,000 annually in a heated Oct. 25 meeting. Then planning and community development director Trudy Galla announced she would be stepping down after 35 years of service to the county.
In her statement to the newspaper, Weaver said that the employee climate/culture survey being conducted by the Michigan Leadership Institute (MLI) “will hopefully bring insight into the cultural issues and will assist in the development of a plan to move forward.” The survey results will be presented publicly at a committee of the whole session at 1 p.m. on Jan. 3, 2024. The county contracted the MLI for $6,500 on Nov. 9 to conduct this survey. MLI regional president and former Glen Lake Schools superintendent John Scholten has been interviewing employees in one-on-one meetings and plans to present an “action plan” based on his findings at next week’s meeting.
